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What are the best ways to ensure focus groups aren't influenced by question phrasing?

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Focus groups are a valuable method of market research that can provide insights into customer preferences, opinions, and behaviors. However, they can also be prone to bias and distortion if the questions are not phrased carefully and neutrally. In this article, you will learn some best practices to ensure your focus groups are not influenced by question phrasing and deliver reliable and valid results.

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Aishvarya Gopalakrishnan (She/Her)

Ethnographic Researcher at Commonwealth Bank | Mentor at ADPList | @aishvarya-gopal on Medium

1 Avoid leading questions

Leading questions are those that suggest a desired or expected answer, either explicitly or implicitly. For example, "How much do you love our product?" or "Don't you think our competitor is overpriced?" are leading questions that can influence the respondents to agree or disagree with the questioner. To avoid leading questions, you should use open-ended questions that allow the respondents to express their own thoughts and feelings, such as "What do you think of our product?" or "How do you compare our product with our competitor's?"

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Albaraa Al-Thami, MSc

Retail Growth Strategy Visionary?? | Crafting Customer-Centric Growth | Franchise Expert & Frontline Regional Leader | Marketing Analytics Expert
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To avoid focus group bias from leading questions, imagine being a neutral detective, not a storyteller. Your job is to uncover truths, not guide narratives. Craft questions that open doors to honest, unguided responses. Instead of asking, "How much do you love our new product?" try, "What are your thoughts on our new product?" This subtle shift changes everything. It's like offering a blank canvas instead of a half-finished painting. Regularly remind yourself: your goal is to listen and learn, not confirm biases. This approach not only garners more authentic feedback but also builds trust with your participants. Remember, in the realm of research, curiosity is your compass, and neutrality is your North Star.

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2 Use neutral language

Neutral language is language that does not convey any positive or negative connotations, emotions, or judgments. For example, "How satisfied are you with our product?" or "How often do you use our product?" are neutral questions that do not imply any value or preference. To use neutral language, you should avoid words that have strong or subjective meanings, such as "amazing", "terrible", "easy", or "difficult". You should also avoid words that have different interpretations or associations for different people, such as "affordable", "quality", or "innovative".

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Albaraa Al-Thami, MSc

Retail Growth Strategy Visionary?? | Crafting Customer-Centric Growth | Franchise Expert & Frontline Regional Leader | Marketing Analytics Expert
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Navigating focus groups without the pitfalls of question phrasing bias is like being a tightrope walker - balance is key. Use neutral language as your balancing pole. Instead of leading participants with, "How successful do you think our strategy is?", opt for, "What are your views on our strategy's effectiveness?" This shift from suggestive to open-ended invites diverse perspectives, like a garden welcoming all sorts of flowers. Also, avoid emotionally charged words; they're like gusts of wind swaying the tightrope. Regularly review your questions as if practicing your steps, ensuring they're free from bias. By maintaining this balance, you'll walk across the tightrope of research with grace, reaching the platform of genuine insights.

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3 Balance the options

Balancing the options means providing the respondents with a range of choices that cover the possible spectrum of responses, without favoring or excluding any option. For example, "How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend?" is a balanced question that offers a scale from very likely to very unlikely. To balance the options, you should avoid questions that have only two options, such as "yes" or "no", or "agree" or "disagree", as they can force the respondents to choose one extreme or the other. You should also avoid questions that have unequal or inconsistent options, such as "very good", "good", "fair", or "poor", as they can skew the results or confuse the respondents.

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Albaraa Al-Thami, MSc

Retail Growth Strategy Visionary?? | Crafting Customer-Centric Growth | Franchise Expert & Frontline Regional Leader | Marketing Analytics Expert
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Avoiding bias in focus groups is like being a chef crafting the perfect recipe. When presenting options, balance is essential. Imagine offering a dish: rather than asking, "Would you prefer this delicious pasta or a simple salad?" frame it as, "Which would you prefer for dinner, pasta or salad?" This approach is like presenting two equally appealing dishes, letting the diner's palate decide. It's important to serve all options on the same platter of neutrality. Avoid seasoning one choice with positive adjectives or the other with negative ones. By doing this, you'll not only ensure a fair choice but also gather genuine preferences, leading to more reliable and palatable results.

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4 Test the questions

Testing the questions means piloting or pre-testing the questions with a small sample of respondents before conducting the actual focus group. This can help you identify any problems or ambiguities with the questions, such as unclear wording, confusing format, or misleading assumptions. To test the questions, you should ask the respondents to give feedback on the questions, such as how easy or difficult they were to understand and answer, how relevant or interesting they were to the topic, and how comfortable or uncomfortable they were to share their opinions. You should also analyze the responses and check for any patterns or anomalies that indicate bias or distortion.

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Aishvarya Gopalakrishnan (She/Her)

Ethnographic Researcher at Commonwealth Bank | Mentor at ADPList | @aishvarya-gopal on Medium
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I love dry runs! Always schedule a dry run and run the session like you actually would on the day with real participants, except for the dry run, use people who will give you great critical feedback to refine your questions. This will help you practice your questions out loud and you might be surprised at how many changes you’d make to your discussion flow just based on that. But this will also help others provide feedback on how they interpret your questions and if there’s better ways of phrasing them.

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5 Moderate the discussion

Moderating the discussion means facilitating and managing the interaction between the respondents and the questions during the focus group. This can help you ensure that the questions are asked and answered in a consistent and respectful manner, without any interference or influence from the moderator or other respondents. To moderate the discussion, you should follow a clear and structured guide that outlines the objectives, topics, and questions of the focus group. You should also use techniques such as probing, clarifying, summarizing, and acknowledging to elicit and confirm the responses, while avoiding techniques such as interrupting, prompting, persuading, or criticizing that can affect or alter the responses.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that your focus groups are not influenced by question phrasing and provide you with accurate and useful data for your market research. Focus groups are a powerful tool that can help you understand your customers and improve your products and services, but only if you ask the right questions in the right way.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Jade Makana

Your favorite storyteller’s favorite storyteller
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Instead of asking “What potential problems do you see with this product?” ask something like “What issues might other people have with this product?” or “What do you think others might say about this product?” By making it more broad, people loosen up and answer more honestly because they don’t feel like they’re on the spot. I’ve gotten some of my most valuable feedback using this method.

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What are the best ways to ensure focus groups aren't influenced by question phrasing?

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2

3

4

5

6

1 Avoid leading questions

2 Use neutral language

3 Balance the options

4 Test the questions

5 Moderate the discussion

6 Here’s what else to consider

Market Research

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What are the best ways to ensure focus groups aren't influenced by question phrasing?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Avoid leading questions

2 Use neutral language

3 Balance the options

4 Test the questions

5 Moderate the discussion

6 Here’s what else to consider

Market Research

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