Library Survey Consultants

Focus groups are an excellent technique to learn about the perceptions of different segments in your community. They are particularly valuable when you need to explore the "hows" and "whys" of people's attitudes and behavior. Here are some tips for conducting successful focus groups:

Establish a clear set of objectives and decisions to be made based on the focus group learning.
With this direction, the focus groups can provide the learning that addresses what the library board and administration need to know. Clear objectives will result in a tightly focused discussion guide and a report that will answer the key questions.

Some Examples
Have the appropriate number of respondents in the group to facilitate interaction.
A typical group size is 8-10 participants. Seating more than 10 respondents will turn the session into more of a community forum in which people give their thoughts without any interaction among participants or opportunity for follow-up questions by the moderator.
Use a moderator with deep consumer research experience and a knowledge of libraries.
A well-trained, professional moderator employs techniques to draw-out respondents to go beyond superficial answers and understand deeper motivations and ideas. Importantly, she knows how to make the discussion interactive and lively by encouraging respondents to build-off other people's responses.

Knowing libraries allows the moderator to understand what staff and patrons mean when they talk about their library experiences and ideas for the future.
Ask to see a moderator's reports for other libraries.
Then, you can gauge the moderator's approach, insights and usefulness of the report. It should synthesize and bring insight to the findings and provide implications and potential next steps.