Focus Group Study of Youth Reactions to Strategic and Creative Advertising Concepts Designed to Prevent Youth Tobacco Use among Multicultural Youth

Focus Group Study of Youth Reactions to Strategic and Creative Advertising Concepts Designed to Prevent Youth Tobacco Use among Multicultural Youth

Strategy Development Moderator Guide

Reviewer Note: Moderator instructions are in brackets. There will be 1 focus group moderator and 3 research assistants, all of whom will be referred to as “assistants” throughout this document. When “moderator” is noted, that means that only the moderator should be leading the activity for all participants.

1. STUDY INTRODUCTION (5 Min)

1. Rules of the Group

[Moderator introduces study to all participants at same time once everyone is checked in

and seated.]

Moderator: Welcome and thank you for coming. My name is [insert moderator name] and I am the moderator of the focus group today. We also have [insert names of 3 assistants] who will be helping out today. Today we are going to talk about what its like to be a teenage in [CITY], eat some snacks, and have fun. At the end as a token of appreciated, you will each receive a $25 gift card. How does that sound?

We also want to remind you that no one outside of the focus group participants and researchers will know what you said during the discussions. It is completely up to you whether or not you take part today and you have the right to withdraw from the group at any time without penalty.

Finally, we are in no way connected to your school. We are from a health communications and research company in California. Your school was just nice enough to let us come here. So whatever you say to us stays with us.

So now that you know what we are doing, we have a few ground rules for the group:

1. TALK! We want you to share what you are thinking. Your main job is to answer our questions and tell us what you think. If you have no opinion on something, that’s ok too. There are no right or wrong answers!

2. Make sure to let everyone get a chance to talk. We want to hear from each person. So if you are talking a lot, let others talk for a little while.

3. Be nice to each other but be honest when you disagree—we need to hear your opinions. Our goal is not to get everyone to agree or disagree. It is about hearing each person’s unique opinion.

4. Feel free to share openly and honestly, but please do not share any personal information, like your name. Please also respect the privacy of everyone here by not sharing what is said in this discussion.

5. Silence your cell phones, turn off your iPod, get headphones off your ears, etc. If your parents call, you can step out and quickly talk to them, but other than your parents, please don’t text or answer calls or texts from other people.

2. Verbal Agreement to Audio Record

Before we begin, I would like to ask your permission to audio record this focus group. As I mentioned, all information from these focus groups will be kept private and protected, including the audio recording or any transcripts made from the audio recordings. So, is it ok with you if we audio record the focus group?

[If not everyone in the room agrees, then do not audio record group activities; research

assistants should take notes.]

Please feel free to grab a snack, and let’s get started!

2. CHECK-IN SURVEY (5 Min)

1. Moderator: OK, so when you checked-in earlier, you were given a folder. That folder should contain your Check-In Survey.

2. Please do not write your name anywhere on the survey or on any of the other documents you will be filling out today. Let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, just let one of us know when you’re done.

[After each participant completes the Check-In Survey, facilitators should circulate and

instruct participants to insert the completed survey upside down in the bottom of their

Participant Folder.]

3. Part A & Part B: PICTURE SORT AND INTERVIEW (60 Min)

1. Moderator: [All participants will complete all picture sort and interview activities. However, activities will be split into two parts: Part A and Part B. Half of the participants will complete Part A first followed by Part B, and half will complete Part B first followed by Part A. This protocol will be followed to stagger the timing for moderator/assistant led activities.] For this next activity, we’re going to split you into two groups. In your folder, you have Part A and Part B activities. I’m going to randomly pick 4 people to start with Part A and the others will start with Part B. [Select 4 participants for Part A].

   1. If you were selected for Part A, you will start by completing Part A forms with me or one of our assistants. Please take the Part A surveys out of your folder and one of us will be right with you.

   2. If you were selected for Part B, please take the Part B materials out of your folder. In this envelope is a bunch of pictures [take an envelope to demonstrate and lay out pictures on a participant’s desk].

   3. We would like you to imagine that all of the people in these pictures go to your high school. Next, think about who would hang out with whom. Which people would be friends with each other and hang out on the weekend? Please make at least two groups but no more than ten groups. Remember, you are grouping people that would hang out with each other, not people that you would personally hang out with. While you are making your groups, if any picture looks like someone that you cannot imagine at your school or that doesn’t fit into any of the groups, please set those pictures aside. Once you finish making your groups, use this worksheet [hold up Picture Sort Worksheet] and write down three words to describe each group. Do you have any questions? [Confirm that participant understood the instructions correctly or correct any misunderstandings.] Great, let one of us know when you are finished sorting your groups and completing your worksheet. [While participants sort pictures, facilitate Part A individually with other 4 participants].

2. Part A: [Turn on audio recorder to record participant’s responses and state participant’s Unique ID and “Part A” before starting activities with each participant.]

   1. Check-In Photo Interview Form

      1. Moderator/Assistant: First, I am going to ask you about the photos that you selected on Check-In Survey that you filled out first today. As your first choice for the person who best fit into your group of friends, you selected [Photo #; show instrument to participant]. Why did you select this picture? [Repeat question for each best/worst photo that was selected for BOTH male and female selections. Record picture number and reason on Check-In Photo Interview Form.]

   2. Cultural Interview Form

      1. Moderator/Assistant: Now I am going to ask you some questions about your own personal music and fashion preferences.

         1. What are 2 words other people would use to describe your group of friends?

         2. If I could give you 10 tickets to two concerts for you and all of your friends to go to together, which artists would that be? (Need 2 artists, Must be alive today)

         3. If you could only wear two brands of clothing to school for the rest of the school year and price didn't matter, which brands would you wear?

         4. If you were hosting a house party and you could have two musician/band to perform at your party, whom would you pick? (Must be alive today and different from previous answers)

         5. Where do you usually shop for clothes? (specific store names)

   3. Part B

      1. [Once participant is finished with Part A, provide instructions for Part B – section III1c]

3. Part B: [Once a participant is finished with picture sorting and Picture Sort Worksheet, the moderator or assistant will review the groupings individually with each participant. Confirm that at least two groups but no more than ten groups have been made and that the participant wrote down 3 words describing each group on the Picture Sort Worksheet. Next, prepare to record the first picture number for each group on Picture Grouping Form. [Turn on audio recorder to record participant’s responses and state participant’s Unique ID and “Part A” before starting activities with each participant.]

   1. Picture Sort Form

      1. Moderator/Assistant: OK, I want to talk about each of these groups. But first, I want to find out if there are any pictures missing. Think about your school, your friends, the people you see at lunch. Are there any pictures missing that would represent a group? What can you tell me about missing groups? [Record any additional groups on back of Picture Sort Form. When an additional group is identified, ask the participant to try and name the group, and what members of that group look like.]

      2. Now, let’s begin with the first group. I am going to spread out the pictures for Group 1. Great. Now let’s talk about Group 1:

         1. First, what are the three words that best describe this group? [put a sticky note on first picture of group with Group #1 and write “1” on the sticky note and place sticky note on top right corner, jutting out, so that the sticky note clearly shows when the groupings are piled together]

         2. Now, think about the largest groups at your school. Which are the largest 3 groups? [Allow them to pick 3]. Ok, now for the largest group, out of 100%, what percentage of the students at your school are part of it [repeat for every group; need to add to 100% if participant has more than 3 groups total]

         3. Next, out of all tobacco users, which one of these groups uses the most tobacco, like cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, chew, hookah – any tobacco? Let’s rank the top 3 [fill out ranking].

            1. [After indicating ranking] What type of tobacco does this group use [could be more than 1; write in Tobacco Type]?

            2. Ok, now I want to know what percentage of each group uses tobacco. Out of 100% of each group, what percentage of them do you think use tobacco?

   2. Peer Crowd Interview Form

      1. Moderator/Assistant: Now, out of the groups you made, pick at least one but no more than three groups you are most likely to hang out with [all groups should have a sticky note with the group # on front].

         1. Out of 100%, how much would you say you hang out with each group?

         2. Let’s talk about each of the groups you think you would hang out with.

         3. What kind of music do they like? Tell me three specific musicians or bands.

         4. What kind of clothing do they wear? Tell me three specific brand names or stores.

   3. [For participants who started with Part A - at this point, Assistants should check on participants just finishing the Picture Sort Worksheet. If any are finished, they should be instructed to fill out the surveys (next section) while they wait for an assistant.]

   4. [For participants who started with Part B - Moderator/Assistants should continue to Part A forms after finishing Part B activities. Participants should be asked to wait patiently while Moderator/Assistants lead other participants through rest of Part B activities.]

4. IDENTITY PROJECTION (15 Min)

1. Moderator: Now we are going to work on an activity as a group. [If all participants agreed to recording say:] I’m going to start recording now for group [say FG ID]. I’ll be showing you some pictures of people on the screen and we’ll talk about them. The people in these pictures are different from the ones you worked with before. You do not need to write anything down. Let’s begin.

2. [Show first picture on projector. Be sure to state out loud, “Here is picture (#)” for each slide. Then ask the following questions for each of the images.]

3. Moderator:

1. Which of the groups you identified earlier do you think this person would hang out with?

2. Where would this person hang out on the weekends?

3. What do you think is this person’s top priority? In other words, what do they care about the most? Why?

   1. What do they care about when hanging out with their friends? Why?

4. Do you think this person smokes cigarettes? Why?

   1. If so, what brand do you think they smoke? Why?

   2. If so, what would make this person want to quit smoking? Why?

4. [Continue discussion until 85 Minutes is up leaving 5 Minutes for Check Out].

5. CHECK OUT (5 Min)

Thank you for your time today. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us.

Make sure that you collect all of your belongings and turn in your folder containing all of your completed worksheets from today. You can walk back to where you signed in to check out and collect your gift card. Thanks again!

[Have each participant check out by turning in their folder; make sure that all necessary documents are in the folder. Participant will initial the Check Out Form indicating that they have received their $25 gift card incentive. For each focus group, there should only be one Check Out Form for administrative purposes. Upon completion of focus group, organize all completed documents. The team should have a complete folder for each participant.]

Strategy Development Moderator Guide Page 4 of 4