Practical guide: focus group discussions

A focus group discussion is a qualitative data collection method that engages 6 to 12 people—with shared characteristics pertinent to the specific discussion topic—and is led by a trained facilitator. The shared characteristics may relate to a particular problem, livelihoods occupation, age, social group, place of residence, experience of adopting or not adopting a specific behavior promoted by a project, etc.1 The discussion is facilitated using a semi-structured interview guide to foster active participation and in-depth discussion. The semi-structured nature of the discussion intends to probe specific, predetermined topics while allowing flexibility, and stimulating participants to share and discuss among each other. An FGD aims to gain insights into people’s motivations and social practices, as well as how they view or perceive their experiences, communities, and other aspects of life. Like all qualitative methods, FGDs use open-ended questions to collect qualitative data i.e. words and narrative explanations.