Our amazing team at Focus Insite does a lot of recruiting for focus groups. Over the years, we’ve recruited thousands of participants for all sorts of qualitative and quantitative studies, but focus-group recruiting remains popular for our clients. The reason being that focus groups are great at uncovering depth and context for consumers’ opinions, behaviors, actions, and thoughts–especially when it comes to purchasing decisions!
As with any quantitative or qualitative study, finding the most qualified participants is paramount, but equally important is having an experienced moderator leading the focus group or in-depth interview. If you’ve ever participated in a phone survey or focus group that was led by a robotic moderator, you know how awkward these conversations can be. If a moderator is just ‘going through the motions’ and asking questions without follow-up, then a lot of important insights are being missed.
There are so many important facets to a successful qualitative study: a good screening guide; qualified participants to fill a study; a well-organized discussion guide; a dynamic moderator who is familiar with the topic being explored; transcription services to convert audio to text; and finally, a succinct report that synthesizes all of the rich insights revealed in the study. We’ve spilled a lot of ink on the importance of screening guides and transcription, but what about moderators?
Moderators play a crucial role in the success of any qualitative study, but what separates a good moderator from a mediocre one? The good news is that many moderators who work for market research companies have backgrounds in psychology or sociology, and have some educational background in these subjects. A university degree isn’t necessary though, as there are a number of training modules and learning labs that can train people in the art and science of moderating.
If you’ve made the decision to invest in a qualitative research study, you want to ensure you get the most from your investment. Hiring a reputable market research firm to design your study goes a long way, as does partnering with a nationwide market research recruiting agency. If you’re trying to manage qualitative studies internally, then consider investing in training programs for your moderators so you maximize your investment!
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