Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to this lesson on choosing between in-depth interviews and focus groups. When looking for articles and research on these topics, you might find that the information is often impractically shared and siloed. We're going to focus on the similarities and differences between these two methods in a practical manner so you can confidently pick which method fits your needs. So, why? Why are we focusing on focus groups and in-depth interviews in this video? Well, these are the two most commonly used forms of individual and group interviews in practice. And while we're on the topic of why, I want to share the point that resources impact which method is chosen. Resources have a lot to do with why these are the most popular methods in practice, so keep this in mind. This is a little preview or roadmap of the main areas that I'll be highlighting, the similarities and differences between in-depth interviews and focus groups. One of our main takeaways today is highlighted up top in the title of this slide, and that is that preparation for these methods is very similar. It's actually the implementation where they differ the most. So, we're going to go through and address the different stages of prepping for and conducting an interview, and then I'll share some different considerations for choosing between a focus group and an in-depth interview. So, first we'll start with, when would we use which method? Generally, the consensus is that we choose our interview method based on practicality and which method will produce the best results. This is feasible when you're conducting your own research. However, I want to emphasize that this can be somewhat of an oxymoron in practice. Sometimes the method that would be best utilized for our research is not the most practical. Maybe your company does not want to fund in-depth interviews because they're more expensive to conduct. All in all, don't become discouraged as a qualitative researcher in the business world or whatever industry it is you're in, because it's common to face these challenges from time to time. But being aware of this can prepare you. If finances are not a constraint, then I would go ahead and encourage you first to think about the objective of your research. For example, if your objective is to explore a phenomenon in depth, test an instrument or questionnaire, or investigate a sensitive topic, then you would want to go with the in-depth interview method, as you can see over here on the left. On the other hand, if your objective is to explore a range of attitudes, opinions, and behaviors, or you want to observe consensus and disagreement on topics, then you would rather go with the focus group method. In addition to thinking about your objective, it's also important to think about your research question and your research purpose. Regardless of the method you're using, it's important to establish the purpose of your study and what your research question is. This can help you decide what method is going to be best for your research. If your research question is more detailed and deep, and your goal is to collect vivid and rich information, you would want to do an in-depth interview. On the other hand, with focus groups, the research question and the data you collect are going to be more surface level. The purpose is to understand how a group feels and generate consensus, rather than get this deep, rich information and really get involved through an in-depth interview. So now we're going to touch on developing the interview guide, and this is one area where there is more similarities than differences. So we went over developing an interview guide in the chapter, but now in this video, we're going to dive into the differences, and mainly the differences between the two. So we're going to answer this question, what are some differences in developing a focus group interview guide and an in-depth interview guide? So despite the method in the interview guide, the researcher is going to include information on confidentiality to share with participants before the interview starts. However, one main difference is that with focus groups, we can't ensure confidentiality, so it would be a mistake to include this in your interview guide and share that information with participants. Also, a focus group interview guide can include specific consensus information that in-depth interview guides would not include. As we mentioned in the sections on objective and purpose, consensus and group opinions are specific to focus groups. Lastly, the interview guide for a focus group would have structured time points to keep the conductor on track. While this isn't required, it's strongly recommended, and we'll talk more about this and the differences that come with moderating a focus group compared to interviewing with in-depth interviews in a few slides. So I mentioned earlier that practicality and resources play a large role in what method you can use. This slide is going to dive into that idea a little further. So while a focus group may answer your research question more effectively, it's important to turn the focus group interview guide into an in-depth interview guide. You have to ask, can I get everyone together in a group, or is scheduling one-on-one going to be easier? There's other considerations, too, for recruiting with a focus group, and that's this first bullet point here. That participants should be roughly similar. This is because with a focus group, we've talked about how our goal is to obtain consensus, and you don't want to recruit participants that are from such different backgrounds that participation is going to be inhibited or that the consensus is going to be affected. So you want to make sure that you're recruiting with a focus group that is similar to the focus group. With in-depth interviews, many sources say it's generally easier to recruit participants. And this is because the researcher has to accommodate only one person's schedule, but also because participants are going to be in a group, and they're not going to be in a focus group. So you want to make sure that you're recruiting with a focus group that is similar to the focus group. And this is because the researcher has to accommodate only one person's schedule, but also because participants are usually more flexible when you're taking the time to listen to them as an individual. This looks a little different whenever you're trying to gather people for a focus group, and people have to show up to be a part of it at a certain time. It's not all about the interviewee when there's a group. Also, the last point here whenever it comes to recruiting, you might want to use an in-depth interview if you are researching a certain type of individual. In-depth interviews are better suited for certain types. For example, sensitive populations or people that are harder to recruit, like elite or high-status individuals, children, usually under the age of seven, and also the elderly. Now as we get more into conducting the interview, we cover preparing for your participant or your participants to show up. So this is another area where there are more similarities than differences when it comes to setting up for the two methods. So the chapter on group interviews covers these concepts well. So for the sake of time, we're just going to cover this at a very surface level. So just know that if you haven't read the chapter and you're only watching this video, make sure you go back and get all of the details on this section. But for both methods, in general, you want to ensure that you have the following materials, and that is the interview guide, consent forms, demographic forms, and recording devices. And that is devices plural for a reason. I want to highlight the importance of having backup recording devices and or batteries despite the method you're using. Also, despite the method, whenever it comes to arranging a time and place, you want somewhere that's going to be convenient and comfortable for your participants, but also that's quiet and private, so that way they can focus and also share openly. Practice and preparation are keys for success with both methods, but even more so for focus groups due to the skills required by moderation. This last bullet point of warm-up questions and probes, this applies for both methods, as well as the tactic of saving tougher questions for the end. So we're nearing the end of this presentation, and we're going to finish up by covering the differences between how in-depth interviews and focus groups are conducted from the standpoint of the interviewer. So, first, we're going to talk about the role of the interviewer in conducting in-depth interviews. In-depth interviews require an interviewer rather than a moderator, which requires different skills. I'm going to talk about these skills that you need for moderating on the next slide, but a skill required by both interviewers and moderators is the ability to keep the person or group on topic. Both in-depth interviews and focus groups also use probes and follow-up questions. One thing that's unique to in-depth interviews is that participants may find this setting uncomfortable, having to talk to someone one-on-one rather than being in a group where they can bounce off ideas, so it's solely up to the interviewer to make them feel at ease. Another unique thing that comes with in-depth interviewers that the interviewer should be aware of is that participants might need time to think, and because they are the only one there, there might sometimes be what would feel like an awkward pause. In a focus group, participants would have time to think while others are sharing, but this isn't the case in an in-depth interview. So either you can give that person time to think, but if you want to avoid making them feel pressured and make sure they have time to think about their answers, you could consider giving participants a copy of the questions you're going to ask beforehand. Lastly, we are going to talk about the role of the moderator. So notice as we move on to this slide for focus groups that the title changes from the role of the interviewer to the role of the moderator. The differences between the person who conducts an in-depth interview and a focus group are so vast that they go by different names. So focus groups require a skilled moderator, which can be difficult to master. One-on-one interviewing is easier than moderating just because there are less components to account for and less variables involved. Not to say that one-on-one interviewing is a piece of cake. It's just two different skill sets, and moderating requires a few more skills. So I'm going to highlight some of the differences between conducting a focus group in an in-depth interview while also capturing the level of skill and practice it takes to moderate efficiently. So as you can see, these three white bullet points will start with monitoring participants. This is one thing that is different with focus groups that you don't see in in-depth interviews. And it is that the moderators are responsible for ensuring all voices are heard in a focus group. And it's common that with different personalities, certain members might avoid sharing while others are going to dominate conversations potentially. And the moderator has to watch out for these dominant voices, opinions, or perspectives and ensure that they don't overtake the focus group. The moderators are also responsible for encouraging the more quiet participants to share. For example, don't be afraid to ask someone who has not spoken up what they're thinking or if they would like to add something. Sometimes they just need an introduction. Another method could be giving participants a piece of paper and pen to jot down their ideas and thoughts. Second is this idea of chaotic data collection when it comes to focus groups. In general, focus groups are more difficult to transcribe than one-on-one interviews. This is simply because sometimes voices may overlap. And there's just a lot of different people talking and that can be overwhelming for if you're using any sort of AI to transcribe or even if you're trying to transcribe while moderating. That would be very advanced. The last point we're going to talk about here is consensus coding. And since one of the objectives of a focus group is to determine consensus on different ideas and topics, the moderator can code for consensus. And this is not something that we would see in an in-depth interview. So as you can see, there's quite a few skills here and moving pieces going on besides the focus group. And moving pieces going on besides what happens in an in-depth interview. I'll also add that time management is huge. We discussed earlier that putting time limits in the interview guide can help interviewers stay on track. The reason this is on the focus group slide and not the in-depth interview slide is that it's especially crucial in a focus group. Because there's less time for each participant to share deeply. This goes back to our objective. If you're looking for deep insight, you might want a one-on-one interview. Like an in-depth interview. And you interview a few people. Versus if you're wanting to generate consensus and just get a surface level idea, then the focus group is appropriate. And lastly, as we covered on the preparation slide, focus groups require more planning and structure because of their nature. And that is all I have for this video today, guys. I hope you enjoyed and you feel more well-equipped to decide which method is going to be the best for you. And how you can apply these in practice. Here are some sources to check out for further reading. And as you can see, they were mentioned in this video.