Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
hence your selection of a venue will make a great difference to the outcome. You should,
however, be wary of bribery and undue influence laws. In no way should your invitation to
the focus group be formatted in such a way that it looks like you are trying to influence a
clinician to purchase your products; this is crossing the line and can open you to a bribery
conviction. So stay clear of fully paid holidays in Barbados for the whole family. You should
not be questioned for organizing a focus group where reasonable expenses have been paid for.
Although a focus group sounds unstructured it should not be; it must be well planned and
well executed. For the group's first meeting an “icebreaker” should be the first item on the
agenda; this may be drinks and dinner the night before or it may be a structured activity. Your
agenda is explicit: stay focused, stay alert, and make sure you keep clear notes.
The focus group's potential activities are numerous but several good examples follow:
Post-it SWOT: Conduct a SWOT (Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats) analysis
by allocating one, or more, wall(s) to each and giving the participants Post-it Notes. They
write the S, W, O, or T on the note and stick it to the appropriate wall.
Round table: A simple round-table discussion of a topic. The topic/question must be well
written and the discussion must be well chaired.
Magic ball: A question is set, such as “What color should it be?” A member of the group
can only speak when they have the magic ball in their hand (obtained by holding their
hand up). This is a good idea when there are people speaking over others.
Free table: Simple discussion over dinner and into the evening. Guests are interspersed
with “spies” who listen, note, and nudge the conversations along.
Make sure you pick the right method for your focus group. An activity that works with one
clinical group may not work with others. Make sure that you also do a cost-benefit analysis to
ensure that you are not paying too much!
Do not fall into the trap of having a group full of “yes-men.” You need to have critical
evaluation so while you do not want to have a room full of ogres the odd negative comment is
not worthless and should not be feared. All comments add to your specification; all voices are
relevant.
Always remember that some of the end-users and stakeholders will know more about the
relevant standards and industry norms than you do. Focus groups are a great way to find out
about relevant regulatory items without giving away the fact that you may not know them all.
After each focus group make sure you perform a full debrief with those who have helped you
to run the session. You should have allocated someone to take notes throughout - shorthand
is a very valuable skill! Everyone's collective recollections, thoughts, and notes should be
collated, analyzed, and filtered into a single brief report highlighting the issues that the PDS
needs to take into account.
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