Focus group about beer - See what you missed here

When conducting our focus group our primary goal was to find individuals who have a genuine interest in craft beer. We had a total of 6 participants, four females and two males, age ranges between 26 and 56.   

The purpose of this focus group was to go deeper into some of the answers reflected on our 2019 beer survey that we had completed by 100 participants who are all beer drinkers. We also had some general questions about the craft beer scene in San Diego. With our focus being on beer, we really wanted to know participants opinions about our related survey questions, why craft beer has become so popular, and how it forms communities within this industry.

Asking open-ended questions allowed us to dissect the reasoning behind our survey results.   

The question sequence that we used most resembles the hourglass and tunnel sequences, where we asked open neutral questions for our participants to answer. We had minimal closed-ended questions, with the only one asked being “Do people need beer to be social?” and participants said it depended on the situation. Asking mostly open-ended questions about taste and social interaction allowed us to dissect the reasoning behind our survey results.   

With the increase in craft breweries opening in San Diego County, our economy has also increased. However, participants did mention noticing an increase in the price of beer. Yet, this doesn't hinder them from wanting to enjoy the beer scene in San Diego. 

The closing strategy formed was used by a clearinghouse question, “Is there anything that anyone wants to add that hasn’t been said yet?”  By doing this, it allows participants to share freely and share additional information that would be useful for our research (to be continued? Possibly).

"We all enjoyed conducting this interview, even our participants were drinking beer while we asked questions about craft beer". 

There was a sense of openness amongst the group that made this process a great learning experience for all of us. Already having a passion for craft beer, creating the interview guide and schedule was fun for us and made us look forward to this focus group. Our interview took place at Sarah Miller’s parents’ house in Poway, making it a comfortable setting for all participants. Her parents were welcoming, ensuring a positive environment by introducing themselves, offering free beer, and getting to know everyone before we started.  

The topic of beer is certainly a great topic to get people talking, and one of the primary things that we learned was that beer brings people to together. The burst of Breweries has formed communities throughout San Diego County and an overall comfortable and positive environment.