Timetable and time estimates

Timetable

Typically, it is ideal to have at least three months – preferably four – from the first consideration of focus groups until the final report is presented. Two months is tight, and less than two months, particularly if you are new to the work, is an unwise time frame. We have prepared an example of a workable timetable for a focus group effort (4 kb, pdf), which incorporates most of the steps presented above. This example would fit particularly well within a school year, with planning beginning in the fall and work completed before the testing season begins. The starred dates indicate work team or committee meetings.

Work team time estimates

It is difficult to estimate how much time any one person will spend completing focus group work, since it largely depends on what the goals of the research are and how a work team divides responsibilities. Here are some rough rules of thumb that may be useful:

For the research design stage:

This phase usually involves most or all members of the work team. During the design stage, the work team needs to meet at least three times, for at least two hours each time. In addition, most members of the work team may carry out some duties between meetings, amounting to perhaps five hours total per person. More about research design

For those who manage logistics:

On average, each member of an active logistics team for one specific school should plan on attending at least three one-hour meetings, plus carrying out six additional hours of work per person. More about the logistics team

For facilitation management:

Facilitator trainers will need to spend about three hours planning a facilitator training, three hours conducting it, two hours or more in facilitator practice sessions, and 30 - 90 minutes debriefing each pilot group or focus group that takes place. In addition, at least one of the facilitator trainers will produce a facilitators' guide, which will take an estimated five hours, using the sample facilitators' guides we provide as a base. More about facilitation management

For transcription:

It typically takes 4 to 4.5 hours to transcribe each hour of focus group conversation. More about transcription

For analysis:

At least three or four people need to work together to carry out the analysis once the focus groups are complete. The number of people can be much greater, depending on the size and complexity of the research effort. Usually each member of the core analysis group will spend 15 - 20 hours attending at least two team meetings, listening to tapes or reading transcripts, identifying quotes, and determining main themes and supporting evidence. More about analysis

For report writing and presentation:

One person may be able to write the report, depending on how the analysis is done, and how familiar the designated writer is with all parts of the research. In most cases, the report will take 20 - 30 hours writing time. That amount of time will allow the writer to produce a succinct (10 - 15 page) report that is well-documented with verbatim quotes. Larger projects with more groups, more grade levels, more research questions, or more complexity may take longer. More about preparing the report

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"No, we really didn't know all that was involved when we started out to do focus groups on school climate and school safety. And yes, we will do it again. We expect this kind of inquiry to become a way of life in Jessamine County Schools. The quality and depth of the results makes it very much worth the effort."

– Superintendent Linda France, Jessamine County Schools

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This section has presented focus group basics as an introduction for those who are not familiar with the fundamental steps. If you want to learn more about focus group research and how this approach might fit with your own research purposes, see Appendix B. If you want to do some research and learning about focus groups or other student research efforts, see the learning resources in the Annotated Bibliography.

Next: The Nuts & Bolts of this Toolkit