Parents

Department of Education
Office of Educational Technology (OET)

Focus Group Protocol
May 20, 2008

ED-07-CO-0100

Client:
Department of Education/
Contracts and Acquisition
Management
550 12th Street SW, 7thFloor
Potomac Center Plaza
Washington, DC 20202
Contact:
Nancy Loy
(202) 205-5375
Nancy.Loy@ed.gov
Submitted:
May 20, 2008
Contractor:
The Granato Group
1608 Spring Hill Rd. Suite 300
Vienna, VA 22182
Eric Jacobs
703-636-1200 ext 521
eric.jacobs@granatogroup.com

The Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the referenced contract. This
restriction does not limit the right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction.
The data subject to this restriction are contained in the sheets marked with the following legend: “Use or disclosure of data
contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this proposal.”

Department of Education—Office Educational Technology
Leveraging Technology to Keep America Competitive

Table of Contents

1.

INTRODUCTION

2

2.

OBJECTIVES

2

3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS

2

4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FOCUS GROUP

2

5.

SCHEDULING THE FOCUS GROUP

3

6.

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

3

8. DEBRIEFING BY THE FACILITATOR

5

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1.

Introduction

This protocol was developed to provide guidance for facilitators conducting focus groups evaluating
the printed and online versions of the Parents’ Guide to the Internet.
2.

Objectives

The focus group will elicit discussion of how parents feel about the newly developed Parents’ Guide
to the Internet and whether the Parents’ Guide effectively communicates information to parents.
3.

Description of the Participants

There will be 2-4 Focus groups comprised of six to ten parents. The evaluators will assess the
participant pool to verify that each of the characteristics summarized in the following table will have
at least one participant to represent it:
Gender

Ethnicity

Male

Asian

Female

Hispanic
African
American
White

Internet
Usage

Education
Level

Less than
Once per
Week

High School
or less

More
Frequently

Grade
Level of
Child
K-5
6-8

Some
College

9-12

College
Degree

After the participant pool is established, participants will be assigned based on self-reported Internet
usage. To the extent possible, parents who use the Internet less than once a week will be grouped
together and those that use the Internet more frequently will be in their own group(s). Individual
participants with scheduling conflicts may be reassigned to different groups if those conflicts are not
resolvable. Thus, the basic strategy is to assign individuals to groups based on self-reported usage to
minimize differences in Internet familiarity.
4.

Description of the Focus Group

The focus groups will be conducted with the following considerations:
• Scope
o Each focus group will discuss a section of the website/printed material sufficient to
provide discussion for approximately one to one-and-a-half hours
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•
•

•

•

•

5.

Facilitators
o Facilitators will be Granato Group personnel that have been trained in facilitation
techniques
Setting
o Focus groups will be conducted at locations to be determined that are convenient to
the parents
o Participants and facilitator will sit around a large table
Reference material
o Participants will be provided a copy of the Parents’ Guide approximately one week
before the focus group meeting in the form that will be evaluated by that specific
group. The section of the material that will be assigned to the specific group will be
indicated.
o A list of potential prompting questions will be provided.
o Participants will be provided a copy of the section of the Parents’ Guide that was
assigned to their specific focus group at the beginning of the session.
Session recording
o Facilitator and/or facilitators’ assistant will take notes of the session
o Session will be video taped (with participant permission)
o A back-up audio tape recording will be made.
Incentive
o A light meal will be provided immediately prior to the focus group discussion
(consistent with ED guidelines and approval).
o An honorarium of $50 may be provided to each parent attending as an incentive for
attending.

Scheduling the Focus Group

The focus groups will be held either after normal business hours or on weekends as needed.
6.

Focus Group Discussion

The following questions will provide the framework for the focus group discussion. While questions
that are not listed here may be asked in order to follow up on participant responses, the focus group
discussion will center on these main questions. The introduction and debriefing statements will be
read to participants. Follow-up questions will be asked, when appropriate, to gather further
information.
Introduction: The purpose of this study is to find out your reactions to the Parents’ Guide to the
Internet. We would like you to share your honest feedback for improvement. Everything that you
say here will be kept confidential, and your names and any other identifying information will not be
released to anyone that is not on the research team or used in any report based on this discussion.

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We have a limited amount of time, so I might have to interrupt from time-to-time to keep things
moving. Our experience tells us that we get the best results when all of you participate equally so we
ask that each of you use a roughly equal amount of time.
7.

Potential questions
The following is a pool of potential facilitation questions:
•

Opening Question (to get people talking and help them feel comfortable as a group. Ask
each person to answer going around the table one by one.)
¾ Tell us your name, the ages of your children, and what you enjoy doing most with your
children?

•

Introductory Question
¾ Do you think you would sit down with your child and use the Parents’ Guide to the
Internet booklet and/or website? If not, why?

•

Transition Questions
¾ What are the one or two things that you liked best about the Parents’ Guide to the
Internet?
¾ What are the one or two things that you liked least about the Parents’ Guide to the
Internet

•

Key (Topic) Questions
We asked you to read topics __________. We would now like to discuss the specifics of
those topics.
¾ In what ways did these topics of the Parent’s Guide effectively provide information
regarding the Internet to you as a parent?
¾ To what extent did these Parents’ Guide chapters improve your understanding of
parental issues regarding the Internet?
¾ Are there specific sections of these topics that are better or easier to understand than
others?
¾ Is there anything you would include among the major topics of the booklet and/or
website that we left out?

•

Ending Questions
We wanted to get your impressions of the Parents’ Guide to see if it helped provide
effective information about the Internet to you as a parent.
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¾ If you were in charge of designing this booklet/website what are the one or two things
you would most likely change?
¾ Is there anything else about the Parents’ Guide booklet or website that you would like to
share with us?
8. Debriefing by the Facilitator
I would like to thank you for your participation. I also want to restate that what you have shared
with me is confidential. Before we dismiss, I want to provide you with a chance to ask any questions
that you might have about this focus group discussion.

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Granato Group Proprietary and Confidential. Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the
title page of this proposal.