Anecdotal evidence - and some distressing tales from facility owners - would attest that 2010 was a bad year for the focus group. True, the picture brightened a bit as the year went along but of all the types of research that marketers cut back on during the recession’s darkest days, the venerable focus group seemed to be at the top of many budget-cutting lists.

Things seem to be picking up for 2011 at the time of this writing (January) and if you’re planning to wade back into the qualitative waters, I have two books you might want to take along with you. They’re both short, easy reads but despite their slim page-counts they have a lot to offer and complement each other nicely, combining to give an informed picture of some of the theoretical and practical aspects of in-person qualitative.

First up is Refocusing Focus Groups by Robert J. Morais, a principal at New York research firm Weinman Schnee Morais and a frequent Quirk’s author. Morais offers 60 brief chapters, grouped by the various aspects of the focus group process (planning, observing, analyzing) and bearing titles such as “Know who you’re inviting,” “The customer is not always right” and “Make the warm-up warmer.”

Morais gives us the benefit of his experiences, in the hopes that we can avoid some of the situations he has encountered. Like the time when a group of women recruited for an observational research project on floor cleaners turned out not to be users of the product in question but instead used a lookalike store brand. The packaging was similar enough that the respondents referred to the product as the national brand, even though it was a generic equivalent. The lesson: For future projects, have potential respondents read and describe the label of the brand in their cupboard during the phone recruiting phase.

Other stories come from a more positive place, such as the insights that arose during some qualitative research on breakfast cereal when the interviewers stripped the questioning down to one basic topic: What is breakfast? Morais reports that by going naïve, the researchers uncovered some valuable, emotion-based insights for their brand.

In one of my favorite passages, Morais likens the process of backroom observation to the film Rashomon, the Akira Kurosawa classic that explores the shifting definition of truth via multiple recountings of the rape of a woman and the murder of her samurai husband. While focus groups nominally deal with topics of much less gravity (though try telling that to some brand managers or ad creative types), the reminder that each focus group viewer in the back room brings his or her own perspectives, opinions and biases to the process should be required reading for every participant observer. Only by acknowledging that their viewpoints may be colored by their own needs can marketers hope to fully use the truths uncovered during the research.

In-the-trenches level

Mary Kathryn Malone of Appleseed Consumer Insight also goes in-depth on the qualitative process in her book Qualitative Tips, Tricks and Trends, though on a bit more operational, in-the-trenches level than Morais, whose approach leans more toward the philosophical.

Along with discussions of homework assignments, scheduling and incentives, there are informative and, dare I say, entertaining chapters on recruiting (including a look at some of the potential horrors of recruiting by Craigslist) and working with facilities, field agencies and hostesses.

While many readers may not have direct involvement in all of the facets she writes about - at various points, she could be addressing a moderator, a client or a facility manager - all of the actors in the qualitative process can benefit from learning more about the issues facing their colleagues. And when it’s delivered with this kind of commitment and sincerity, the education is downright enjoyable.

Refocusing Focus Groups (140 pages; $19.95), by Robert J. Morais, and Qualitative Tips, Tricks and Trends (120 pages; $19.95), by Mary Kathryn Malone, are published by Paramount Market Publishing (www.paramountbooks.com).