Moving client/moderator communications into the 1990s

By Thomas Greenbaum | December 1, 1992

Reading time: 5 minutes

Abstract

Historically, client observers have communicated with their moderator during a focus group session by sending a note into the group room by an employee of the focus group facility. This article discusses several reasons why this practice negatively affects client observers behind the one-way mirror as well as participants and the moderator in the group room. The author suggests alternate strategies for communication between the moderator and the client observers.

Research Topics:: Focus Group-Moderating | Focus Groups | Qualitative Research
Industry/Market Focus:: Research Industry
Content Type: Research Methodology

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Editor's note: Thomas Greenbaum is executive vice president of Clarion Marketing and Communications, Greenwich, Connecticut.

Do you watch focus group sessions with pencil in hand, so you can send notes into the moderator to direct the flow of the discussion in the room? If you are one of the many clients who follow this practice, you are still operating in the 1980s, and are probably seriously affecting the overall quality of the focus group research you are conducting.

Historically, the traditional way that client observers have communicated with their moderator during a focus group session is by jotting down a brief note which would be carried into the group room by an employee of the focus group facility. However, in recent years the more sophisticated moderators have found this technique can be very destructive to the overall focus group process, and that it should be replaced with other alternatives that do not negatively affect the group dynamics.

There are several different reasons why sending notes into the group room is a very destructive influence on the overall focus group research process. They involve both negative factors among client observers behind the one-way mirror and among the participants and the moderator in the group room.

Specifically:

Problems affecting client observers

When the clients in the backroom understand they have license to send notes in to the moderator, some observers pay more attention to the construction of the notes they are writing than to the discussion in the focus group room, thus missing much of the important verbal and non-verbal content.
Writing notes in the backroom while watching the group tends to focus the attention of the observers on the details of the group discussion rather than the "big picture," which is the appropriate way to observe focus group sessions.
The process of developing notes to send in to the focus group room encourages conversation among the observers in the backroom, which takes their attention away from the discussion that is occurring during the session, thus causing them to miss some important inputs.

Problems in the focus group room

A note that is sent in to the focus group room significantly affects the mood in the session and will distract both the moderator and the participants from the subject being discussed. This is a function of:

- The noise and distraction that is created when the door to the room opens. This normally will stop all discussion in the room and cause the participants to watch the facility representative give the note to the moderator, rather than continue with the conversation that was occurring when the door opened.

- The fact that the moderator must then stop what he or she is doing to absorb the content of the note, and then try to determine how to best integrate its content into the flow of the session. Often this is quite difficult, as the note is written quickly and therefore is not legible, nor is it written in sufficient detail so that the intent of it is as clear to the moderator as it was to the people in the back who developed it. As a result, the moderator cannot focus on what is happening in the group room, but rather must try to figure out how to satisfy the needs of the people in the observation area.

A note coming into the focus group room also can have a significant impact on the relationship between the moderator and the participants.

In researching the focus group process over the past several years, it has become apparent that one of the major reasons why the focus group process works as well as it does is because the moderator becomes the authority figure in the room, much like a teacher in a class or a captain on a ship. This "authority" gives the moderator license to control the flow of the group, in order to achieve the objectives that have been established.

However, when a note comes into the room from the observation area, the "balance of power" shifts from the moderator to the backroom, and the respondents often exhibit two different behaviors:

First, they begin to posture their inputs to appeal to what they feel the people in the backroom are seeking, rather than responding to the direction of the moderator.
Second, the respondents will often try to make eye contact with the people behind the mirror by "looking through" the moderator, since they realize that the power base for the focus group discussion lies behind - rather than in front of - the mirror.

What should be done to communicate with the moderator during the session?

The following are two simple but very important actions that client organizations can take that will significantly improve the overall quality of the communication between the client observers and the moderator, which will result in higher quality focus group research sessions.

First, trust your moderator, or get one whom you do trust. If you have the right moderator, and this individual has been appropriately briefed, the objectives of the focus group session should be clearly understood. Therefore, the moderator may not choose the same time as you would have to delve into an idea or feeling that has been raised, but if it is important, the topic will be covered later in the session. If you can believe your moderator will do this, then it will not be necessary for you to obsess about the "missed opportunity" during the session, thus taking your mind off of the discussion that is occurring.

Second, insist that your moderator allocate time in the moderator guide for coming to the backroom for a very brief time (30 to 45 seconds) to communicate with the observers. In my experience, this is by far the most effective way to communicate with clients during focus group sessions as it is one-to-one communication, thus ensuring that the moderator will leave the backroom with a clear understanding of the information needs of the observers.

Some moderators are afraid to leave the room because they don't want to lose control of the group. However, proper planning will preclude this from happening. My policy is to give the participants a brief writing exercise to complete while I go to the backroom. This could be a sentence completion, a summary of attitudes toward a product or ad concept or an articulation of their general reactions to a new idea that has been presented. By giving them something to do, you maintain control over the session and minimize the chances that one of the participants will say something while you are out of the room that will be detrimental to securing objective inputs relative to discussion items later in the session.

In summary, the time is now to move into the 1990s, relative to the communication between client observers and the moderator. Good communications can contribute to an even more productive discussion, whereas the use of old techniques that seriously inhibit the discussion can threaten the integrity of the material that is developed.