Appropriate Research Questions
How do you percieve the current public health initiatives and campaigns in San Jose?
You are conducting a study on the challenges college students face when accessing mental health resources. You invite 10 students to sit together and share their experiences and opinions. The facilitator asks open-ended questions and encourages participants to respond to each other's comments.
This is a focus group.
Focus groups are key in program development and evaluation.
True.
What kind of participants does a focus group consist of?
A) Community Members
B) Stakeholders
C) Public Health Program Developers
D) Public Health Study Investigators
A) Community Members.
How many people have used Calfresh services in your community here in San Jose?
Not Appropriate.
(Quantitative/Statistic Seeking Research Questions typically are not used for Focus groups).
A researcher wants to understand the effectiveness of a new anti-vaping campaign. They gather feedback from 500 students using an online survey consisting of multiple-choice and scaled questions.
This NOT a focus group.
Focus groups can be facilitated discussions with ocassional breakout sessions.
True.
Focus groups are most affective when used as a:
A) Pre-program evaluation
B) Post-program evaluation
C) Both
C) Both.
If you had unlimited funding, what policy changes would you bring forth to fight the opioid pandemic in San Francisco?
Appropriate.
A public health agency invites parents of children under five to discuss their experiences with local vaccination services. After an initial discussion, participants are split into small breakout rooms to brainstorm improvements, then reconvene to share their ideas.
This is a focus group. Focus groups can include breakout sessions!
There is such a thing as over-recruiting when it comes to focus groups.
True.
(Focus groups typically need 8-12 people.)
Focus groups help research for :
A) Program evaluations
B) Health beliefs
C) Need assessments
D) All the above
D) All of the above.
How do cultural beliefs influence parent's decisions to vaccinate their children in San Jose?
Appropriate.
A nonprofit organization hosts a town hall meeting to discuss opioid misuse in the community. Attendees share concerns and ask questions to a panel of experts. The event is recorded to gather community feedback.
This is NOT a focus group.
(Town hall meetings are not focus groups since they dont follow a structured facilitated discussion imposed by a researcher. No moderation in the group.)
Focus groups are commonly referred to as a fast but expensive research method since they almost always require participant incentives in order to actually gain participation.
False.
(Focus groups are stressed as a fast and an inexpensive form of research. Focus groups commonly require no incentives, people particpate for free because the topics are so important to them!)
How many people are typically in a focus group?
A) 5-10
B) 8-12
C) 15+ (no limit)
B) 8-12
In your opinion, which public health program in San Jose has shown the highest return on investment within the city based on recent data?
Not appropriate.
(This research question requires actual data and expert responses. This is not a question for a group of community members. Interviews or papers etc. would be more suitable.)
A marketing agency uses a virtual simulation to observe how consumers react to a redesigned grocery store layout. Participants navigate a 3D environment, make shopping choices, and answer brief follow-up questions via chat. The researcher tracks behavior without further group interaction.
This is NOT a focus group.
(This is more of a simulation/observational study. A focus group needs a direct, real-time discussion to be occuring. Which is not occuring here.)
It is known that participants in a focus group must all follow a similar background for true understanding. Researchers however, do not need to share similar background or identity with the focus group as they arent apart of it, solely guide the conversation.
False.
(Researchers must follow a similar background so that this doesnt cause mistrust within the participants or prohibit them from talking about sensitive topics since the researcher is still in the room.)
Which of these is NOT a benefit of focus groups?
A) Its fast.
B) Its inexpensive.
C) They minimize groupthinking.
D) It creates community.
C) They minimize groupthinking.
Focus groups actually carry a high risk of group thinking. If everyone in a focus group is responding the same way, other participants may begin to conform to dominant opinions sadly.