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What Focus Groups Can and Cannot Do: A Reply to Seymour
Author(s) -
McQuarrie Edward F.,
McIntyre Shelby H.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of product innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1540-5885
pISSN - 0737-6782
DOI - 10.1111/1540-5885.410055
Subject(s) - focus group , focus (optics) , empirical research , group (periodic table) , population , sociology , psychology , social psychology , public relations , marketing , political science , epistemology , business , demography , organic chemistry , optics , philosophy , chemistry , physics
In their reply to Seymour, Edward McQuarrie and Shelby Mclntyre address the question of the advantages and disadvantages of focus groups as a research technique. They argue that the biases incurred with focus groups are no greater than those that result from any other market research technique, but caution that polls of focus group members cannot be extrapolated to estimate the incidence of some response in the population. What is unique to group discussions is the social interaction among respondents. This interaction can help to resolve some of the questions that occupy the attention of new products managers. The authors conclude with suggestions for empirical research which could advance our understanding of the use of focus groups.