topic: communication

Run A Focus Group

Focus groups help you to find the right questions to ask when you want to find out how a neighbourhood works…

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Focus groups are groups of 6-12 people invited together so that you can find out information, views and what people think about a specific subject.  They generally take longer to organise than 1-1 interviews and need good facilitation skills, but they can enable you to explore issues in depth and to really find out 'where people are coming from'.  Depending on the participants, you can do mini-groups with only 4 or 5 participants, but you risk losing the interaction which is key to the process.  (Interaction in a focus group means not just getting participants to answer the questions set by the group leader, but also dialogue between participants.)

It is important to understand that focus groups produce qualitative, not quantitative, information.  They give you deep insights into how different strategies and priorities might work out in the neighbourhood, but they don't tell you which option is most popular.  Focus groups can help you to ask the right questions or to make the right kind of proposal and to express ot so that people understand and support it.

Focus groups could be used to:

  • explore or generate ideas about how the neighbourhood could be improved
  • triangulate (confirm or raise questions about) the results of other methods
  • develop questions or approaches to further surveys and questionnaires

You can use focus groups at the start of an enquiry (to frame further surveys), during planning (to work out a strategy) or as part of the review of what you have come up with.

Focus groups can be used to find and contrast differences between communities or segments of the community in terms of how they think about a particular issue.  For example, you could use focus groups of older people and younger people to look at the same local issue from different angles.  You can present alternative views to a focus group by having two facilitators leading alternatives - in which case the focus group beciomes a very lively sort of interactive debate.

Focus groups can take a while to organise but they are a relatively cheap and quick way of engaging with people (because you are meeting with them in groups).  You can use focus groups as a way of introducing people and building the local community network.  Focus groups can develop to become part of the change you wish to create in the neighbourhood.
What you Need

 

Group leader(s) - good interpersonal skill are required to lead a group successfully.  Facilitation and observation are the two roles you need to consider.  In the simplest form, a group leader can take on both roles - asking questions and steering discussion on one hand and noting the results on the other.  This can be hard to do in practice.  Variants include:

  • splitting the role so that there are two people responsible for facilitation and observation with one leading on each
  • debating style - using two facilitators to put alternative types of view to the group
  • splitting the group of participants in two and having one half observe the others and use the outputs of their discussion as further starting points

The issue - you need to be clear about what it is you want to find out about, otherwise the focus group will wander and you might not be able to make anything of the findings.  It is better that the issue is too narrow (because you can extend it during the group session), than trying to cram too much in (because you are unlikely to get so much interaction, which is the object of using the method).  Knowing what you want to find out about is, of course, not the same as knowing what you want the focus group findings to be: the method is open-ended; you can't predict what people will say.

Participants - 6-12 participants who can all communicate in the same language and are willing to take part for between 45 minutes and 2 hours.  You will want a mixture of people inasmuch as that is relevant to the issue and the approach you want to take to it.  Do not try and make the focus group 'representative' in terms of gender or ethnicity etc for the sake of it.  What you are interested in is interaction - you need people to have some common ground to make that interaction fruitful. 

The venue - is a significant factor.  You need a neutral, but friendly place which feels secure.  It needs to be accessible.;  you probably want somewhere that is in the neighbourhood - but you could also consider somewhere outside the neighbourhood if going away from the place you are talking about will help the discussion.

Incentives - you need to consider how to thank participants and to compensate them for their time.  In particular, you will want to help them overcome any problems that might face due to transport or care responsibilities etc

Refreshments - at least a hot/cold drink. 

 


How to do It

 

Preparation

Discuss and agree the issue or set of issues you want to use the focus group to find out about and how this fits in to the rest of the research you are doing.

Agree the kind of participants which it would be useful to involve and choose one or more people to act as group leader(s).

Find a venue that is appropriate and available for use at a reasonable time.  You will need at least two weeks to recruit participants.  The time of day and day of the week should be chosen so as to make it easy for the participants to attend.  Book the venue for an hour (for a 45 minute focus group) or two hours (for a 90 minute focus group) - this means you can be in the room before participants arrive and leave it after the group has finished.

Recruit participants either by personal invitation or through general notices. If you do not know the participants, you will want to meet them beforehand.  Focus groups need to be kept relatively small so that everyone has the opportunity to contribute and there is scope for discussions between participants.

In the Focus Group

Typically, the group leader(s) introduce themselves, explain why they have organised the group and ask the participants to idenify themselves so that everyone knows each others' names.  It is really important to get everyone to the venue on time.

The facilitator asks a question and gets a response from each participant and then enables group discussion - sometimes asking supplementary questions - particularly 'what if..' type questions.  The group environment feels less contrived than a 1-1 interview and there is scope for ambiguity, discussion, 'mulling things over' which doesn't really happen in most interviews. 

The observer - if you have one - takes notes.  They should focus on insights: ones they spot and anything indicated as an insight by the facilitator or one ofthe participants.  The observer can ask questions to clarify or help them to make the record.

The process carries on until 10 minutes before the scheduled end time.  The facilitator might then have a final go around of participants about the process; ask the observer for any questions; thank the participants and wind the session up.

Any claims for expenses and thank you cards with any incentives are dealt with after the session is concluded.


Examples and Case Studies

There are plenty examples of focus groups and how to do them available online.  Most, however, apply to marketing or wider social research rather than to use of the tool in community planning.  Some that are more useful include:

Community Toolbox at the University of Kansas - notes on Focus Groups and examples

The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement - notes on using Focus Groups

Overseas Development Institute - notes and Focus Group Discussion toolkit


Checklist

Key points to bear in mind:

Language  - you need to listen not just to what participants say, but also how they say it - what kind of language are they using; what is their body language; how sure do they appear; is there something else they really want to say?

Bias - you need to take into account the bias which you bring to your observation of the results.  There are plenty of examples of focus groups used in marketing which were effectively manipulated (consciously or sub-consciously) by the group leader to confirm whatever it is they already thought about an issue.  

False consensus - you need to beware of easy compromises.  If they aren't challenged by the facilitator, focus groups can rapidly adopt unthreatening positions that no one really believes, but which participants will agree with so as not to offend each other.  You don't want the focus group to become an argument in the sense of a slanging match, but you will need to make sure that participants feel it is OK to disagree.

Self-moderation - bear in mind that when participants talk, they are not necessarily expressing purely their own views.  They will tend to moderate what they say, according to the circumstances they find themselves in.  You need to think about how you present the venue, the group leaders, the project and how you introduce participants to each other in order to guard as far as possible against people being influenced by external factors. 

Respect - you should ask participants to treat each other and each other's views with respect, but a focus group is not a confidential method.  In practice, with participants drawn from the same neighbourhood, people will not behave as if everything they say will be forgotten when they leave.  You should, at least, not identify participants as recognisable individuals (eg by using their name) in any write up you do of the foucs group findings.

Facilitation - includes seeding the dialogue (with open ended questions); moving it on so that the issue you want discussed is heard properly; encouraging reality-checking and challenge; probing the details of what people say and making sure that it is intelligible to other participants. Facilitators may also need to act to ensure that participants can all take part meaningfully - though not necessarily exactly equally.  The facilitator has to be objective and non-judgemental.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT METHOD SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-07-15 07:59:45 by: admin status: f published

Community Dialogue

How do communities make decisions? Not through consultations, but through conversation – community dialogue…

How do communities make decisions? Not through consultations, but through conversation - community dialogue...

In more detail

A community is a group of people who share a common interest, values and/or identity.  The word ‘community’ comes from the Latin word ‘communis’ meaning ‘things held together’.  Dialogue refers to words exchanged between people.  The word ‘dialogue’ comes from Greek words meaning ‘words between’.  So, 'community dialogue’ means something like: ‘words between us that help to hold things together’.   A conversation with purpose and meaning.

Community dialogue is largely how civil society and the community groups and others which make it up, decide what to do.  Whilst public sector bodies, like councils, make their decisions based on elections and on consultations; and businesses may make their decisions based on the market; making decisions in civil society involves chatting them through?

Sustainable progress

If you want your neighbourhood to be somewhere which is improved because of the things people do as families and communities - civil society - then creating the means for dialogue matters a great deal.  Self-sustaining improvement comes from being able to talk to each other so we can work out how to make progress.  Which means, investing in the means for community dialogue - a local community hub, a hyperlocal website, community lunches - and using community dialogue as a way of community planning is investing in the long-term ability of your neighbourhood community to make progress.

Could you start neighbourhood improvement not be organising a consultation, but by looking at developing the means for people to get involved in community dialogue?

Key Facts:

If public services make decisions through elections and formal consultations; busineses make their decisions dependent on the market; civil society - communities - make decisions through community dialogue: 'words between us that help to hold things together’.  Perhaps one way to get sustainable improvement going in a neighbourhood is to focus on making better ways that people can talk and listen to one another?

Page Links from here

Improving Communication

Community

Community Hubs and Networks

Community Planning


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-07-08 11:48:32 by: admin status: f published

Freedom of Information

Freedom of information means that recorded infromation held by public authorities is generally presumed to be publicly available, but there are exceptions and limits…

Freedom of information means that recorded infromation held by public authorities is generally presumed to be publicly available, but there are exceptions and limits...

In more detail

Anyone can make a freedom of information request of any public authority in England .  About 120,000 requests are made each year – mostly by private citizens and community groups; but the law is also used extensively by businesses, charities and journalists and media organisations.

Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is based on the principle that people have a right to know about the activities of public authorities unless there is a good reason for them not to.  The law gives the public access to information held by public authorities through:

  • the publication of certain information by authorities
  • information requests made by members of the public.

The Act applies to any ‘recorded information’ (in the form of documents, computer files, letters, emails, video and sound recordings and photographs, diagrams and maps etc) that is held by a public authority in England.  That includes: government departments, local councils, the NHS, state schools and the police.  The Act does not necessarily apply to every publicly-funded organisation that receives public money.  Most organisations which receive grants from public bodies and businesses which do work on contract for public services are not subject to freedom of information (although they may have requirements to make information publicly available written into their grant agreements and contracts).

Principles

Public authorities have a duty to provide information, unless they can show there is a good reason not to, regardless of who you are (you don’t have to be a British citizen, have any special qualifications or be a taxpayer) or what you want it for.  You do not have to say why you want the information when you ask for it.  An authority must consider your request impersonally – that means they can’t turn your request down because of who you are; but they also can’t accept your request because of who you are or why you want the information.

Notes and Limitations

The law sets out a legal minimum.  Authorities may disclose more information as they see fit.  Which means, for example, that you might get two different responses to the same request to two different local councils.

The law is designed to provide openness about the work of the public sector, not the private sector.  GPs and other health practitioners, for example, only have to give information about their NHS work.

Where local councils transfer responsibility for services to a company which is owned by the council (like an Arms Length Management Company in social housing), the company is subject to the terms of the law as if it was still part of the council.

MPs and councillors are not public authorities and are not covered by the act. Neither they, nor the public authorities who may store some of their recorded information (in email accounts etc) have to provide information that belongs to them.  Authorities do not have to supply information they store on behalf of other individuals (like personnel records) or organisations  (eg the files of a voluntary organisation which are held on the council server).

The law covers all documents held by a public authority.  That includes, for example letters and emails sent to it and its officers by other members of the public – although the council might say there was a good reason for not releasing these.  Information that is in the heads of officers is not recorded and so is not covered. Where the information is stored does not affect whether it is covered.

Public Interest and Exemptions

In general, an authority must consider whether releasing information under the Act is in the public interest and may withhold the information is it decides it is not.  This is the ‘public interest test’  Certain types of information are exempted, however.  There are 8 absolute exemptions, regardless of public interest:

  • Information that is accessible by other means
  • Information relating to or dealing with security matters
  • Information contained in court records
  • Where disclosure of the information would infringe parliamentary privilege
  • Information held by the House of Commons or the House of Lords, where disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs
  • Information which  the applicant could either obtain under the Data Protection Act (see below) or where release would breach data protection principles
  • Information provided in confidence
  • When disclosing the information is prohibited by an enactment; incompatible with an EU obligation; or would commit a contempt of court.

Information may also be exempted, subject to a public interest test, if it:

  • Is intended for future publication
  • Does not deal with security matters but is a matter of national security
  • Relates to current investigations and proceedings being undertaken by a public authority
  • Relates to the formation of government policy etc
  • Has to do with communications with members of the Royal family, and conferring honours
  •  Would affect disclosure of environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations
  • Is information covered by professional legal privilege
  • Constitutes trade secrets

Or would be likely to prejudice defence; international and diplomatic relations; the economic interests of the country; law enforcement; the auditing functions of any public authorities; or commercial interests – or endanger health and safety or the effective conduct of public affairs or free and frank provision of advice and debate.

Vexatious Requests

A public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the request is vexatious.  A vexatious request is one which is ‘obsessive or manifestly unreasonable’, harasses the authority or causes distress to its staff, imposes a significant burden, or if the request lacks any serious value.

Data Protection

The Data Protection Act 1998 set out rules for organisations to use in handling personal information.  It gave people the right to see what personal information, organisations of all sorts hold about them.   It also required businesses, public authorities and voluntary organisations to take steps to safeguard personal information and protect people’s privacy.

Data Protection and Freedom of Information can be in conflict.  If, for example, the release of information held by a government agency relating to benefit claims could be used to identify who in a neighbourhood was claiming benefits, then it would be against the data protection law to release the information under freedom of information.  In this case, the agency would take steps to anonymise the data before releasing it.

The same regulator - the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – applies in regulating the terms of the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act.

Key Facts:

Freedom of information applies to recorded information held by public agencies and some organisations acting on their behalf.  Although there is a general preseumption in favour of disclosing information, public bodies have to apply a public interest test to the decision.  There are specific exclusions and the council and other bodies can turn down a request that is 'vexatious'.  Data protection laws mean that information derived from personal data must be made anaonymous before it is released.

Page Links from here

Information Commissioner’s Office Guide to Freedom of Information is aimed at people who work in public agencies and are responsible for ensuring freedom of information

See in the toolkit:

Open Data

Data Geography

Making a Freedom of Information Request


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-07-05 14:35:00 by: admin status: f published

Open Data

Could making data about your place enable people to become better informed about its potential…

Could making data about your place enable people to become better informed about its potential...

In more detail

Data is small bits of information (could be words or numbers) that on its own looks quite meaningless. When put in a structure (like a table, spreadsheet or a graph, for example) or compared with other bits of data, however, it can be used to make useful information.  ‘Open data’ is data that is stored and made available so that it is easy for anyone to get hold of, share and use to make new and useful information.

Open Data as a duty and an opportunity

Councils and other public bodies have a duty to make data available to others.  In some cases they also have a commitment which stretches beyond their duties.  These duties and commitments are important and communities need to be aware of them, but open data is really more of an opportunity.  This is because you can use open data to build information about the areas, challenges and opportunities they face.  As more open data becomes available, it becomes more possible for communities  to use and combine it to make useful information about the places we live and work.  Those communities that are able to inform themselves and others (including developers, for example) about their neighbourhood will be in a better position to thrive economically and socially.

Key Facts:

Data is the raw material from which information is made.  Open data is data which is stored and structured is such ways as to make it easier to get hold off and to use.  Opening up data relating to your neighbourhood makes it easier for people to become informed about local opportunities and needs and to see how they might fit in constructively.

Page Links from here

The Open Data Institute has devised a 5 Star grade system to show how open data is

 


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-06-29 12:13:03 by: admin status: f published