Write a moderator guide on a topic of your choosing, following the format of the Moderator Guide Example at the bottom of the Instructional Materials page for this week. For additional examples of moderator guides, make sure to review . Note though, the Garrison examples are in a different format to what is required here. There is no universal convention for moderator guide formats. You will use a draft of your moderator guide in the live FG session this week. This means you need a functioning draft moderator guide ready for the start of your live FG session. After testing your guide in the live session you can then refine your guide from the live session for submission here. By actually testing your moderator guide (often referred to as a pilot test) in a live session, you likely identify many (or at least some) things you would like to change in the moderator guide.
You should not feel pressured to make your FG guide interesting to your other group members. If your passion or ideal FG topic is something most other people find boring that is okay. Also, if you desire, you can ask your group members to role-play in the live FG. For example, if your FG is about why teenage females use Facebook, you can ask your group members to pretend to be teenage females in the FG. You will use the data you collect during your live FG to write your FG paper (see for more information). However, you can use a FG guide on any topic to achieve a good grade in the Focus Group paper. Given the time constraints of the FG live session, you will likely not have time to ask all of your moderator guide questions during the live session. For this reason, you should identify your most important questions and make sure you ask these questions in the live session. You do not need to make any notes on the assignment of what you believe your most important questions are. This task of identifying these questions is an ungraded and unreviewed exercise you complete alone in preparation for the live session.
Make sure to do the steps listed:
- Clearly state the topic and write a three- to four-sentence summary of the problem (real or fictional) and the goal(s) of the FG.
- Indicate who participants would be, how you would screen, and reimbursement participants receive for participation.
- Include three general probes and mark these with General Probe.
- Include at least three specific probes for each key question and mark these with Specific Probe.
- Your topic should not be one that other students in the class may consider sensitive or intrusive. Concrete examples would be to avoid topics such as sex, drugs, criminal acts, religion, or politics. Although FGs are very useful in these areas such as testing effectiveness of campaign commercials or determining how to promote safe sex, such topics may be offensive to others in the class.
Note: The Moderator Guide Example at the bottom of the instructional materials page for this week is single spaced. For this assignment you can use single space or double space.
Resources: There is no additional or new information about this assignment elsewhere within the course. This is a stand-alone assignment with all the information needed for completion contained on this page.
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Video:
How Do Focus Groups Work?
(Focus on 0:004:30)
Overview & Summary:
This video provides a concise overview of focus groups as a qualitative research method, emphasizing their use in understanding attitudes, opinions, and underlying motivations. It clearly explains the role of the moderator as a facilitator who guides discussion through open-ended questions while allowing participants to interact naturally.
What I liked most about the clip is its emphasis on balanced participation and moderator neutrality. The video reinforces that focus groups are not designed to reach consensus, but rather to surface differing perspectives and group dynamics. This aligns with our course materials, which stress that interaction among participants often generates richer insights than individual interviews.
The video also briefly acknowledges key limitations of focus groups, including dominant participants and social pressure. I appreciated that these challenges were presented as manageable through skilled moderation rather than reasons to avoid the method altogether. One limitation of the clip is that it remains mostly conceptual and does not show a real focus group in action. However, as an introductory video, it effectively connects theory to practical application.
Discussion Question:
What techniques can moderators use to encourage quieter participants to contribute without making them uncomfortable?
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