Formative Research to Develop Multicultural Nutrition Education for Child Care (Individuals and Households - Children and Parents)

OMB Control # 0584-0524

Expiration Date: 9/30/2019

OMB BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0584-0524.  The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average a total of 60 minutes per response, with an estimated 40 minutes devoted to specific recipes and training videos contained in Attachments O, P, Q, and S and the remaining 20 minutes for the rest of the interview. This time estimate includes the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

ATTACHMENT H – PARENT/CAREGIVER FOCUS GROUP GUIDELINE

Research Objectives: To understand parent/caregivers’ meal prep practices at home, participation in child care events, and their perceptions of the closing activities, family cookbook, and video storyboard.

Note: Optional probing questions appear in italics. These probes are intended to provide options for the researcher to obtain feedback that supports the study objectives.

Section I: Introduction & Warm Up (5 Minutes)

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us today. I’m [moderator name] and I’ll be moderating this focus group. The purpose of this conversation is to talk about your families’ meal patterns and to collect your feedback on a draft family cookbook that you may have received from your child care provider.

When these materials are finalized, they will be available for free to parents across the country. Keep in mind that we are only talking to eight groups of parents, so your opinions are incredibly valuable!

Before we start, I want to mention a few things:

• First, there are no right or wrong answers. We’re here today to hear what you think, and it’s ok if people have different opinions.

• Participation is completely voluntary, so you don’t have to answer every question. However, your feedback is important. We hope to hear from everybody today, so I might call on you at some point.

• I did not create any of the materials you’re going to see. So, please be honest if there are things you like or don’t like. Your responses won’t affect me either way.

• Everything we talk about here will be kept private. That means we will not use your name in any of our reports. We also ask that you not share what was talked about outside of this room.

We’d like to record this conversation. The recordings will only be used to confirm our notes and allow us to revisit this conversation. Only members of the project team will hear the recordings, and any transcriptions of this conversation will not include any names. All information will be stored on a secured server. Is that ok with you?

Do you have any questions?

Let’s start with a quick introduction. We’ll go around the table. Say your first name, how many children you have, their ages, and your kids’ favorite food. I’ll go first…

Section II: Meal Practices at Home (5 minutes)

Thank you all for sharing a little something about yourselves. We’re going to jump right in with some questions about the meals you eat at home.

Objectives ….understand participants’ meal habits at home.

Questions How often do you prepare meals for your family at home? What types of meals do you prepare? What do you typically cook or prepare for your family for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? How do you decide what meals to prepare for your family? [Probe for preferences of taste over nutrition, etc] Where do you go for ideas on types of meals to prepare? How do you search for meal ideas [probe for browsing or searching for specific recipes]? How do your children get involved in the meal prep? How do you feel about involving your children in cooking meals? Do they ever help you with the cooking? Why, why not? Do your children have a say in what they eat? Why, why not? How often do you try out new recipes for your family? How willing would you be to prepare a recipe that’s not familiar to you? What about from a different culture? What would make you more willing to prepare a new recipe? How willing would your children be to try foods they’ve never tried before? What about from a different culture? What do you think would help your children be more willing to try new foods? Have you noticed any changes to your child’s eating habits in the last few weeks?

Section III: Child Care Events (10 minutes)

Objective …appeal and willingness to attend the closing activities.

Questions As you know, your child’s classroom has been participating in various recipe-related activities. In addition to those activities, there are also two activities that involve the parents: Global Potluck and Festive Friday. [If the site did the Global Potluck] Who attended the Global Potluck event? What were your thoughts? What did you like/not like about it? What did you do at the event? Did you bring any food to the potluck? What did your child think of the event? Did they learn anything? [If the site did Festive Friday] Who attended the Festive Friday event? What were your thoughts? What did you like/not like about it? What did you do at the event? What did your child think of the event? Did they learn anything? [If the site didn’t do Global Potluck] The first activity is called a Global Potluck in which children and their family members bring a traditional meal from their culture to the site to share with others. What are your thoughts on this activity? Does that sound like something you would attend? Why/why not? What kinds of things would you expect or want to do at an event like this? Is that similar to other events offered here? [If the site didn’t do Festive Friday] The next activity is called Festive Friday in which children and family members teach others how to make a recipe, play a game, or sing a song. What are your thoughts on this activity? Does that sound like something you would attend? Why/why not? What kinds of things would you expect or want to do at an event like this? Is that similar to other events offered here? How did your child care site tell you about these activities? Probe for flyers, email, social media etc. How do you prefer to receive communication from your child care site? What other types of events would you want your child care site to offer?

This is really helpful information; thank you for sharing your thoughts. We have a limited time so I want to switch it up and get your feedback about this family cookbook.

Section IV: Family Cookbook Feedback (40 minutes)

Section IVa) Overall Cookbook Review (5 Minutes)

Objective: …overall appeal, relevance, usability of the Family Cookbook.

Questions [Note: Distribute Attachment S: Research Stimulus: The Food Explorers: Tasting the World! Family Cookbook] Now I’d like to talk about this Family Cookbook. Keep in mind this is just a draft, and your feedback will be used to make this cookbook better before it is available to parents across the country. Take a couple of minutes to browse the pages of the cookbook. [Give participants 1 minute to flip through the cookbook and spend 4 minutes on the following questions.] Has anybody seen this cookbook before? Where have you seen it? Did you do any of the recipes in the cookbook? Which recipes did you do? Why did you choose those recipes? What’s your overall impression of this cookbook? What do you think about the look and design of the cookbook? What do you think of the title Food Explorers: Tasting the World!? What do you think that title is trying to portray? What do you think about the parrot? What do you think about the layout of the table of content and recipes? Which recipe stands out as one you’d like to try? Why? Is there anything confusing or off-putting in the cookbook? What would you do with this cookbook if you received it from your child care site? [Probe for store it away, throw it away, look through it] What would motivate you to use this cookbook?

Section IVb) Detailed Recipe Review (15 Minutes)

[Note to Moderator: Parents will answer the following questions for each of 4 recipes so that two groups review each recipe across Sections IVb & IVc. A few videos will only be included in IVc and therefore do not appear in this chart.

Before the group begins, use the rotation chart below to determine which recipes will be reviewed by each focus group.]

Rotation Chart for Detailed Recipe Review
Recipe	Focus Group Number
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Beef Picadillo		x
Baked Batatas and Apples			x				x
Baked Cod Olé				x		x
Quick Quesadilla					x			x
Great Garden Soup	x				x
Alaskan Salmon Mini-Loaves
Collard Greens			x			x
Creamy Wild Rice				x				x
Wild Veggie Mash Up					x
Greens & Beans Soup	x					x
Chicken with Veggie Couscous		x					x
Chickpeas & Tomatoes				x				x
Chicken Ratatouille
Easy Zucchini Lasagna		x			x
Beef Goulash	x						x
Spinach Egg Bake			x					x
Broccoli with Asian Tofu
Indian Spiced Flatbread			x	x
Asian Noodles		x				x
Gingered Carrots	x						x

Objective: …appeal, willingness to try, and cultural appropriateness of recipes.

Questions [NOTE: Spend about 4 minutes per recipe on the following questions including time for participants to review.] Now we’re going to take a look at some individual recipes. First take a look at the recipe on [page x]: [Recipe Name] Take a few minutes to look through this recipe. While you do, please circle any terms or equipment that are unfamiliar or that you don’t have. [Give participants one minute to look through and mark up the recipe. Ask the following questions for each recipe.] Have you made this recipe before? If yes, did your family enjoy it? How did you involve your children in the recipe? What did you think of this recipe? What was challenging about this recipe?/What appears to be challenging about this recipe? What did you enjoy about this recipe? Is this recipe similar to anything you cook for your family? If you haven’t made this recipe before, is this a recipe you would try at home? Why/why not? Would you follow the tips for getting your kids involved? Why/why not? What are other ways you could imagine involving your children in preparing this recipe? As part of this research, we want to make sure these recipes are culturally appropriate and relevant. For those of you familiar with this culture, how does this resemble recipes made by this culture? How is it similar or different from the recipes made in this culture? How can this recipe better represent the culture? Do you know anyone from this culture who cooks using ingredients or methods similar to this? Is anything offensive or disrespectful that needs to be changed?

Section IVc) Review of Recipe Cooking Video (5 minutes)

[Note to Moderator: Use the rotation chart below to determine which recipe/cooking video combination will be discussed with each focus group].

Rotation chart for Cooking Videos
Recipe	Focus Group Number
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Beef Picadillo	x
Alaskan Salmon Mini-Loaves		x					x
Wild Veggie Mash Up			x
Chicken Ratatouille				x		x
Broccoli with Asian Tofu					x			x

Objective: …appeal, willingness to try, and cultural appropriateness of recipes.

Questions Now we’re going to look at one more recipe and then I’m going to show you some concepts for a cooking video that would go along with the recipe. Take a look at the recipe on [page x]: [Recipe Name]. Take a few minutes to look through this recipe. While you do, please circle any terms or equipment that’s unfamiliar or that you don’t have. [Give participants one minute to look through and mark up the recipe. Ask the following questions for each recipe.] Have you made this recipe before? If yes, did your family enjoy it? How did you involve your children in the recipe? What did you think of this recipe? What was challenging about this recipe?/What appears to be challenging about this recipe? What did you enjoy about this recipe? Is this recipe similar to anything you cook for your family? If you haven’t made this recipe before, is this a recipe you would try at home? Why/why not? Would you follow the tips for getting your kids involved? Why/why not? What would your family like about this recipe? What would they not like? What are other ways you could imagine involving your children in preparing this recipe? As I mentioned, as part of this research, we want to make sure these recipes are culturally appropriate and relevant. For those of you familiar with this culture, how does this resemble recipes made by this culture? How is it similar or different from the recipes made in this culture? How can this recipe better represent the culture? Do you know anyone from this culture who cooks using ingredients or methods similar to this? Is anything offensive or disrespectful that needs to be changed?

Section IVd) Review of Cooking Video Storyboards, Scripts & Audition Clips (15 minutes)

[Note: Distribute Attachment Q: Research Stimulus: Cooking Video Storyboards to participants–. Spend 15 minutes on the following questions]

Now, I’d like you to take a look at these images for a video that will be made to give more information about this recipe. These are still rough sketches but will give you an idea of what the video will look like. When completed, the video will feature live actors. I’m going to read a few passages from the script and then ask a few questions.

[Note to moderator: read the script passage from Attachment P Research Stimulus: Cooking Video Scripts twice]

Objective: Understand perceptions of video style & content.

Questions: Is this video something that would be useful for you? Why/why not? How would you use a video like this? What would you want to see in a video like this to get you ready to cook this particular recipe? Having seen this recipe, are there any other questions or concerns you have with this recipe that a video like this could help with? How likely are you to prepare this recipe with kids? What steps will help you to cook with your kids? Is there anything in the images or the script that I read to you that seems culturally inaccurate or offensive?

Understand preference for actors for the video.

Now I’m going to show you a couple of clips of actors/actresses that might be cast in these videos [from Attachment O]. Please keep in mind everything we’ve discussed so far as you watch and then we’ll discuss the clips after we review. [Note: Show the two casting videos on tablet] Which of these two actors would you trust to explain these recipes? Why? Which of these actors do you think would motivate you more to make the recipe? Why? Which do you think would be more believable when discussing this particular recipe? Why?

Those are all the questions I have. Thank you so much for participating in our focus group!

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