Focus group questions: a sample question route and how to moderate the group

Good focus group questions follow a route from easy to important: a quick opening question everyone answers, a question that introduces the topic, one or two transition questions that connect the topic to people's own experience, a few key questions that take most of the time, and ending questions that check what you heard. That five-part structure comes from Richard Krueger (Designing and Conducting Focus Group Interviews), whose book with Mary Anne Casey is the reference NN/g lists for focus groups.

Keep the list short. University of Wisconsin-Extension suggests six questions or fewer, ordered from broad to specific (Quick Tips: Focus Group Interviews). Krueger's own sample routes run to seven or eight once the quick opening and ending questions are counted, so apply the limit to the questions that need real discussion. In a focus group, participants talk to each other and the moderator steers, so each question needs room for several people to answer and respond.

If you are still deciding whether a focus group is the right method, read focus groups vs. one-on-one interviews first.

Rules for writing the questions

Krueger's guidance, in short:

• Ask open questions. "What did you think of…?" rather than "Did you like…?" Avoid questions that can be answered yes or no.
• Rarely ask "why." Krueger suggests asking about attributes (features of the topic) or influences (what prompted someone to act) instead.
• Use "think back" questions. Take people back to a real experience, not forward to a hypothetical future.
• Go from general to specific.
• Get people involved. Making a list, choosing between options, rating on a card or writing before speaking all help quieter participants contribute.
• Save off-topic questions for the end.

A worked example: a sample question route

Suppose you are building a payment-plan tool for dental practices, and you want to hear how office managers talk about collecting patient balances. You run a 90-minute group with seven office managers from different practices. Krueger suggests five to ten people per group, with six to eight preferred. The example and timings are hypothetical.

The key questions get most of the time. The card exercise is one of Krueger's strategies ("make a list"): everyone writes first, so the first confident speaker doesn't set the answer for the whole room.

The sketch question is the weakest in the route. Jakob Nielsen of NN/g warns that watching a demo is different from using a product, and that people in groups may say they want one thing when they need another (The Use and Misuse of Focus Groups). Treat reactions to the sketch as input for a usability test; they don't show the design works.

Open the session

Krueger recommends a four-part introduction: welcome, an overview of the topic, ground rules, then the first question. In practice that means:

• Introduce yourself and the note-taker, and say what the results will be used for.
• Tell people why they were invited.
• Say there are no right or wrong answers, only differing points of view, and that negative comments are as useful as positive ones.
• Explain that you are recording, so one person should speak at a time, and say how names will be handled in your notes.
• Remind people they don't need to agree with each other, but should listen respectfully.

Krueger's material is written for groups in a room, but the same introduction works on a video call. Add any call etiquette you need, such as how to signal that you want to speak.

Moderate the discussion

Krueger's moderator guidance:

• Pause. Wait about five seconds after someone answers. Others often add something.
• Probe. "Would you explain further?" "Would you give an example?" "I don't understand."
• Keep your reactions neutral. Avoid "that's good" or "excellent," which tell the group what you want to hear. Head nods and short verbal responses need the same care.
• Plan for difficult dynamics. Krueger names four: self-appointed experts, dominant talkers, shy participants and ramblers. Invite quiet people by name, and redirect a dominant voice with "Let's hear from others on this."
• Use an assistant moderator. A second person takes notes, runs the recording and handles logistics, and stays out of the discussion unless invited.

Nielsen adds that the moderator must keep the discussion on track without stifling it, make sure everyone contributes, and stop one person's opinions from dominating.

Close the group and capture what you heard

Krueger's three-step close: summarize the main points and ask whether the summary is right, review the purpose and ask whether anything was missed, then thank people and end. UW-Extension suggests an optional "cooling down" question, such as asking each person for one thing they heard that was really important.

Straight after the session, the moderator and assistant should debrief and write down themes, surprises and hunches while they are fresh. Krueger's assistant notes separate quotes, key points for each question, follow-up questions that were missed, and the recorder's own ideas.

When you analyze, Krueger suggests giving more weight to answers that are specific and based on experience than to vague or impersonal ones. He also notes that participants sometimes change position after hearing others. Trace what prompted the change; it tells you something about the group, not necessarily about each person.

Plan more than one group. Nielsen notes that the outcome of any single session may not be representative, and Krueger lists repeated groups as a characteristic of focus group studies. Qualitative market research covers where focus groups fit alongside other methods.

Your next step

Write your route using the five stages above, with no more than six questions that need real discussion. Mark the two key questions you care about most and give them half the time. Try the route on a colleague and cut anything that confused them.

To recruit, you need several people who do the same job at different organizations. Instant Expert can find people who match a description you write, such as "office managers at dental practices," whether for the group itself or for one-on-one follow-up conversations afterward. You review who it finds, it sends your invitations, and you pay only for calls that get booked. The operations professionals in dental services directory page is one place to start.