Focus group discussion with farmers in Can Tho province, Vietnam
To ensure a successful focus group discussion (FGD), some logistical arrangements are necessary. These include invitations, group composition, transportation, venue, seating arrangments, timing, name tags, recording, and refreshments. From numerous FGDs I have conducted in Southeast Asia, I learned a few key lessons that could spell success or failure. One memorable lesson had to do with asking participants to wear name tags to enable the moderator to encourage shy participants. While FGD participants in the Philippines can be requested to wear name tags without a fuss, I found that in other countries, such is not the case. Early on, our research partners simply had not prepared the materials for name tags and when I brought it up, they were reluctant and brushed it aside. I have gone on to conduct many more FGDs — perhaps close to 100 — but I have stopped asking for name tags. The lesson here is that cultural differences exist and a communication researcher has to be sensitive to these.
For some visuals on the focus group discussion process, view this …
7 responses so far ↓
buen // November 27, 2007 at 10:07 pm
hello ma’am…
finally, i was able to get internet access and visit our devcom page….although medyo kapos ako ngayon,hehe….our discussion earlier today really made me understand what it is to be in an FGD and how to facilitate it….thanks!!!
Monina Escalada // November 28, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Hi Buen. Thanks. Our mock FGD really illuminated the process and pointed up the challenges to a moderator. To moderate well and achieve the FGD objectives often requires multi-tasking — to encourage the shy ones to speak up, politely ask the dominant participants to give others a chance to speak, ask the inattentive ones to pay attention, etc. You need to have grace under fire or to be firm but gentle.
kim // November 28, 2007 at 8:45 pm
hi ma’am…
I’m glad that we had our mock FGD. This is the first time for us to be involved in FGD. Playing the role of FGD moderator is not an easy task for a neophyte in the field. My classmates truly lived up to their roles. But from that experience, I have somehow gained insights on how it is to be in an FGD and how to manage it. What if this is going to happen in a real FGD? What if the participants are inactive, silent or dominant? Will I be able to handle this? These were the thoughts in my mind. And this is the challenge for everyone of us. In the future years, we will be dong this. It’s good thing to know that we had a great experience on the matter. Thank you ma’am..
Monina Escalada // November 30, 2007 at 5:18 am
Kim, I agree with you that we all learned from the FGD role playing. For someone who moderated an FGD for the first time, you did extremely well. I hope the insights that you and your classmates got from the FGD will be a learning experience.
Jaime Gallentes // December 5, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Hi, Ma’am:
This is a useful information resource for development practitioners and students alike. Thanks for creating a site like this one. I already have downloaded files that I can use for my work and graduate classes.
Monina Escalada // December 6, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Jaime, thanks for visiting the site. I’m glad this blog is useful to graduate students like you. I am now in Hanoi, just came back from a meeting with the DG of the Plant Protection Department (PPD) to ask him about ministry views and actions taken to control the brown planthopper(BPH)/virus problem that devastated rice production in the Mekong Delta in 2005-2006. We shall be meeting another official this afternoon. All this will go to my report for an ACIAR-funded scoping study on the BPH/virus problem. I am looking at farmer perceptions of the constraints in BPH/virus control and extension mechanisms used to promote the “escape strategy” which was the path taken. More on this after the big workshop in January 2008.
Jaime Gallentes // December 6, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Hi, Ma’am:
I am quite interested to learn more about the extension mechanism to promote “escape strategy”. I already have taken my social marketing course two semesters ago, but I don’t remember we have tackled about this concept. I hope you can share with us more about this. By the way, thanks for uploading photos because they make this site more attractive.
I am looking forward to a more sharing of experiences from you in this platform of learning that you created for all of us. Thanks.
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