Focus group interview is a type of qualitative research which helps clients to understand consumers thoroughly. By moderating respondents, hidden viewpoints can be turned out from debates among these respondents that we cannot get from quantitative research studies.
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Rich Panel
Respondents are recruited from our rich panel of over 130,000 members throughout the country. -
Experienced personnel
Experienced qualitative researchers will support the project from the planning to reporting stage. -
Combination of Quantitative and Qualitative Research
To grab various insights, some quantitative techniques can be applied in FGD.
High quality of FGD service
Rich Panel |
Recruiting target respondents
From Vinaresearch (Vietnam) panel having more than 130,000 members with 25 attributes (gender, age, residential area, occupation, household monthly income, hobbies, etc.) From sub-panels and other surveys conducted by our researchers to select the right respondents. |
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Experienced |
Supported by experienced researchers from the planning stage We provide skillful and comprehensive researchers for our clients from the planning to reporting stage. Our moderators have much experience on conducting FGD projects in different fields. Besides, the team including local and Japanese professionals is able to work on international projects. |
Combination of Quantitative and Qualitative Research |
Flexible skills in FGD Depending on purposes of each FGD, our moderators can recommend some techniques in both Qualitative and Quantitative method in the group. By combining these techniques, we can collect thorough insights from FGD. |
Rate of group interviews
Contact us for service price in detail.
Sample price table for 4 Groups (6 respondent / group)
| Group | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (USD) | 1700 | 3000 | 4500 | 5500 |
Condition
- - Maximum is 6 respondents per group
- - Length of interview: 2 hours / group
- - W&S service package includes room/facilities preparation for interview, qualified moderators as requested, recruitment fee , incentives, guideline, project management, transcription, and report.
- - Fee for guideline and report can be changed depending on clients' request. Please kindly contact us.
- - W&S experienced full-time staff will manage project directly from creating survey to reporting.
- - For recruitment, W&S has freelancers well-trained by W&S research team to keep quality of respondents.
Photo Gallery of FGD rooms
1. Interview room
From our partner - GreenHorizons
Equipment Information
TV, Projector, Recorder, etc.
2. Observe / Client room
From our partner - GreenHorizons
Equipment Information
TV, Projector, Recorder, etc.
Tips for focus group interview
Interview time: Approximate 2 hours Reasonable time to carry out a discussion is important. 2 hours is the maximum interval for participants joining the conversation actively and enthusiastically. Exceeding 2 hours will drive participants to get bored. Quality of the answer falling from this may affect the project results.
Number of group participants: 6 is the bestThe size of a FGD can increase up to 7 - 8 participants depending on clients' request. However, with this number of people, we can meet some obstacles. In particular, longer interview time leading to bad mood of respondents can be seen obviously.
Tips for FGD execution in Vietnam
- 1. Reconfirm FGD purpose before executionExecutors carefully ensure that objectives of the discussion are clearly defined by clients.
- 2. Keep balance in the groupArrange respondents at the same level in one group to keep balance of ideas sharing. In details, we should avoid recruiting people who are too talkative or silent / not willing to share their ideas in the group. Besides, the same education level is also important as knowledge of university graduates completely differs from people graduating from high school. In some specific projects, social economic class also affect outputs, so dividing respondents in suitable groups is very important in this case. Moreover, dressing and behavior of Moderator also contribute in success of FGD. In the other words, she / he should dress and behave suitably to integrate with respondents.
- 3. Always have back-up plan for recruitment processDue to the culture and habits of Vietnamese, there is a high rate of cancellation before or on FGD date. Even market research companies increase costs for incentives to attract respondents, this rate does not change dramatically. Hence, market research companies have to be aware of this situation and always recruit double number of respondents required.
- 4. Ask respondents to come earlyLateness seems to be very common in Vietnam because of habits of Vietnamese and environmental factors especially rainy days in Ho Chi Minh City. To avoid this case, market research companies have to ask respondents to come 30 - 45 minutes before FGD starts.
- 5. Collect usage information including facts and actual use of respondents in a pre-questionnaire.This activity is to get an experience profile of respondents in advance, to be used as background for developing their ideas. It's an effective use of the limited time for FGD, so moderator have time to dig deeper the respondents point of view in an interview.
- 6. Retrieve knowledge on the Discussion topic prior to the interviewThis is to help Moderator can understand the topic comprehensively in order to deal with any new opinions that can come out unpredictably.
- 7. Do not follow the order of discussion guideline strictlyFollowing the story rigidly may affect moderator's flexibility to carry out the discussion. Moderator can rearrange the order depending on what is going on in the FGD, but still ensure to have enough information required in the discussion guideline.
- 8. Focus on listening while deploying the discussion.Listening to answers from respondents carefully can bring different opportunities to sharply understand respondents' stories. In addition, Moderator should express his / her emotions when listening to respondents, but does not to give his / her own ideas.
- 9. Listen to the reasons of respondents on using "Why" questions.Get respondents' awareness rather than to check their reaction and response, or try to figure out reasons for their reactions / answers.
- 10. FGD is different from other quantitative methods as ideas are collected by each of individuals rather than majority.Deeper insights of each individual are more appreciated in FGD.
- 11. Control participants when they are over excited to drive the story far away from original topic.In those cases, moderator should ingeniously get participants back to the discussion topic.
- 12. Should not overlook even small viewpoints of respondents.Moderator listens to the story of participants and note down very detailed even slight changes.
- 13. Characteristics of Vietnamese respondentsCommonly, most Vietnamese respondents can be easily influenced by dominants. They can withdraw their ideas, so eliminating dominant respondents is necessary. Besides, way of questioning for each area of Vietnam is different. In details, Northern people especially Hanoians, they like to speak out and are very good at describing their opinions detailed. Meanwhile, Southern people are quite "easier" when sharing their ideas. In the other words, they normally have a trend of agreeing with everything. Hence, Moderator have to add more questions to clarify ideas of Southern respondents.
Tips for Client
- 1. InterpreterUpon request, simultaneous interpreter is available for Client to report what's going on in FGD by using Client's language (common is English). She / He will sit in Observe / Client room and wear headphone during the interview. In some special cases, she / he will be in Interview room when Client would like to communicate with respondents directly
- 2. Extra questionsWhen FGD starts, it is better not to interrupt by sending some extra questions to Moderator as it can distract or break the environment of the group. However if they found something interesting during FGD , Client can ask questions by using one of the following ways:
- Write down on a small paper and ask research assistant to knock the door of interview room.
- Wait until break time and Moderator comes to the observe room.
- Chat with Moderator by Skype as she / he can bring laptop in the interview room. - 3. Come earlyClient should come 30 minutes before FGD starts. Otherwise, respondents can recognize appearance of Client and feel uncomfortable when sharing their ideas. If Client cannot come early, she / he can come after FGD starts.
- 4. Try not to make loud noisesThe FGD room is one-way mirror, so respondents cannot see or hear voice in Observe room when Client speaks in low or normal tone. Therefore, it is recommended for Client to keep their tone in moderation during the interview.
The FGD's recruitment process
| 1 | Invitation is sent to respondents taken out from Vinaresearch Panel or from outside |
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| 2 | List out potential respondents who are willing to join |
| 3 | Call respondents to confirm recruitment criteria and pick out qualified respondents |
| 4 | Divide potential respondents to 2 target groups: MAIN and EXTRA. MAIN respondents: have higher intention of participating in FGD. EXTRA respondents: have lower intention or unsure about their participations. ** Cancellation rate in Asian countries is really high because of culture or external factors, so number of respondents recruited are always double by needed number. |
| 5 | Recontact to confirm respondent's participation as well as other information 1 week before the FGD day |
| 6 | For some cases, visit the respondents' house in advance to check the authenticity of given information to be qualified for the project. Take pictures if necessary. |
| 7 | Final confirmation 2 days before the FGD day to make sure respondent's presence as well as guidance for reaching FGD venue. |
Group Interview Case
Our Past Experience
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Beverage -For new product development.
Explore the needs of drinking after meals occasion, and between meals, new products.
I extract keywords for the development of an idea. -
Fashion -For exploring fashion style and new concepts
Understand lifestyle as well as elements affecting on fashion style of respondents. Besides, presenting some new designs (clothes and shoes) to pick out the most suitable ones for them.
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Job changing - For finding reasons for changing job
Applying market research online community, participants felt comfortable when sharing their opinions on job changing trend in Vietnam as well as reasons why they left their companies.
When FGD is applied
Focus group discussion is usually for:
Concept test will go through:
Name and logo test will go through:
Advertising test will go through:
Explore study will go through:
Process of conducting a FGD
Research brief
Client sends research brief to research agency
Proposal
Based on the research brief, research agency prepares a proposal which identifies target respondents and method to conduct group.
Recruiting
Prepare screening questionnaire and start recruiting. Recruiting period depends on difficulty of target respondents and total sample size.
Discussion guideline
Prepare storyline (order of questions) and confirmed by clients.
Invitation
Call back qualified participants 2 days before conducting groups.
Set up facilities
Prepare one-way mirror rooms, video recorder, interpreter (if any), refreshment... as requested.
Conduct group
Client can give their additional questions for moderator (researcher) while group is carrying out.
Debrief
After finishing one group, researcher will debrief insights collected from the group and discuss with client about next groups.
Report
Collect, analyze information and make report.
Deliverables
Respondent profile - PPT slide
Respondent profile is usually provided 1 - 2 days before FGD day. Basically, it provides respondent's name, picture, age, occupation and some specific information.
Transcription - Excel or Word file
Transcription can be delivered by English, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Indonesia.
1. Template 1 - Word file
2. Template 2 - Excel file
Recoding files
W&S can convert video files in many format depending on Client's request.
In case, Client does not want to receive DVD, W&S can upload the recording files to W&S server and send links to Client. However, the files will be deleted from the server after 10 - 14 days to ensure strict confidentiality.
Report - PPT slide
Not as quantitative research with charts, qualitative reports mostly use words to analyze and define what consumers said. Below is one of our sample report:
