Presentation for Pew Research Center's Methodological Workshop on Public Opinion Research in Sub-Saharan Africa

1. FOCUS GROUPS AS A STRATEGIC TOOL
Brian Paler, Vice President

2. 2
Who we are
• Almost 40 years of experience in over 90 countries
Including throughout sub-Saharan Africa (Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, RSA)
• Research for political leaders, advocacy groups, intl. orgs
• Expertise in both international and domestic campaigns
• Research designed to simulate all scenarios, full campaigns
• Research as a starting point for comms & strategy objectives

3. 3
Do focus groups still actually matter?
• They’re not representative, and results are not definitive
• They’re slow and take time to organize
• They’re expensive
• People probably lie more in group settings with peers
• There’s plenty of newer and sexier ways to get data

4. 4
Yes - People are more than numbers
• Politics inherently a human activity
• Only opportunity for deep, open-ended listening
• Best chance to see people, hear them in their own words
• No pre-judgment of responses
• Not all data created equal
• Challenges conventional wisdom
• Don’t always have access to Big Data & social analytics
(Notable: Hillary Clinton’s campaign
cut them in the last few weeks)

5. 7 ways to use qual to improve quant

6. 6
1. Make focus groups more than just about “the Why.”
 Don’t limit your qual to retroactively explaining numbers
 Think beyond tracking opinion and more about moving opinion
 Listen for all hypotheses, not just your own ideas
Using focus groups to improve your survey
Survey application: Create more
accurate, comprehensive close-
ended responses in your surveys.
We almost always encourage
groups before surveys

7. 7
1. Make focus groups more than just about “the Why.”
2. Listen for what people are NOT saying
 Is your issue top-of-mind? Are they thinking about it at all?
 Is there real awareness of your campaign/program?
 Can’t force people to care about things they’re not interested in
Using focus groups to improve your survey
Survey application: May change level of
detail you can probe in a survey

8. 8
1. Make focus groups more than just about “the Why.”
2. Listen for what people are NOT saying
3. Watch for mood, intensity, and nuance
 Do you detect anger? How much?
 Is there interest? Apathy?
 Are there visceral reactions?
Using focus groups to improve your survey
Sometimes you have to watch
really closely
Survey application: Focus your
survey on those issues that evoke a
strong reaction.

9. 9
1. Make focus groups more than just about “the Why.”
2. Listen for what people are NOT saying
3. Watch for mood, intensity, and nuance
4. Look for insights on believability and credibility
 “Do you believe/trust this person?” is rarely a sufficient question
 Does indirect questioning provide more evidence?
Using focus groups to improve your survey
Survey application: Surface potential
trust issues in leaders to dig deeper in
the survey.

10. 10
1. Make focus groups more than just about “the Why”
2. Listen for what people are NOT saying
3. Watch for mood, intensity, and nuance
4. Look for insights on believability and credibility
5. Watch for comfort levels
 Are topics as sensitive as you thought they were?
 Watch for silence, embarrassment, acquiescence
Using focus groups to improve your survey
Survey application: Treat sensitive topics differently.
Move further down in survey; avoid trigger words, add
socially validating qualifiers, “Some people say…”

11. 11
1. Make focus groups more than just about “the Why”
2. Listen for what people are NOT saying
3. Watch for mood, intensity, and nuance
4. Look for insights on believability and credibility
5. Watch for comfort levels
6. Replicate focus group language
 How do they process new information?
 What language are they using to talk about new information?
Using focus groups to improve your survey
Survey application: Use language you hear in groups to
present that new information in the survey.

12. 12
1. Make focus groups more than just about “the Why”
2. Listen for what people are NOT saying
3. Watch for mood, intensity, and nuance
4. Look for insights on believability and credibility
5. Watch for comfort levels
6. Replicate focus group language
7. Think through what unlocked doors/changed impressions
 Note when new information changes mood and tone
 Focus on what stuck with people. What are they walking away with?
Using focus groups to improve your survey
Survey application: Double down on winning/memorable
messages in the survey.

13. Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
10 G Street, NE
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20002
T: +1 202 478 8300
Fax: +1 202 478 8301
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
2 Eastbourne Terrace
London, UK W2 6LG
T: +44 (0)20 3740 9029
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
350-1 First Canadian Place
Toronto Board of Trade
Tower
Toronto, ON M5K 1C1
T: +54 11 4772 0813
WORLD
HEADQUARTERS
EUROPEAN
HEADQUARTERS
CANADIAN
HEADQUARTERS
THANK YOU