Community and Focus Group Discussions .doc

3.1. Planning and Conducting Data Collection – Community and Focus Group Discussions Session-at-a-glance Content Approximate Time (Minutes) Instructional Activity Summary of Day 2 10 Group presentation Introduction 15 Interactive lecture Focus Group Discussion Game 50 Role-play exercise Game Debriefing 45 Plenary discussion Total Time 120 minutes / 2 hours Session Objectives After this session, the participants will be able to: Describe the fundamentals of successfully using focus group and community discussions in assessments; Improve knowledge and skills on effective moderation and note-taking techniques; Moderate a focus group discussion. Session Supplies Power Point: D3S1-9. Planning and Conducting Data Collection-Community Focus Group Discussions.ppt Documents: Exercise 7 (D3S1-9. Exercise 7-Focus Group Discussion Role Play Game.doc). First page copied for all participants; pages 2-8 copied to three participants; page 9 copied to all but three participants; pages 10-12 copied to three participants (who will play specific roles as focus group participants) either by stapling these pages to three of the participant role guides, or by keeping the pages separately and distributing them to the three “special” participants after five minutes of distributing the other papers. NB: these copies all should be prepared/organized in folders in advance. Handout 10 (D3S1-9. H10-On Planning and Moderating Discussions.doc), copied to all participants. Other: Flipchart and markers Key Messages (NB: The first three reinforce earlier messages from session 3) The key difference between FGDs (Focus Group Discussions) and Community Discussions (CDs) is in the mix of participants and issues discussed. Community discussions generally draw a diverse group of participants to discuss a broad topic, whereas focus group discussions are organized with a group of participants who have one, or more, common characteristic to discuss an issue that concerns them in depth.