Recruitment

AFS have developed a reliable system of screening and recruiting qualified participants to attend focus groups. To really work effectively recruits must be followed intimately right up to the session - this involves a daily dialogue via phone or e-mail. Recruiting participants for focus groups, panels and in-depth interviews can be a fairly involved process and requires adequate time for planning the right approach.

• It is important is to ensure that participants receive some form of payment for their time and, where travel is involved, their expenses.
• Once a respondent has agreed to participate in the focus group, panel or in-depth interview, it is the norm to confirm this information via letter or email.

Focus groups are the cornerstone for qualitative study, allowing groups to create new languages, insights and test hypotheses.