BABOK_Guide_v3_member_copy

Focus Groups
Techniques
should appear free-flowing and relatively unstructured to the participants. A
session is typically one to two hours in length. A recorder captures the group’s
comments.
.7 After the Focus Group
The results of the focus group are transcribed as soon as possible after the session
has ended. The business analyst analyzes and documents the participants’
agreements and disagreements, looks for trends in the responses, and creates a
report that summarizes the results.
10.21.4 Usage Considerations
.1 Strengths
Complimentary IIBA® Member Copy. Not for Distribution or Resale.
• The ability to elicit data from a group of people in a single session saves both
time and costs as compared to conducting individual interviews with the same
number of people.
• Effective for learning people's attitudes, experiences, and desires.
• Active discussion and the ability to ask others questions creates an environment
in which participants can consider their personal view in relation to other
perspectives.
• An online focus group is useful when travel budgets are limited and
participants are distributed geographically.
• Online focus group sessions can be recorded easily for playback.
.2 Limitations
• In a group setting, participants may be concerned about issues of trust or may
be unwilling to discuss sensitive or personal topics.
• Data collected about what people say may not be consistent with how people
actually behave.
• If the group is too homogeneous their responses may not represent the
complete set of requirements.
• A skilled moderator is needed to manage group interactions and discussions.
• It may be difficult to schedule the group for the same date and time.
• Online focus groups limit interaction between participants.
• It is difficult for the moderator of an online focus group to determine attitudes
without being able to read body language.
• One vocal participant could sway the results of the focus group.
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