Focus groups are typically held in pairs, i.e. two groups with identical screening qualification requirements. As focus group facilities are typically booked for an entire evening and it is customary to hold two groups on the same evening, even numbers of focus groups are generally more cost-effective than odd numbers of focus groups. The more the participants have in common, the more productive the groups will be. Avoid the temptation to have “one of everything” or “The Village People” focus groups, as there will be insufficient commonality among participants and emergent themes may not become apparent. The single most significant driver of the cost of focus groups is the difficulty of recruiting. Groups of busy high-ranking professionals will invariably cost more than groups of a cross-section of adults, or primary grocery shoppers. Fun topics, such as sporting goods or pizza will be easier to recruit than will topics that are not fun and/or give cause for suspicion. Insurance, banking, investments and real estate are all topics that have proven difficult for focus group recruiting. You get what you pay for in focus group recruiting. If a provider offers you a price that is significantly lower than the competition, then there is a high likelihood that some or all of the recruits will be “professional” repeat focus group participants. Robinson Research always recruits fresh participants and takes every possible precaution to ensure that they are genuinely qualified.