Editor’s note: Karole Friemann is director of products and services for Market Research Project Management, Kimberling City, Mo.

Clients compromise the effectiveness of focus groups more often than any other market research methodology. Here’s why, and what can be done about it.

During the many years I spent directing market research staffs and projects on the client side, there was one phrase my business colleagues would use that would bring my professional instincts to a high-alert status: “We need to do some focus groups!”

Experience has taught me that most of the time “We need to do some focus groups” is more than a request. It is code, code for:

  • “I just came from a meeting to get my idea/plan approved, and someone asked me to prove my customer assumptions [and I didn’t have any proof].”
  • “I know if we ask our customers, they will bear out my position.”
  • “I need results now, so I can get approval to carry out the plans I have already put in motion.”

This situation usually presented several challenges:

  • My colleague probably wasn’t aware that focus groups might not be an appropriate methodology to address the information he/she was seeking. Asking him/her to take a moment to provide detailed information to determine the appropriate research methodology would probably be perceived as impeding progress.
  • My colleague thought the research objective was clear: “Prove that customers like my idea/plan.”
  • If focus groups were an appropriate methodology, my colleague was probably going to observe the groups looking for those responses he/she wanted to hear, and lose perspective of how they related to responses from other participants - without recognizing his/her lack of objectivity. And colleagues opposed to the idea/plan would probably do the same. Precautions were necessary to keep my colleagues from taking action before market research professionals could provide more thorough and objective interpretations.
  • If focus groups were appropriate, my colleague was probably not aware of his/her responsibilities to the market research project, or the amount of effort it would take to fulfill them. (After all, to a non-researcher the effort required to get a bunch of people in a room and get the answer to the one question he/she wants to ask would seem minimal.)

Focus groups: the “pop research” of corporate America

Focus groups have mainstream appeal for businesspeople. They are easy to relate to, exciting to experience, and appear deceptively simple to interpret. And to businesspeople who need results yesterday, they offer almost instant gratification. It’s no wonder that corporate market researchers are often approached by colleagues who say, “I need some focus groups,” rather than, “I have some business issues I’d like to talk over with you. Can you tell me how market research can help?” The process of interpreting results appears so easy that often colleagues who observe focus group sessions feel comfortable communicating their opinions and personal conclusions to others outside the project team before reconciling them with the more experienced and unbiased conclusions of the focus group moderator - seriously compromising project integrity.

Who is the project director?

Because of the tendency business people have to short-circuit the focus group process, the market research project director on the client side must make a special effort to protect it. However, not all organizations have market research departments, so you may be wondering in such situations who the market research project director would be, or if one is necessary.

In order for market research to be effective, someone in the client/sponsor organization must take responsibility for the focus group project. An external research consultant can be brought in to guide the process of translating business needs into focus group objectives, hire experienced research professionals to recruit respondents, moderate, and report results. But only someone representing the company can ensure that the project team is staffed with appropriate company representatives and that these company representatives employ research results to improve business decisions, actions and strategies. The market research project director on the client side is the “point person” for all company questions about the project. He/she is responsible for seeing that colleagues participating in the project understand what is expected of them, and for coordinating and monitoring all activities that are required from his/her company. In the best of all worlds, a market researcher within the company would work with the project sponsor to carry out these responsibilities. But when that isn’t possible, a marketing professional, the project sponsor or other individual within the business who has a vested interest in the project should take on the responsibilities of the market research project director.

What can project directors do to ensure project effectiveness? Here are some tips.

  • Ensure that focus groups are an appropriate research methodology.

When businesspeople initiate a request for market research by stating they need focus groups, they are specifying the research methodology, not stating their business or research needs. They have skipped the entire project initiation phase of the research process which establishes business requirements and documents how market research is expected to help. Focus groups may not be able to provide the information needed. So the first thing the project director should do is work with the research requestor to establish the business issues and goals that are prompting the market research request, as well as the expectations of how the research is expected to help. Once that is accomplished the research project director can determine whether focus groups are an appropriate methodology. (If the project director is not a trained market research professional he/she will have to work with a market research consultant to make this determination.)

Note: If it is determined that focus groups are not appropriate, the market research project director will have to inform the requestor and suggest alternative research methodologies. The project director should be prepared for some resistance, because the requestor is being asked to consider a methodology that may not be as comfortable and/or as immediately gratifying as focus groups.

  • Review the focus group process with project team members - don’t assume they already know it.

If focus groups are deemed an appropriate methodology, the project director should review the focus group process with the requestor and project team members. The project director should highlight each team member’s role in the process, and discuss the types of information that can be obtained, as well as the types that cannot. Focus group design is not as simple as it appears, and often colleagues are not as involved as they should be in developing focus group objectives, defining participant characteristics, reviewing discussion guides and creating handouts and presentation aids.

  • Establish the importance of maintaining the integrity of results.

Discuss the obligation that each team member has to assure that no one interprets or communicates results until they have read and understood the moderator’s final report. Point out to team members that the most dangerous aspect of focus group research is that project integrity can be compromised and inappropriate corporate actions taken if someone other than the moderator attempts to draw research conclusions and/or communicate what transpired in the groups. Explain that as members of the project team they have a responsibility to ensure the integrity of research results.

It is very important to impress upon team members that they are also responsible for seeing that anyone they invite to observe focus groups also understands this obligation.

  • Develop observer guidelines to distribute at each focus group session.

Prior to each focus group session, spend five minutes reviewing observer guidelines with all observers. Emphasize each observer’s obligation to refrain from communicating what is observed at focus group sessions until he/she has read and understood the moderator’s final report. Because failure to carry out this obligation jeopardizes the effectiveness of the entire focus group project, it is appropriate to circulate a form for each observer to sign to acknowledge his/her obligation.

Channel the energy

The focus group methodology generates enthusiasm among client sponsors and business associates, and brings them a three-dimensional customer perspective. Knowing how to channel the energy and sense of urgency surrounding most focus group projects can make a huge difference in the payoff to the client organization.