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Focus Group
To analyze and assess
Short term
Top-down
Consultation
Small group
About

The focus group is an analytical method based on interviews or group conversations. Its main objective is to foster interaction among participants to generate valuable insights on a previously defined topic.

The exchange of ideas, expression of disagreements and diversity of perspectives are essential elements in the collective construction of knowledge. Within this framework, the focus group technique allows for in-depth exploration of participants’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviours, as well as the meanings they attribute to specific experiences or phenomena related to the urban environment.

Benefits

  • Facilitates constructing a broad and nuanced understanding of a specific topic based on participants’ opinions, beliefs, reactions, motivations and perceptions.

  • Allows for exploring complex, controversial or sensitive issues that require careful handling and a deep understanding of the emotions and meanings they evoke.

  • Supports the development of diagnoses that inform the planning, implementation and evaluation of public space programmes and services.

Importance

  • Creates safe spaces that encourage free expression for historically silenced voices

Focus groups are composed of small groups of people that can create supportive environments where sensitive topics, such as gender-based violence, can be expressed. When well-designed, these spaces foster trust, solidarity and collective reflection on complex issues.

  • Works well in combination with other territorial analysis tools

This method complements both quantitative and qualitative approaches. It enables a deeper and more relational understanding of social problems, especially those related to gender and ecological dimensions.

  • Fosters and values the collective development of transformative proposals

Focus groups stimulate the emergence of transformative ideas through horizontal dialogue. Interaction supports the collective imagination of alternatives to dominant systems grounded in care, equity and sustainability.

Steps

  1. Prepare the session by defining clear objectives and selecting qualified people to moderate the group.

  2. Design a flexible discussion guide with clear, accessible questions and carefully select the participants.

  3. Choose an accessible, comfortable, distraction-free space to ensure fluid and confident communication.

  4. Conduct the session following a structured sequence, from introductions and trust-building to in-depth discussion and a reflective conclusion.

  5. Record and analyse the information gathered, integrating verbal content with visual elements or keywords generated during the session.

Key Aspects

  • Define the length of the session and ensure appropriate conditions

Sessions should not exceed 2 hours. They should be held in a comfortable setting with proper materials such as notepads, whiteboards or visual aids.

  • Select participants carefully and ensure diversity of voices

Choose participants based on relevant profiles and knowledge. Promote equitable participation by preventing a few individuals from dominating the discussion and encouraging diverse perspectives to avoid hierarchies or silencing.

  • Capture interactions and non-verbal cues and minimise bias

Include an observer who is not in the room to capture non-verbal communication and group dynamics better. Make an analytical effort to identify whether responses reflect individual viewpoints or socially constructed narratives.

Outcomes

  • Reveals discursive gaps among participants

Focus groups help identify areas of consensus and disagreement, emerging collective narratives and contradictions between individual and group discourses on a given topic.

  • Fosters new networks and shared concerns among participants

Beyond the explicit content of the discussion, focus groups encourage the creation of new connections, particularly around feminist and ecological concerns.

  • Supports collective dialogue to reimagine green spaces with gender inclusion

These dynamics can lead to collaborative proposals for more inclusive urban green spaces with a gender perspective. This demonstrates how group dialogue fosters both valuable data and transformative relationships among participants.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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