Recruit student participants.

Once the sampling process is finished, you should have a randomly drawn list of 12 students to recruit for each focus group. (Note: You do not need to recruit the reserves at this time.) One of the recruiters should meet briefly with these students - either one-on-one or as a group - to explain why and how they have been chosen to participate, answer any questions, and send home permission forms and letters of explanation. (See an example of a briefing sheet you could use for this discussion.) The recruiter should take this opportunity to find out if a student has a significant reason not to participate, or if s/he has a scheduling conflict (has a test that day, etc.). The sooner you get a sense of the likely number of actual participants, the better. (This will give you plenty of time to recruit the reserves, if necessary.)

Give students a strict deadline for the return of permission forms. Let them know that you may be calling their parents if permission forms are slow to return.

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If all 12 recruits return their permission forms and show up on the scheduled day and time, you may either include all of the students in the focus group or thank the last four students to show up and send them away. IMPORTANT: If you have promised an incentive, give it to all who show up, even though you may send some students back to their classes.

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See examples of permission forms.

Next: Train, prepare, and manage facilitators.