Focus Groups: Public Policy and Collaborative Planning
Focus groups are becoming the steak and potatoes of community assessments and project planning.
Cleveland, OH, July 20, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Most grant programs and new initiatives require that communities work collaboratively among varied disciplines. However, many groups never get off the ground or all progress is on paper only and the community never sees the long-term results.
Lauren Litton, of I.S.P. Consulting, recommends using focus group as a tool from the planning to the sustainability phase of any project or assessment process. Focus groups are a mechanism that facilitates bringing in the voices of those who would usually not be heard to come to the forefront. They are a great venue to receive input from consumers, professionals, and other key constituencies. People are often more comfortable speaking to people of the like yoke. For example, judges will be more open with other judges, social workers with social workers, and so on. Focus groups can be run so that they are by profession or interest which provides people an opportunity to network as well as inform the policy maker of interests that he/she may not be aware of. Additionally, they can be operated very quickly at a low cost. The benefit received from focus groups greatly outweighs the resources expended.
I.S.P has used the focus group as a tool when assessing community resources to expand legal services, address legislative issues around child custody and visitation, and for information gathering for collaborative work. Focus groups are being used more broadly than testing markets or other basic research. They should be considered as part of most project activities.
Some of the most important factors in running a successful focus group surround the skills of the facilitator. A facilitator cannot lead the discussion but must be aware of the issues at hand in order to explore comments of participants. It is also often important to use someone from the outside of the community. Someone who is not connected with the community will not be viewed as an insider, have real or perceived connections with an issue at hand, and will be able to compile the results of the focus groups and present them in a non-threatening manner, as there is no local interest at stake. Finally, there must be a marketing plan for the focus groups and sometimes pre-information gathering is necessary, such as the distribution of surveys.
Overall, focus groups are a simple way to assess success and plan next steps. They can be done quickly with the assistance of professionals.
For more information about focus groups contact I.S.P. Consulting at www.ispconsults.com or email inquiry@ispconsults.com
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Lauren Litton, of I.S.P. Consulting, recommends using focus group as a tool from the planning to the sustainability phase of any project or assessment process. Focus groups are a mechanism that facilitates bringing in the voices of those who would usually not be heard to come to the forefront. They are a great venue to receive input from consumers, professionals, and other key constituencies. People are often more comfortable speaking to people of the like yoke. For example, judges will be more open with other judges, social workers with social workers, and so on. Focus groups can be run so that they are by profession or interest which provides people an opportunity to network as well as inform the policy maker of interests that he/she may not be aware of. Additionally, they can be operated very quickly at a low cost. The benefit received from focus groups greatly outweighs the resources expended.
I.S.P has used the focus group as a tool when assessing community resources to expand legal services, address legislative issues around child custody and visitation, and for information gathering for collaborative work. Focus groups are being used more broadly than testing markets or other basic research. They should be considered as part of most project activities.
Some of the most important factors in running a successful focus group surround the skills of the facilitator. A facilitator cannot lead the discussion but must be aware of the issues at hand in order to explore comments of participants. It is also often important to use someone from the outside of the community. Someone who is not connected with the community will not be viewed as an insider, have real or perceived connections with an issue at hand, and will be able to compile the results of the focus groups and present them in a non-threatening manner, as there is no local interest at stake. Finally, there must be a marketing plan for the focus groups and sometimes pre-information gathering is necessary, such as the distribution of surveys.
Overall, focus groups are a simple way to assess success and plan next steps. They can be done quickly with the assistance of professionals.
For more information about focus groups contact I.S.P. Consulting at www.ispconsults.com or email inquiry@ispconsults.com
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Contact
I.S.P. Consulting
Lauren Litton
(419) 660-8000
www.ispconsults.com
Lauren Litton
(419) 660-8000
www.ispconsults.com
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