Instrument 4-SRAE Program Youth Focus Group Topic Guide

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Sexual Risk Avoidance Education National Evaluation (SRAENE)

Nationwide Study

DRAFT Youth Focus Group: Discussion Guide

May 2022

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Youth Focus Group

Discussion Guide (45 minute)

1. Introduction (5 min)

Welcome! Thank you for participating in today’s focus group. My name is [NAME] and this is my colleague [NAME]. We work for a company called Mathematica and we’ve been hired by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to learn more about your experiences in a course you take called [PROGRAM/CLASS NAME].

This is called a discussion or focus group, and we’ll go for 45 minutes. I want you to know that your participation in this study is completely voluntary. That means you can choose to stop participating at any time and you do not have to answer any questions you do not want to answer. I also want you to know that nothing you tell us today will be shared with anyone outside of the study team. I ask that participants today respect each other’s privacy and that you not share anything said today with others outside of the group. We will be doing other focus groups and will take everything we learn from you all and from others we talk with, to write a report. Your name will never be used in a report. Lastly, we will be recording today’s discussion so that we make sure we get all of your thoughts and ideas correct in our notes. This recording will not be shared with anyone outside of our study team and will be destroyed once the study is finished.

There are no right or wrong answers. We are interested in everyone’s experiences whether they are the same or different from one another. I’m going to pose some questions to the group. Let’s get started!

First, let’s start by going around the table and saying your first name. I’ll start. My name again is [NAME].

2. General interest in the program (5 mins) (Warm-up)

My first question for you all is about why you took [PROGRAM/CLASS NAME].

• Tell me about why you took this class.

  • Probe if necessary: For example, were you required to take the class or did you have an interest in it and volunteer to take it? Was it recommended to you by your parent or a friend?

• What kinds of other classes have you taken that are similar to this class? Tell me about those classes.

C. Classroom content (20 mins) (Research Question 3: Program content and activities)

Now let’s talk about the kinds of topics covered in [PROGRAM/CLASS NAME].

• What were some key topics and themes covered in the class?

  • Probe if necessary: For example, did you discuss topics such as teen sex, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases STDs/STIs; contraception or birth control; behavioral and emotional health; drug and alcohol use; high school completion; dating violence; healthy and unhealthy relationships?

• How much do you feel like you learned about the different topics covered in this class?

• Thinking about everything you learned during this class, what topics did you like the most or were most useful or meaningful to you? Why?

• Tell me about topics you liked the least or were not useful or meaningful to you. Why?

Let’s talk now about activities that were done in this class. I’m interested in times when you were doing something more interactive in the class, like small group work, a game, discussions.

• Tell me about any activities you did. What kinds of things did you do?

• What did you like about the activities?

• What did you dislike about the activities?

• Think about any videos, posters, or handouts that were included in the class. What kinds of materials like these were included in the class?

• What did you like about these?

• What did you dislike about these?

• 
  What topics did the class cover that you would have liked to have more information on?

• What topics were not covered in the class at all, that you would have liked to have information on?

• Has this class changed how you think or feel about relationships with friends or romantic partners? If so, how? If not, why do you think it did not?

• Have you used the information or skills you learned from this class outside of the classroom? If so, how? If not, why do you think it have not?

4. Content delivery (15 mins) (Research Question 1: Receptivity)

Now I’d like to get your thoughts about the teacher of this class and how they taught the class.

• First, did the class have an overall positive tone or negative? Were students overall interested or mostly bored? Describe that for me.

• Tell me what you liked about the way the teacher taught this class. Why?

• What did you not like about the way the teacher taught this class? Why?

• Did you feel motivated to participate and talk in the class? How did the teacher motivate students to participate and talk?

  • Probe if needed: For example, did the teacher call on students by name; give out candy or treats to encourage participation; give clarifying examples that were helpful?

• How much did you feel like the teacher respected you and cared about you and the other students?

• To what extent did you feel like you could trust the teacher with questions or experiences you wanted to share? What made you feel that way?

CLOSE: Thank you. Those are all the questions I have, but I wanted to see if anyone had anything else they wanted to tell me about their experience in this class.

END: Thank you for your great feedback today and for taking the time to talk with us.

DRAFT 2 02/23/22 Mathematica^® Inc.