There are two types of focus groups: in-person and remote. In-person focus groups are held in a predetermined location while remote ones are conducted online via video, phone calls, or messaging platforms such as WhatsApp.

A major benefit of conducting an in-person focus group is that you can observe the participant’s facial expressions and body language, which provides valuable information. Remote focus groups provide more privacy for participants because they don’t have to disclose personal information such as their address or phone number.

How focus groups typically work

With the choice that modern technology presents, there are several ways to run focus group studies. The common denominator is that a group of people is selected to represent the target market. This group is called a focus group. The research is conducted through a moderated discussion and feedback session with the focus group.

The focus group normally consists of at least 5 people, but it can be more depending on the scale of the study. The participants are chosen because they are representative of the target market, not necessarily because they have experience in the product or service area being researched.

Major considerations

The first thing to consider when setting up a focus group is the sample size. As always, the larger the sample size, the more accurate the results will typically be.

The second consideration should be the composition of the focus group. Usually, this will depend on your target audience and the needed feedback. For example, focus groups to discuss a diaper brand would consist of mostly parents, compared to one where the subject is toothpaste which can have a more general composition.

The third consideration should be where you want to conduct the focus group. You should consider how many participants you need and how geographically dispersed they are before deciding where to conduct your research study. If the target area and the targeted focus group members are within a city, you could choose a central location to meet the participants in person. When conducting a national study, it would make more sense to run the focus group online, such as by using Market Research Online Communities (MROCs).

Generally, the main factors to consider in setting up a focus group are:

• The purpose of the focus group
• The size of the focus group
• The type of participants for the focus groups
• Location of the focus groups

GeoPoll’s Remote Focus Groups

GeoPoll has experience collecting qualitative data through multiple mobile-based methods, including MROCs. GeoPoll’s mobile-based MROCs provide the best option for collecting in-depth insights from audiences across Africa and other emerging regions. Using GeoPoll’s unique mobile-based focus groups, you can gather high-quality qualitative data in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional research methods. To learn more or request a quote, contact us today.

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Traditional Focus Groups

A focus group is a moderated discussion involving a small group of deliberately selected participants. In traditional focus groups participants meet in one location with a researcher or moderator for up to two hours and discuss specific research topics (e.g., new product concepts, ad testing, political views, etc.). The moderator leads the group discussion through a sequence of pre-determined questions meant to mimic a natural conversation. This sequence of questions is often referred to as a discussion guide.

Where focus groups differ from interviews and surveys is the interaction between group members. Members are encouraged to respond to and bounce ideas off each other, even to the point of influencing each other’s thinking. The moderator guides the flow of the discussion, using highly skilled techniques to ensure that each participant voices their opinion, and all the research questions are addressed, while remaining a neutral observer.

Traditional focus groups are typically held at a research facility. To avoid bias, the research sponsors or stakeholders are not involved in the group discussion, but may observe the focus group in real time, either through streaming video or by watching through a one-way mirror.

The perceived benefits of traditional focus groups include:

• Interaction and collaboration between participants stimulate deeper insights than a simple survey
• Both verbal and non-verbal feedback such as, language, tone of voice, and facial expressions are observed and analyzed
• A group dynamic allows for faster data collection than in-depth face-to-face interviews

The potential drawbacks of traditional focus groups are:

• Participants must be located near a research facility
• The cost and time required to travel from market to market
• Limited geographic reach due to cost, travel and facility locations
• Difficult in emerging regions due to infrastructure challenges, dispersed populations, and other factors

Recruiting Qualified Participants

Whether traditional or virtual, the general idea behind focus groups is that the group participants are representative of a larger population – and therefore their thoughts and reactions can be expected to reflect the views of that larger population. For this to be true, researchers must have a clear definition of the target population for their study.

Researchers typically work with their clients/the organization conducting the research to define the qualifying demographics and characteristics of their target audience, and then develop a screener or questionnaire to identify individuals that meet those qualifications. The screener is developed in a way that obscures the target criteria for the study so that potential respondents answer each question truthfully, rather than guessing at answers they believe the recruiter is looking for.

Because focus groups involve far fewer participants than other modes of research and each participant is expected to represent a larger population, it is imperative that each participant is both fully qualified for the study and able to express themselves effectively in a group conversation. Skilled recruiters are trained to keep the target criteria masked during the screening process and in methods for ascertaining a potential respondent’s honesty, cooperativeness, and articulateness.

Online Focus Groups

Online focus groups can be run through multiple methods, including video calls, web-based chats, and mobile-based chats. All of these methods aim to gather the same type of qualitative information gathered through traditional focus groups, but they allow respondents who are unable to travel to a research center to participate.

Virtual Video Focus Groups

With the expansion of broadband connectivity and the integration of video cameras into most laptops, tablets, and smartphones, the popularity of virtual focus groups has grown significantly in the past few years. The recent travel restrictions and lock-down measures due to COVID-19 have further pushed many companies and researchers to transition their intended in-person research online – including focus groups.

Online or virtual focus groups function almost identically to traditional focus groups, except the moderator and participants interact online via webcam. A number of virtual focus group facilities and software solutions enable moderators to present and mark-up stimuli, and for participants to interact with each other and the moderator as if they were sitting in the same room.

Virtual focus groups maintain many of the benefits of traditional focus groups without the travel costs. Some participants may also be more comfortable talking on camera than face-to-face. On the downside, broadband and webcam requirements severely limit the reach and representativeness of virtual focus groups, particularly in emerging regions of the world.

Mobile-Based Focus Groups

Conducting focus groups in emerging markets such as those in Africa, Asia, and Latin America or with other hard-to-reach respondents can present particular challenges. Traditional focus groups are expensive and infeasible when working with audiences located across wide geographic regions, and virtual video focus groups are limited to participants with a broadband connection and a working webcam. To sidestep these issues, many researchers have started to leverage Market Research Online Communities or MROCs. MROCs are custom recruited communities that researchers can tap into for either quick turn-around results or longitudinal data collection.

MROCs operate similarly to focus groups, only conducted virtually through a web-based chat. After recruiting and inviting participants to join an MROC, a skilled moderator engages with the community to solicit feedback, provide prompts and guide group discussion. When conducted via mobile phones, MROCs allow researchers to reach previously unreachable markets and populations.

Mobile-based MROCs such as those which GeoPoll facilitates are often conducted via a chat app, with participants and the moderator engaging in a discussion via their mobile devices. Mobile-based MROCs also allow researchers to engage with their target audience in an extended conversation rather than a two-hour session. Participants can be recruited for a one-time, multi-day discussion or for a continuous community that it incentivized to remain active to explore changes in opinion over a longer period of time.

The advantages of mobile-based focus groups include:

• Researchers can gather data from participants in remote locations
• Participants can engage when it is convenient for them
• Research can chat with participants over an extended period of time
• Mobile phones enable participants to take and share video and picture data

Some potential disadvantages of mobile-based focus groups include:

• The drop-off rate can be higher with remote mobile participants
• Researchers cannot observe non-verbal reactions the same as in-person groups

Conduct Mobile-Based Focus Groups in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

GeoPoll has experience collecting qualitative data through multiple mobile-based methods, including MROCs. GeoPoll’s mobile-based MROCs provide the best option for collecting in-depth insights from audiences across Africa and other emerging regions. Using GeoPoll’s unique mobile-based focus groups, you can gather high-quality qualitative data in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional research methods. To learn more or request a quote, contact us today.

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Ways to conduct qualitative research in Africa through the mobile phone

GeoPoll has had success conducting qualitative research in Africa through what are called Market Research Online Communities, which are commonly referred to as “MROCs” (/em/raks/). MROCs are not a new research method globally but because they have traditionally been conducted online through desktop computers it has been difficult to gather a representative population to participate.

In order to meet the demand for faster and more cost-effective qualitative research in Africa, Unilever’s Consumer Markets and Insights group and GeoPoll recently came up with an innovative way to conduct MROCs via the mobile phone. The idea stemmed from Unilever’s need to collect qualitative information from populations in Africa who are difficult to reach through in-person methods. By developing and piloting a process that allows MROCs to be conducted through mobile phones, Unilever has been able to gather valuable feedback on their products.

Mobile based MROCs vs. focus groups

Mobile based MROCs are similar to focus groups in that they both have moderators and provide incentives to participants, but one of the key differentiators is that the conversations in rather than a few hours. Mobile based MROCs also support multimedia use, meaning participants can be prompted to send pictures and videos to the group. This is important because it enables the research conductors to see into the lives of study participants. In the following sections of this post, examples of the importance of multimedia capabilities for MROCs will be shown.

Situational applications for qualitative research in Africa

Identifying pain points

One example of an application of an MROC would be for brands to use the interactive platform for consumers to explain their pain points with a certain product or service.

Similar to a focus group, MROCs have moderators that guide the discussion, as well as participants who can make comments that spur conversation. This can be useful for identifying pain points because you can see if participants agree or disagree on pain points and why.

Understanding consumers’ purchasing decisions

Through MROCs, moderators can guide the conversation to determine what aspects of a purchase are most important to the participants. For example, a moderator can ask probing questions about how price, quality, longevity, sustainability, brand name, and/or accessibility of a product impact the product they choose to purchase over the competing products.

Additionally, moderators can gather feedback on what aspect of a purchase is most likely to get the participants to try a new product or service, which is especially valuable for brands penetrating a new market.

Understanding how consumers use a product or service

MROCs are valuable for gaining an understanding of how consumers use a product or service in their daily lives. Humans by nature are resourceful creatures who can use an item intended for one purpose and adapt that product for another use. As a brand, the alternate uses of a product can be useful for product extension or brand diversification. A good example of this could be a toothpaste company finding out that their toothpaste is being used to polish kitchen fixtures or to treat acne or insect bites.

By using MROCs to gather such information, participants have the ability to provide pictures and videos from their daily lives to the group. Imagine a company that is focused on launching a revolutionary new kitchen gadget, for example. This company could ask MROC participants to video themselves cooking a family meal and send it to the group. The study organizers can then see first-hand how consumers are cooking and how their new gadget can fill the consumer’s unique needs, which also helps marketers position the product when it goes to market.

Takeaways

MROCs are a tool for research studies that can be used creatively to accomplish a wide variety of goals. The ability to use mobile-based MROCs in African markets is a new development that opens up a world of possibility for qualitative research studies, which have traditionally been too costly to justify.

Today, conducting qualitative and quantitative studies in Africa is easier than ever before, and GeoPoll has the capacity to facilitate both for your organization. To learn more about our capabilities, contact us today.

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During every research project there comes a key moment – the decision around what type of data will best answer the posed research question. While quantitative data provides hard, numerical statistics on, for example, the popularity of a specific brand or the potential market size for a new venture, qualitative data is able to look beyond numbers into thoughts, feelings, and perceptions which are not so easily distilled.

Both quantitative and qualitative data have value at different stages in a project – qualitative data is often exploratory in nature, and can assist when a research question or hypothesis has not been fully fleshed out, while quantitative data allows for input from and quick analysis of large sample sizes. Once a hypothesis has been settled on, each type of data provides different inputs, and many modern researchers may lean towards mixed-methods approaches which incorporate both types of data to get a more complete view of a situation.

There are also practical implications to consider when making the decision between qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-modes research; While quantitative data from a survey or other dataset can be quickly analyzed to answer questions such as “How many consumers would buy my product tomorrow?”, qualitative data from interviews or focus groups requires a lengthier analysis process.

To glean insights from qualitative data regarding “How does the packaging of this product make you feel?”, researchers may need to manually categorize answers and create a data model that fits their needs. Quantitative methods can collect data quickly and cost-effectively from large sample sizes, while qualitative data collection often takes longer and is costlier. Despite this, the depth the qualitative data brings to researchers is extremely valuable, and below we outline some of the types of qualitative data collection, and some new, mobile-centric methods for gathering this type of data.

Types of Qualitative Data Collection

Interviews

Interviews are one of the most well-known forms of collecting qualitative data, as they allow for more in-depth responses than quantitative questions, in which answers are chosen from a set list of options. While interviews can collect quantitative data, for example if a yes/no question is posed to the interviewee, they are often used for qualitative data collection. Qualitative interviews are typically semi-structured or unstructured in format: The interviewer may have a list of general topics to discuss without specific questions, allowing the interviewee’s responses to guide the direction of the discussion, or they may ask open-ended questions which allow for rich data collection.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are similar to a group interview, in that they consist of multiple research subjects being posed questions as a group by a moderator. The key difference between interviews and focus groups comes with the interactions group members have with each other – as they are participating in a group discussion, they are able to influence each other’s thinking and bounce ideas off of each other, while still contributing at an individual level. A skilled moderator is a necessity in a focus group discussion, as the moderator guides the conversation to extract the best information possible while remaining a neutral observer. Focus groups are an excellent way for brands to gather honest feedback on new products, brand messaging, and other items that consumers often have a visceral reaction to. While focus groups are traditionally conducted in-person, virtual focus groups are becoming more popular in market research, as we explain below.

Observation

Direct observation of people in their natural environments, also called fieldwork, is one of the best ways to gather unbiased data on the habits and actions of consumers. In this method, a researcher observes the actions of their target group. Observation could take the shape of a researcher viewing consumers shopping in a store, examining a shelf of products and deciding which one to purchase, or could include analyzing the reactions of a group to a video playing on a large screen. Observation allows researchers to view decision making, social interactions, and reactions to stimuli as they occur in the real world, which can provide insights not seen in settings such as interviews. However, a drawback of observation is the amount of time and effort on the part of the researcher it requires.

Video and Picture Analysis

Analyzing videos or pictures of how individuals use or react to a product can be an excellent source of qualitative data. Using this technique, for example, a brand may realize that a new package design was not as intuitive as they had hoped, or that consumers are not reading usage instructions. Video and picture market research data can be solicited directly from consumers, or researchers may invite subjects to a location and video them themselves. This type of qualitative data can then be analyzed to identify common themes or topics among participants.

Document analysis

In the document analysis research method, researchers gather qualitative data from existing documents. These documents could include anything from diaries or journals of research subjects, to advertisements, web content, and other written documents that can provide deep insights into past events or individual’s feelings at a specific moment in time. Documents allow researchers to analyze information without needing to conduct interviews or gather new data, which can be beneficial when time or budget prohibit other research methods.

How to Gather Qualitative Data with Mobile Phones

As mobile phone technology has advanced and penetration has increased around the globe, mobile phones have become an increasingly popular way to collect qualitative data. Using a research subject’s own mobile phones as a vehicle for data collection, researchers can gather data from subjects in remote locations, and collect data more often than is feasible using in-person methodologies. In addition, leveraging mobile often reduces the costs associated with qualitative research. Some of the above methods that can be adapted to mobile include:

Mobile Phone Interviews

Interviews can be conducted by phone, through voice calls or video interviews. This enables researchers to gather qualitative data without needing to meet interviewees in person, making it more convenient for the interviewee and allowing for a higher number of interviews to be conducted.

Mobile Phone Focus Groups

Focus groups conducted virtually through a web-based chat, often referred to as Market Research Online Communities or MROCs, have grown in popularity, and a similar technique can be applied to mobile phones. Using mobile-based chat groups and a skilled moderator, participants can take part in an ongoing focus group via mobile, allowing organizations to collect rich data over a week or longer.

Mobile Phone Video and Picture Analysis

Many mobile phones include high-quality cameras, and this tool can be leveraged by researchers looking to gather qualitative picture and/or video data. Researchers can request study participants take pictures or videos of themselves interacting with products, exploring features, and using them in their everyday lives.

Conduct Qualitative Research Through Mobile Around the World

GeoPoll has experience collecting qualitative data through multiple mobile-based methods, including mobile focus groups in Africa, and would be happy to answer your questions about collecting qualitative data quickly and cost-effectively using mobile. To learn more or request a quote, contact us here.

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We are proud to announce that GeoPoll won the coveted “Best Overall Paper” award at the African Market Research Forum in Lagos, Nigeria last week. The AMRA Africa Forum is a high-profile event held under the auspices of ESOMAR, the global market research association that brings together the best and brightest market researchers from all corners of the continent to showcase innovative thinking and breakthrough approaches in our industry.

The presentation was organized by Mike Odebode of GeoPoll West Africa, Tracy Angus-Hammond of Angus Hammond Africa, and Bukola Sowunmi of Unilever CMI. The presentation shared GeoPoll experience, learnings, and expertise in implementing mobile-based qualitative research in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Cote d’Ivoire, an initiative conceptualized by Unilever CMI and executed by GeoPoll and Angus Hammond Africa.

Market Research Online Communities, MROCs in Africa

The qualitative data collection project presented at AMRA has been running for six months and has allowed for what many thought was not possible: Collecting low-cost and effective qualitative research, remotely, through mobile phones. Typically, qualitative research requires an in-person moderator and a group of focus group participants to meet all together for a length of time, 2 hours for example. Although there have been recent advancements in remote qualitative research methods, the advancements all require personal computers for participation—a method that was not widely feasible in Africa.

In order to combat this challenge, we were able to conceptualize and implement mobile-based chat groups that work around typical limitations of remote qualitative research in Africa. These mobile-based chat groups had a moderator and panel of participants just like face-to-face focus groups, yet the discussion was held through text-based chatting on a mobile phone. Instead of a single 2-hour face-to-face session, these mobile-based focus groups guided conversations that lasted at least a week.

The long timeline of the focus group was particularly unique to the study because the time commitment for quantitative research participants typically is fixed, not flexible like in our mobile-based study. In GeoPoll’s study, participants could chime into the focus group conversation during any free time in their days, which made participation feasible to many more participants than if there was not that flexibility. In addition, the anonymous nature of focus groups through mobile phones gave GeoPoll the ability to gather feedback from an extremely targeted population group who would have been extremely difficult to reach via in-person methods.

Additionally, participants could be tasked with providing images or videos of their life or experiences. For example, in one of the studies participants were asked to submit a 2-3 minute video of them cooking an evening meal. The capability to collect videos of this nature brings value to our mobile-based methodology that is not present in face-to-face methods, as all brands know that images and videos are truly worth at least a thousand words.

Through our mobile-based Market Research Online Communities, or MROCs, we were able to access the inaccessible and truly see into the lives of our respondents—which was invaluable to the qualitative research analysis produced as part of this project. To conduct a mobile-based qualitative research project of your own, contact the experts today.

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