Discussion Groups (FGI)

Discussion Groups also knows as Focus Groups are one of the most popular qualitative research methods. The purpose is to gather a group of respondents discussing a set of topics which have been pre-arranged. Focus groups are used to explore consumer minds - to understand their behaviour or decision making process when it comes to use a service or buy a product. Focus Groups are run by moderators or specialised researchers who supervise and animate the discussion. Groups are recorded on video and discussions are being transcript for further analysis.
Nowadays, raise of technology allows to conduct Online Focus Groups (Discussion Groups) quite easily with various softwares or tools in the market to connect participants and moderator / administrator all together to share thoughts.

Also see: Qualitative research, Moderator, Discussion guide/scenario, In Depth Interviews (IDI)