This is the text as it appeared in
Marketing News, June 9, 1997
Note To Clients:
Hands Off Moderator Report
By Thomas L. Greenbaum
Almost every focus group project ends with
a report from the moderator, who interprets what happened during
the session and how the session related to the goals of the
project.
Most organizations consider the report the
most important part of the process because it provides relevant
conclusions and recommendations. Others consider the report
nothing more than a record of the proceedings for future
reference.
A key issue is the nature of the report;
Should it represent the moderators views or the views of
the client?
Its not unusual for a client rep to
ask the moderator to change some information in the report
because the client didnt agree with the conclusions or
recommendations. In some cases, moderators have been asked to
change their findings because they will not be politically
correct within the clients company.
I feel very strongly that the client should
not change the moderators report in any way, except to
correct typos or misstatements of facts. My reasons:
- Qualitative research by its
nature is subjective, and there never is one
"right" answer. Organizations that use such
research should expect people to interpret the same
information differently. This is a healthy, not
destructive, process. It provides a vehicle for good
communications.
- Organizations should hire
moderators for their professionalism and objectivity.
Moderators never should have a stake in the outcome of
the focus group. They should interpret the discussion
from their own perspective. If the client does not want
objectivity, it should conduct the group itself and not
hire an outsider.
- The client is paying the bill,
but that doesnt make it more qualified to interpret
the findings of the group. Some clients believe they are
paying for a report that agrees with what they think,
rather than an independent assessment of what happened.
- Senior managers in an
organization deserve to be exposed to views of their
consultants, even if they do not agree with the views of
the lower-level people in the company who retained the
consultant. Differing views will put management in better
position to make appropriate decisions.
- A focus group report is
submitted under the name of the research company, which
is responsible and liable for the content. If
theres ever a problem that would require
reexamining the results, it would be impossible for the
moderator to back off from responsibility for the
content.
Its in the long-term self-interest of moderators to
be very comfortable with everything that goes out to
clients under their names. Someday, they may have to
defend the report in a court of law or in the public
spotlight.
The client contact person and moderator
should agree at the start of a project that if there are
differences in opinion, they will be handled by a cover note
attached to the report. The differences should be brief and
identify only those points where the contact person and moderator
do not agree on the interpretation of the findings.
This approach will enable moderators to
retain their objectivity, integrity, and legal and ethical
responsibilities while permitting the client personnel to express
their opinions to management and retain them for the record.
Marketing Lesson
- The moderator report is a key
part of focus group research and one of the main
reasons that an independent consultant has been
hired for the project.
- Corporations should look
carefully at how they use the report and at the
restrictions they try to place on the moderator
in preparing it.
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Thomas L. Greenbaum is president of Groups Plus
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