Focus groups and deliberative workshops

Focus groups and deliberative workshops enable clients to explore in-depth what customers, voters and other key stakeholders think and to understand why they think as they do. [For a detailed explanation of what focus groups are click here.]

Populus will recruit and moderate a series of focus groups – we always recommend that clients should commit to a minimum of four groups – according to the exact requirements of the client.

Populus has wide experience of running focus groups, covering a broad range of issues, for clients in many different sectors – including hard to reach groups. Populus has a team of experienced moderators and, in addition, all groups are observed by a Populus analyst to ensure that vital nuances are captured.

Clients are welcome – in fact encouraged – to observe groups. If desired, discussions can also be recorded.

For clients who have particularly complex issues to examine, Populus can arrange longer deliberative workshops which provide the space to consider complicated issues. They can be used to take key audiences through the whole process of a campaign or proposition, replicating every stage, to give a unique insight into how people will react.

Understanding, not just information

Whether a client is considering focus groups or deliberative workshops, Populus takes an innovative approach using projective techniques designed to explore underlying attitudes as well as tackling issues head on in an informed and objective way.

Our approach to focus groups and deliberative workshops is critical to Populus’s commitment to delivering informed insight. As well as offering depth and texture to the opinions and attitudes of key audiences, we analyse and interpret our findings to give the big picture – and nuances within it – defining the real implications for our clients.