Focus Group Discussions, FGDs, are usually qualitative in nature, but can be adapted to serve quantitative objectives through discussion designs based on quantifiable inputs such as ranking, rating, or voting . These typically take the form of “focus groups” where a moderator leads a discussion among 6-10 respondents, although they incorporate some standardized questions with measurable responses.

Participants can be asked to score product attributes, to sort items in order of preference, or to vote on particular options, thus producing quantifiable information as well as qualitative responses. Although this method does identify statistics and trends as contextuality and sentiment are captured, it lends itself well to concept testing, brand perception, and user experience testing.

Quantitative FGDs give a rapid sense of consensus within a group and can identify some trends in attitudes or behaviors. Facilitating numeric responses in the moment can be done using tools such as clickers, online polls, or paper scoring sheets during the session.

The interaction between the participants is one of the important advantages to this hybrid method, as it can help to discover motivations or conflicts behind those responses that a purely individual survey might not catch. This peer dynamic can sometimes reveal group norms or biases that affect the decision-making process.

But, quantitative data produced in FGDs are not statistically generalizable to the larger population, as group sizes are small. So they are frequently employed as exploratory or supplementary to a larger quantitative survey.

Well constructed, “quantifying” focus groups are a semi-structured hybrid method combining the strengths of numeric trends with that of qualitative depth and understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviors.