ISD From The Ground Up, 4th Edition

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How to Conduct Focus Groups

Every instructional designer should be familiar with focus groups and the value they bring to analysis and evaluation. Focus groups range from informal conversations to videotaped productions, and there are almost as many styles as there are designers to facilitate them. The term focus group derives from the intent of this analysis tool, which is to focus on a particular topic and capture participants’ comments.

Focus groups are used widely for gauging participants’ views on such diverse topics as a political issue or a new product being brought to market. An instructional designer might be interested in using this tool to determine a population’s attitudes about a proposed training strategy or to uncover issues ...