01-09-2016, 09:43 AM
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What does this technique do?
G roup discussions help to summarise the ideas and information that a
g roup of informants may come to hold as a group, rather than the
i n f o rmation held by the individual members. The general idea is that
each participant can act to stimulate ideas in the other people pre s e n t ,
and that by a process of discussion the collective view becomes gre a t e r
than the sum of the individual parts.
When to use them
G roup discussions can be used to serve a variety of purposes, and may be
used to assist in problem identification, in clarifying the issues re l e v a n t
to a particular topic, and in the evaluation of products. Gro u p
discussions form a part of such techniques as Brainstorming and Focus
g roups, and these will be discussed in turn. Group discussions are very
common in the “User re q u i rement” stage of product development.
B r a i n s t o rm i n g
B r a i n s t o rming is an essentially creative exercise, where groups of
p a rticipants are brought together to explore a common issue and to
look for possible solutions. The idea of a brainstorm exercise is that
each participant is allowed to be creative in their ideas, and that other
p a rticipants are not allowed to criticise others contributions. The idea
is that such loose ideas may spark some association in the minds of
other participants and that as a result some creative solutions to a p roblem may be identified. Brainstorming is commonly used at the
early stages of design in order to explore possible development
o p p o rtunities (see the specific section on Brainstorm i n g ) .
Focus Gro u p s
Focus groups bring together participants to discuss a particular topic,
and differ from brainstorming sessions in that the objective of the
meeting in not necessarily to be creative, but rather to come to some
a g reement re g a rding a particular topic or issue. For example, focus
g roups have been used in the assistive technology field to identify the
i m p o rtant features that a product should have, and to evaluate how
successful a particular product is likely to be. A variation on the use of
focus groups is to combines the characteristics of individual
i n t e rviews with group based techniques. A re s e a rcher might fir s t
i n t e rview a number of participants on a particular topic, to then
summarise those personal interviews, and then use the results as a
basis for further interviews or a group discussion with the original
p a rticipants. The idea behind this is that the individual interv i e w s
allow each participant to contribute to the ensuing discussion, where
the collective opinions can be explored in more detail.
Who can use them
T h e re are no specific re q u i rements for the participants, apart from them
having some knowledge of the discussion area. For complex issues it can
be useful to have discussion groups which are multidisciplinary, so that
d i ff e rent perspectives and viewpoints can be aired, whilst for other
purposes relatively homogenous groups might be pre f e rred. Whatever
their composition group discussions need to be carefully led, and need a
facilitator or leader who ensures that the group continue discussing the
topic of interest and that all participants contribute. The quality of the
discussions depend on how the group is led and it is important for the
leader to have participated in similar groups. However this should not
p revent an organisation from arranging its first group discussion.
What re s o u rces are needed
G roup discussions are commonly arranged to last for two or three hours,
extending up to a couple of days for complex issues. Shorter meetings
can often be more effective than longer ones as many people have
d i fficulty in finding the time or maintaining concentration for more
than two or three hours. This is true for the fully able participant, and
for certain disability groups even shorter sessions will be re q u i red, and a
number of short discussions rather than a single large one might need to
be considered. The preparation for a group discussion can also take time
p a rticularly if a number of people have to be consulted re g a rding their
availability to take part. A discussion group commonly needs a couple of
person days for preparation, and similar re s o u rces are needed for
summarising the results of the discussion and producing a re p o rt .
Expenses covering the room and re f reshments may also be needed and
in some cases accommodation and the travel expenses of part i c i p a n t s .
Discussion groups can be run with large numbers, but to be effective it is
better to have small groups. Experience shows that between six and eight
p a rticipants is easy for a single facilitator to manage, and that such size
g roups allow all participants to contribute. If larger groups are desired it
can be a good idea to break these down into sub groups of between six
and eight members and for each sub group to have its own facilitator.
Who are the inform a n t s
Depending on the specific area to be understood, there several kinds of
i n f o rmants that may be considered. In some cases one would choose to
have a homogeneous group, in others one would try to include
p a rticipants from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. One should
decide which of the following categories should part i c i p a t e .
Users, actual or potential
Ve ry often it is the users that are the most relevant participants in
discussion groups, as they are the experts in dealing with the disability
they have, and have the direct experience of using the products designed
to support them. However, if a new product is being developed it can be
v e ry difficult for potential users to express their needs, or to visualise
how a new product idea might help them. This is less of a problem when
non innovative developments are being considered, and if an existing
p roduct is being improved, users’ opinions are very valuable.
If you want to include users in a discussion group, it is important to
remember that in a discussion group it is difficult to get a “re p re s e n t a t i v e
sample”. You should there f o re decide whether you want to include some
“typical users”, or people who re p resent the extremes of a user gro u p
population. For example a discussion group might be constructed to
include those users who have discarded existing technical aids, whilst
another might consist of expert users of a product. Decisions re g a rd i n g
membership of groups depends on the objectives of the investigation,
and also unfortunately to some extent on the availability of re l e v a n t
p a rticipants and their willingness to take part in the study.