Stepping Beyond Transcripts: A Framework for Analyzing Interaction in Focus Groups

Figures & data

Table 1. Quasi Statistics by Focus Group. Stage Two – Iteration One – Quasi Statistics by Focus Group.

Groups A-H – 8 focus groups 2 UK locations	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	Total
Number of sequential interactions per group	254	297	249	234	586	264	290	56	2230
18 questions – Average number of sequential interactions between contributing participants (excluding moderator).	14	16	14	13	32	15	16	3	123 2230/123 = 18
Number of pauses – measured wait time 5 seconds before answering	10	5	6	4	6	0	1	0	32
Number of laughs	22	11	2	6	8	22	21	6	98

Figure 1. Two Stage Framework.

Table 2. Quasi Statistics by Question. Stage Two – Iteration Two – Quasi Statistics by Question.

	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Q5	Q6	Q7	Q8	Q9	Q10	Q11	Q12	Q13	Q14	Q15	Q16	Q17	Q18	Total
Number of sequential interactions per question	134	116	158	134	133	84	138	134	106	158	111	98	94	163	110	93	98	168	2230
Number of contributing participants	28	30	35	29	30	29	24	28	25	35	27	28	26	28	28	25	29	25	509
% share of 52 participants	54%	58%	67%	56%	58%	56%	46%	54%	48%	67%	52%	54%	50%	54%	54%	48%	56%	48%	54%
Number of pauses	0	2	2	2	3	1	0	2	1	5	2	0	3	0	2	1	2	4	32
Number of laughs	17	3	2	3	15	7	4	3	7	5	1	2	4	5	10	5	2	3	98

Table 3. Identification of Impact Questions. Identification of Impact Questions.

Group	Highest Number Sequential Conversations	Highest Number of Contributing Participants	Highest Interaction Impact Question
A	10	2, 10, 11	10
B	2, 10	10	10
C	8	3	Inconclusive
D	4	1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7	4
E	18	*all except 2	Inconclusive
F	1	* ?	Inconclusive
G	5	6, 9, 10, 15, 17, 19	Inconclusive
H	9	4, 9, 12, 13	9

*? = Participants were talking over each other and unable to extract the actual number accurately

Identification of the impact questions

• Focus group A question 10 appears in two out of two highest columns

• Focus group B question 10 appears in two out of two highest columns

• Focus group D question 4 appears in two out of two highest columns

• Focus group H question 9 appears in two out of two highest columns