David’s Strategy Perspective
What’s the Ideal Number of Participants in a Focus Group?
If you follow coverage of the 2024 presidential election, you’ve likely seen the pundit who runs focus groups of undecided voters. He packs participants (often 30 or more) into arena-style seating then prompts them with questions like “give me one word to describe Donald Trump” or “raise your hand if you know where Kamala Harris stands on the issues.”
I grimace each time I see the guy. As someone who has conducted hundreds of focus groups over the years, I find this spectacle dumbfounding – 30 participants is way too many for a focus group for several reasons:
Individual Stories
With so many participants, it’s difficult for everyone to have a chance to speak and share their thoughts in a meaningful way. We conduct focus groups to give us the depth of understanding that polling doesn’t. We ask open-ended questions to get people to share their experiences. This guy doesn’t get any of that.
Group Dynamics
Large groups can lead to “groupthink,” where people conform to the majority opinion rather than expressing their own views. This can stifle creativity and limit the diversity of ideas collected. When you have 30 people in a room, it’s easy for participants to fade into the shadows because they’re afraid to share their unpopular opinions.
Moderator Control
As a moderator, managing a group that size is challenging. It’s difficult to keep the discussion on track, ensure everyone gets a chance to talk, and prevent side conversations among participants. In short, you cannot control a group this large in a natural and conversational way.
For all these reasons, I conduct client focus groups with approximately eight participants. With fewer participants, I’m able to get to the “why” behind my clients’ challenges because of the in-depth understanding I arrive at through conversation and open discussion.
Next time you see news clips of this guy moderating a focus group, ask yourself if the questions he’s asking are better suited for surveys than they are for focus groups. Then when he starts his spin, try to figure out how he drew his conclusions from such thin feedback.