The Ontario Rural Woman Abuse Study (ORWAS), final report

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APPENDIX C

GUIDE FOR ORGANIZING AND FACILITATING FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION

Step 1:  Finding your location

• Try to find an accessible and convenient location (e.g., social service agency meeting room, arena meeting room, church hall, municipal building meeting room).
• Reserve a date, time and location well in advance of the focus group.  Be sure to include this information on the information sheet that you send to potential participants.

Step 2:  Advance preparation

• Have your CAPRO pamphlets and newsletters available.
• Ensure you have the equipment you need (e.g., tape recorder, flipchart, name tags, markers, masking tape, stickies).
• Arrange for refreshments or a light lunch.
• Ask a buddy (a CAPRO facilitator?) to come with you to the focus group to help you with certain tasks, such as changing the tape, taking notes, and taping flipcharts.

Step 3:  Setting up the recording equipment

• Place a new tape in the recorder.
• Test the microphones.
• Test the equipment by stating the date, your name and identifying the focus group.  Replay to ensure the distance is adequate and the tape recorder is working well.

Step 4:  Controlling your time

Look at the number of questions you have to answer and the amount of time you have reserved with your participants.  Prepare an agenda to make sure you have enough time to address all the questions.  Allow 15 to 30 minutes for preparation and clean up.  Two examples:

12 HOUR FOCUS GROUP	3 HOUR FOCUS GROUP
0:00 Introduction and Round table	0:00 Introduction and Round table
0:15 Question 1	0:15 Question 1
0:30 Question 2	0:40 Question 2
0:45 Question 3	1:05 Question 3
1:00 Question 4	1:30 Question 4
1:15 Question 5	1:55 Question 5
1:30 Question 6	2:25 Question 6
1:45 Wrap up and thank you's	2:50 Wrap up and thank you's
2:00 Clean up	3:00 Clean up

Without being too obvious, you may need to keep an eye on the clock.

Step 5:  Getting comfortable

Take time at the beginning to:

• Prepare a relaxed atmosphere for the site.
• Arrange for comfortable seating.
• Ask everyone to write their first names only on the name tags.
• Make sure you have collected a consent form from each participant.

Note:  A good moderator moves the flow of conversation around the group.  Try not to give your own opinions during the session.  Rather, your challenge is to get other people to speak.

Step 6:  Starting the focus group

Introduce yourself.  Thank everyone for coming out.

Go over the project description, including the fact that:

• The study is a joint research project in six small Ontario communities with the Community Abuse Program of Rural Ontario (CAPRO) and the Department of Justice Canada.
• The study is focussing on what woman abuse means to the community and on what services are done well and what could be done better.
• The research information will be returned to all those who participated, if they want it.

Explain the confidentiality provisions, including that:

• You will be audiotaping the focus group discussion.
• You, as the researcher, will keep each participant’s identity confidential.  In other words, no one’s identity will be recognisable in any research reports, nor will the researcher ever identify or discuss the participation of any one in the discussion group.
• The people who will type up the tapes are professionals who will remove all identifying information from the transcripts.
• You will destroy the tape of the discussion.
• You can only request that all participants honour a commitment not to identify or discuss the participation of anyone in the discussion.  However, you, as the researcher, cannot provide guarantees to that effect.  Participants may wish to keep that in mind when making their comments, but it is hoped that the discussion will be as open and constructive as possible.
• The only exception to your promise of confidentiality is if someone discloses information about a child 16 or younger who is being abused and who needs protection.

Go over the consent form, being sure to:

• Stress the fact that participation is entirely voluntary.
• Assure participants that they are free to not respond to any question.

Do a round table, asking first names and general information about the participants, such as the agency or service they work for or their position in the community.

The following ground rules for discussion should be posted on a piece of flipchart paper:

• One person speaks at a time.
• Participants must listen to others’ opinions before stating their own.
• It’s okay to disagree.

Ask participants if there are other ground rules they would like to add.  Make sure everyone is comfortable with newly proposed ground rules.  These may, for example, address smoking, confidentiality, etc.

Step 7:  Asking the questions

In this section, we have listed the six main questions we would like you to cover during the focus group.  These main questions will guide the focus group.  You may want to have each of the main questions written out on a separate sheet of flipchart paper.  Participants can then see the questions easily and one at a time.

We have also listed a number of sub-questions that relate to each main question.  Use the sub-questions if the discussion does not touch on them, if you need questions to keep the discussion going, or if you need to refocus the discussion.  Try to keep the group focused on their own community.

You may want to experiment with the “sticky post-it” exercise, especially for the last question.  To use this exercise:

• Distribute stickies to all the focus group participants.
• Ask the question.
• Tell the participants to write down their “gut” responses to the question on a stickie without consulting others.
• Once everyone has written down their answers, have them put their stickies on the flipchart page where you’ve printed the question.
• Open up the discussion.

• Question 1:  Woman abuse means different things in different places.  What does it mean here in (local community)?
  • What does “abuse” mean?
  • Are there other types of abuse other than physical abuse?
  • Do you know if these other types of abuse are happening here in (local community)?
  • Is woman abuse talked about here in (local community)?
  • How do people here learn about woman abuse?

  (If someone raises the issue of male abuse, reinforce that violence of any kind is unacceptable, thank them for raising the point, remind them that for the purpose of this project you will be discussing woman abuse and that the nature and extent of male abuse should be a separate research project.  Indicate that there is an expectation that the next victimisation survey carried out by Statistics Canada will ask men questions about whether they experience domestic abuse.)

• Question 2:  Why does woman abuse happen?
  • Have you heard of situations where people thought woman abuse was acceptable?  Tell us about them.
  • Do women ever provoke abuse?  How?
• Question 3:  Community Residents and Leaders.

  What makes it hard for a woman to tell someone that she is being abused?

  • If a friend or family member were being abused here, to whom do you think she might talk?
  • What makes it hard to ask for help?
  • Where is a safe place to go for help in this community?
• Question 3:  Service Providers.
  • What makes it hard for a woman to tell someone that she is being abused?
  • What would be a safe place to go for help in this community?
  • Where would one not go to seek for help?
  • What if she has children?  Where does she go?  Are there services available?
  • Are the various social services in the community able to respond to woman abuse?
  • The health system?
  • The education system?
  • The social services?
  • The criminal justice system?  (Includes police, courts, victims’ services.)
  • Are they able to service women with different cultural backgrounds?
  • What are the economic issues associated with finding safety for these women?
  • Does transportation play a role?
• Question 4:  Community Residents and Leaders.

  If you were the one she talked to, what suggestions might you give her?

  • What would prevent a friend or neighbour from leaving her situation?
  • In this community, why would a woman choose to stay in an abusive relationship?
• Question 4:  Service Providers.

  If she contacted your agency/service, what suggestions might you give her?

  • In this community, why would a woman choose to stay in an abusive relationship?
  • What types of services are helpful?
  • What types of services are not helpful?
  • Are there any ongoing resources or support services available?
• Question 5:  How might our community best prevent and respond to woman abuse?
  • Can you think of examples of community leadership that:
  • Resulted in action against woman abuse?
  • Involved men in anti-violence work?
  • Are residents aware that woman abuse occurs in families within the community?
  • Are there any factors specific to living in a rural setting that could help us prevent and respond to woman abuse?
  • Now what?
  • What is the one thing that our community could do now to help prevent woman abuse?
  • What is the one thing that our community could do to respond to woman abuse, in other words, to help women who are being abused now?
• Question 6:  Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Step 8:  Wrapping up the focus group

First, be sure to thank the focus group members for their participation.

After the focus group is finished, take some time to record on the focus group tape or on a separate tape your own reflections and impressions of the session.  Be sure to identify yourself, and to highlight any major themes you think should be included in the analysis.

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