0704-XXXX_SPARX Participant Focus Group Protocol_5.6.2022

OMB NUMBER: 0704-XXXX

OMB Expiration: XX/XX/XXXX

DoD SPARX Knowledge Training Program

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Focus Group Protocol

1. Consent

Thank you for joining today. My name is (state name) and I am a (state title) at NORC at the University of Chicago. Also, I’d like to introduce my colleague (state name) who will be taking notes during the interview. The Department of Defense (DoD) has contracted with us to evaluate the DoD SPARX Knowledge training. The training was developed to provide prevention personnel with a broad base of prevention knowledge and skills. You have been asked to participate in this online focus group because you have just participated in the DoD SPARX Knowledge training.

During this online focus group, I will ask questions about your experiences as a participant in the training. These questions will cover your general impressions of the content covered in the training, your opinions of the training format, what you found most and least useful and what suggestions you might have for improving the training.

I have to inform everyone that you are participating in a confidential focus group interview. This means we will not share what you tell us with your colleagues, your chain of command or the DoD SAPRO office. We also will not link your individual responses during this focus group interview to any of your Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This includes your military, civilian, personnel records or any other information that can personally identify you. For our evaluation reports, our team will combine everyone’s answers to the questions and summarize the data in a way that makes it difficult to identify any individual. We may use quotes that you say in our reports, but these quotes will be anonymous (nobody will know that it was you who said the quote). Mostly, we will only write about this conversation in a general way.

Also, I would like to ask that everyone participating in today’s online focus group maintain the confidentiality of other participants and what they share during the interview. This means that we ask you not to discuss what was said by your fellow participants during this interview with anyone outside of this group including colleagues, chain of command, family members and friends. Is this something we can all agree to do? We also ask that you do not share any PII about yourself or anyone else in your responses during this focus group.

Your participation in today’s online focus group is completely voluntary which means no negative action will be taken against you should you choose not to participate. This also means you can choose not to answer any question we have asked and stop your participation in the group at any time. Your decision to participate will not affect assignments, promotions, or benefits to which you are entitled, nor will there be any negative consequences from your chain of command.

Does anyone have any questions? At this time I would like to verbally confirm with each of you that you agree to be part of this focus group today.

[Have everyone indicate consent]

2. Introduction

1. I would like to begin by asking everyone to offer a brief introduction of themselves. If everyone could please provide just their first name and how long you have been working in violence prevention. (SKIP IF THEY ALREADY KNOW EACH OTHER)

3. Training Experiences

Thanks again to everyone for offering a brief introduction. Next, I would like to learn more about your experience in the training. I would like to start with Part 1 of the training. Just to remind everyone, Part 1 or the JKO training involves the self-paced portion of the training you completed independently prior to the ten-day SPARX training that you just completed. Part 1 was designed to give everyone background information on prevention.

2. What were your overall impressions?

3. Did you encounter any challenges completing this portion of the training? If so, please tell us more about that. (ONLY ASK IF PART 1 IS ONLINE)

4. What do you think of the content? (Probe if necessary: Remember, some of the topics covered were [see box below])

Course 1: Violence Prevention in the Military

Lesson 1: Violence – A Public Health Issue

Lesson 2: The Public Health Approach to Violence Prevention

Lesson 3: The Social-Ecological Model

Lesson 4: Applying a Health Equity Lens to Prevention

Course 2: Sexual Assault: A Preventable Public Health Issue

Lesson 1: Sexual Assault in the Military

Lesson 2: Prevention Plan of Action (PPOA): DoD’s Way Forward

Okay, great. Thanks for that. We are now transitioning to talking about Part 2 of the DoD SPARX Knowledge Training. This is the training you just completed.

5. We can start again with overall impressions. What did you think about Part 2 of the training?

6. Now, we’d like to ask you about specific aspects of the training:

   1. Content - Tell us what you thought about the content? What content is most useful to the prevention activities you will be doing after the training? What content was least useful?

   2. Pacing – What do you think about the time you were given to cover the material that was presented each day?

   3. Duration – What do you think about the total amount of time that was set aside to complete the training?

   4. Engagement – Tell us about your engagement throughout the training. Think about the moments you were most engaged. Tell us what was happening during those moments?

      1. Now think about the moments you were least engaged. Tell us what was happening during those moments?

   5. Small Groups - What are your thoughts on the small group activities you completed in breakout rooms?

7. The training was delivered online in a real-time (synchronous) online format. How was your experience of learning prevention content in this way?

Thanks for all of your answers to these questions so far. We are now transitioning to our final set of questions. We would like to understand more about what you anticipate happening next.

8. First, what (if anything) do you think you will be doing differently as a result of the trainings that you have completed?

   1. Could you tell us how the training gave you the tools to address any challenges that have came up in the past when you were doing prevention work?

9. What types of ongoing support do you think you will need to successfully engage your unit leadership and chain of command in order to do your work effectively?

10. Is there anything else you think we should know that we have not asked?

4. Conclusion (PLACE INFORMATION IN THE CHAT IN CASE A PARTICIPANT NEEDS TO FOLLOW UP)

That concludes the focus group! Thank you again to everyone for your participation. We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us. If you have any thoughts or follow up questions for me, please feel free to reach out to me via [email protected] or 877-777-5368.

DoD SPARX Knowledge Focus Group Protocol 3