Choose Your Tool - Surveys vs Focus Groups

As election season kicks off, research becomes a weapon in the public imagination. Politicians will often throw numbers around with no real citation, talking heads will claim that “the "polls are clear” and everyone seems to be jostling to make their claim with the strongest evidence possible.

As a research organization, we’re often approached by clients who want to have numbers that will make a similar impact - a clear win and message. And often, they have a preferred method - “We want to do a survey of X and we’ve already started to build one in Google Forms but it didn’t give us the info we wanted”.

Research and data collection is like a building project - you have to use the right tool or you’ll end up wonky.

Two of the most common tools we use at Better Way Consulting are focus groups and surveys. Both have their merits but it’s worth comparing them - you need to use the right one for the right purpose.

Focus Groups:

Focus groups bring a human touch to the process of gathering information. By assembling a small group of participants in a facilitated discussion (which should really be an objective individual aka BWC!), you’ll gain qualitative insights with plenty of nuance.

Group dynamics stimulate spontaneous conversations, uncovering unanticipated opinions and emotions. The face-to-face interaction allows researchers to delve deeper into participants' thoughts, exploring not just what they think but also why they think that way. Focus groups excel in revealing subtle details that might be missed in other methods. With remote tools like Zoom, we’re also able to gather data from customers and clients all over the world.

Customer Surveys:

On the other hand, customer surveys offer a broader perspective through quantitative data collection. Surveys can reach a larger audience, providing statistically significant results that guide decision-making. The structured nature of surveys ensures consistency in data collection and easy comparison across responses.

Surveys are versatile, allowing businesses to cover a wide range of topics, from product satisfaction to brand perception. With the potential for anonymous feedback, surveys can encourage more candid responses, providing valuable insights into the overall customer sentiment.

In the end, the choice between focus groups and customer surveys depends on the objectives of the research. This is why it’s so important to consider what you actually want to know. A yes/no binary question won’t give you rich depth of human experience - and sometimes you don’t need the long form answers that come from discussion in focus groups.

Combining both methods can yield a holistic understanding of customer behavior, providing you with the insights needed to refine strategies, enhance products, and create a more satisfying customer experience.

Want to chat more about how Better Way Consulting can help you? Contact us today