Focus group guide for needs sensing

OMB # 1121-0277
Date of Expiration: 09/30/14

OJJDP NATIONAL TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER
NEEDS SENSING FOCUS GROUP GUIDE
Purpose
The purpose of this focus group is to learn more about how the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) can improve its services to better meet the needs of TTA providers and
the field, and ultimately, improve services and outcomes for youth. This focus group can be done online or in person. It can also be
tailored to specific topics, products, tools, resources, processes or information needs.
How the information will be used:



To inform OJJDP training and technical assistance (TA) services

Introduction (approximately 10 minutes)
Facilitator: Introduce leaders of the focus group and roles of each in supporting the meeting.
We are conducting focus groups to better understand your experiences with in order to
determine what would be most useful to juvenile justice professionals/TTA Providers and how we can provide services in a more
effective and helpful way. Your participation is voluntary and confidential. Any input gathered will not be attributed to you
individually, but will be combined with others for a fuller picture of the issues. We are recording the session to be sure our notes are
accurate, but again, we will not connect any names to any comments. Please let me know if there are any concerns about this
process.
This focus group involves having you answer a few questions to learn about your experiences with , what you thought was particularly useful/helpful and how OJJDP NTTAC can make it more relevant to the work you do.
There are no wrong answers–we want your honesty and we expect differences of opinion. And there are no bad questions so please
feel free to speak up. The only limitation is to help us stay on time so we can cover all our questions.
Let’s do brief introductions. Please give us your name and tell us what you do. (May do a background poll question if appropriate.)
Facilitator: Briefly introduce OJJDP NTTAC to provide a foundation and parameters for OJJDP NTTAC activities and how it is expected
that OJJDP NTTAC resources can help them improve services and outcomes for youth.
We will use your input, along with input from other groups like this around the country, to make decisions about , including what revisions needs to be made, what changes we need to make, or what new products and services
need to be developed to better support you in your work.
Any questions before we begin?
Have any of you heard of ? [Show of hands or possibly a tailored webinar poll question such as
the one below]
[Poll Question]
Have you used ?
- Yes, I have used resources from often
- Yes, I have used resources from a few times
- No, but I am aware of the and what it offers
- No, I do not know much about and what it offers

OMB # 1121-0277
Date of Expiration: 09/30/14

OJJDP NATIONAL TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER
NEEDS SENSING FOCUS GROUP GUIDE
(If focus group participants do not have experience with the tool under review, please spend some time (e.g. 5-10 minutes) showing
them the too/resource and how it works. Please encourage them to ask questions and make comments about what they see and do not
see as you are showing them the tool)
Explain the notecards we are using so they won’t be influenced by colleagues in the focus group and how the information on the
notecards will be used to help generate discussion regarding the . We may also use webinar poll
questions or other sources for generating discussion. Then read the instructions to participants below and let them start.
Instructions to Participants: Think about your previous experience with reading, using, or learning about . If you don’t have previous experience with this , think about what we just showed you and how
it could be used in your work. (Have them write answers on the notecard or use webinar poll questions. Then discuss them and
possibly write some notes on the flipchart if in person). (5 minutes writing; 15 minutes discussing)
Notecard says:
Think about your experience with reading/using/learning about .
•
•
•
•

Was the information/tool easy to understand and user-friendly? How so? If it was difficult to use, how so?
How do you feel about the way the information is displayed on the website or page? What do you like about it?
What do you dislike?
How did you or would you use the information/tool? How was it or would it be helpful?
How did you learn about this tool or resource (e.g., from a conference, your supervisor, etc.)? Where would you
usually go to find this type of information, tool or topic?

We may also have tailored webinar poll questions, if online, to drive the conversation and be inserted throughout the focus group
guide such as
• Are you aware of the tool?
• How many times have you used it?
• What suggestions do you have for improving this tool?
• How do you feel about the way the information is displayed on the website or page?
• How did you or would you use the information/tool? How was it or would it be helpful?
• How did you learn about this tool or resource (e.g., from a conference, website, your supervisor, etc.)? Where would
you usually go to find this type of information, tool or topic?
When participants have responded to all questions on the notecard, go through each question individually and ask participants to
share what they’ve written. As they are talking, write their answers on a flipchart. If participants don’t speak up, feel free to call on
someone and go around the room. During the conversation about each of the questions/responses on the notecard, you can probe for
detail using the specific questions below. If participants create lists without conversations, you can use the questions below to extend
the conversation. So as people are providing their thoughts, use the questions below to get them to expand upon their thoughts. Be
very clear and focus the conversation on the product/tool of interest to get as much detail as possible.
•

•

Specific feedback about content/process (optional probe questions – not all will be used) 1. Was this the type of information that you expected to see or were looking for? What was missing?
2. Was the information too advanced/detailed or too basic?
3. How is the information applicable to your work?
4. Are there other topics that would benefit from tools similar to this one?
5. (For the Online Training Center, ask the audience about each module—do they have experience with it; is
it helpful, what they expected or were looking for; and find out specific information about how it meets
their needs or can be improved to do so.)
Usefulness (optional probe questions – not all will be used) –
1. How is the tool helpful?
2. How is the tool not helpful?
3. Where will you use this tool and why?
4. If you wouldn’t use it, why? What do you need that is not here?

OMB # 1121-0277
Date of Expiration: 09/30/14

OJJDP NATIONAL TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER
NEEDS SENSING FOCUS GROUP GUIDE
5.

If there are specific aspects of the tool where feedback is needed –visit those aspects and ask these
questions for each aspect.

•

Length, level of detail, format, layout –(optional probe questions – not all will be used):
1. What would make it easier to use and understand?
2. How do you feel about the way the information is displayed on the website or page? What do you like about
it? What do you dislike?
3. What about the web page layout, length, format, readability?
4. Is the level of interactivity of the tool appropriate?
5. Is the length of information about right?
6. What do you think of the content layout (e.g. bullets vs. paragraphs)
7. (If this tool is designed to be used to train others)If instructions are there, are they clear? Are they
needed?)
8. Was the information/tool easy to understand and user-friendly? How so? If it was difficult to use, how so?
9. If there are specific aspects of the tool where feedback is needed, visit those aspects and ask these questions
for each aspect.

•

Where they learned about the tool (optional probe questions – not all will be used) –
1. Where did you learn about this tool (trainings, conferences, newsletters, and website)? If they mention
anything specific, ask which one (e.g. which training, which conference, etc.)?
2. Where would you usually go to find this type of information, tool or topic?
3. Once you heard about it, was this tool easy to find? Is it accessible to everyone who might need it? If not,
what should be changed?
4. Is there a better place to put this tool that users would find easier to locate?
5. Are there other places that you already go to get this information? What do you like about them and
dislike?

Closing (2 minutes)
We’re done! Thank you very much for your time. Your input and comments are very helpful. Do you have any questions for us?