No matter how good your online discussion guide, an online qualitative group does not moderate itself any more than an in-person focus group does. Many of the same approaches are used to generate great contributions, but they are used a little differently. Here are four.
It is basically impossible to go overboard with praise. During the early parts of the discussion, it is a good practice to acknowledge everyone’s first post of the day.
You also want to make particular acknowledgements of the most detailed responses on topic.
The first post on a new topic area is often another time to acknowledge someone stepping in first.
A quick thank-you at the end of each major topic, or the end of each day, is always appreciated. Sometimes people will thank you right back, which is a good indicator that things are going well.
As with all moderating, you will find your own style that works for you. We do want to encourage you to act like a real person, just as you would in person. You want people to want to help you. This is one very, very big difference from a survey. If you seem remote or too formal, that approach is likely to diminish your results.
You can definitely probe and ask follow-up questions. The technology has made this much easier over time. Most platforms will provide some way of flagging down a participant and asking him or her to respond to a follow-up question. For example, you can send them a message with a link to the question you are following up on.
It’s a good idea to treat follow-up questions as if you have only a very limited number you can use, and you must use them only when really important.
Here’s why: if participants are starting to engage with each other, they will do that less if you are constantly butting in. Not only that, but asking people to go back to something they said before is sort of like trying to rewind a conversation by hours or days — people have moved on. Their energy is now somewhere else. So you spend a lot of participant energy asking them to go back. When people do go back, their responses are often not worth the cost in energy.
If you need to post a follow-up question, try to do it as quickly as possible after the participant’s first comment on the topic. For example, the participant says something like, “Yeah, I hate that too.” You want to say something like, “Tara, can you say what specifically you hate? Please expand on your comment a bit more.” With any luck, Tara will see your question while she is still logged in.
By making it clear what you are looking for in the way of detail, both with direct requests and with feedback, you can avoid the need for a lot of follow-up questions.
Susan Abbott is a consultant with a passion for customer insights that power new ideas. She is president of Abbott Research and Consulting, and co-founder of Think Global Qualitative, a global alliance of master qualitative researchers. She is co-author, with Jennifer Dale, of Qual-Online: The Essential Guide.
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