Our travel and tourism study suggested that many people come to Texarkana to visit friends and relatives.  It is possible that these visitors do not spend a lot of money while in Texarkana; we really do not know what these visitors do when they are visiting, where they spend their money, or what kind of entertainment or recreational activities might be of interest to these visitors.

One possible way to explore this issue is to conduct focus group interviews with Texarkana residents who have recently been visited by out-of-town friends, relatives, or acquaintances.  These Texarkana residents could be asked about the reasons for the visits, the length of stay, where the visitor stayed, and such.  Of greater interest, however, would be an exploration into what the visitors do for recreation and entertainment while visiting, and what is not offered by Texarkana that they would like to do.

Below is a letter that could be sent to our client from last summer's MBA class.  If the client were to agree that focus group interviews should be conducted in the manner proposed in this letter, write the topic guide for this study.

Refer to our Tourism Recruiting Screener assignment: your focus group interviews must be based on the same general research objectives that were outlined in that assignment. 

At the top of your Topic Guide, include the following information:

• our consulting company name
• the study number
• the title of the study
• the objective(s) of the study (in sufficient detail to leave no doubt to the client)

Within your Topic Guide:

• identify the major topic areas in bold
• indicate the amount of time (approximate number of minutes) that will be devoted to discussion of each topic area
• under each major topic area, list each general question that will be asked
• when the question is deliberately general or vague, indicate for what the moderator is probing if it becomes necessary to guide the discussion toward particular issues

For this particular Topic Guide:

• the first major topic area to list must include an introductory discussion to include
  • the objective / purpose of the study
  • a discussion of issues of confidentiality and how the data will be used
  • the procedure / rules that will be used in the conduct of the session; the length of the session
  • an introduction of the participants; rapport building

• the last major topic area to list must include a concluding discussion to include
  • a debriefing / summary of what was learned in that session
  • a debriefing of how the results will be used
  • thanks to the participants
  • instructions regarding how the inducement is to be collected

Assume that you will be the moderator -- that you are not writing this for a stranger to conduct the session.  This means that you do not need to write out all of the wording as if it will be read by someone.  For example, you might list that participants will be asked to introduce themselves and might list the probes that go with that general area of discussion, but you do not have to write out all of the text of what will be said.  Do, however, write all of the general questions that would be asked so that the details of the discussion are very clear to a client.  That is, you are not writing this for someone else to run the session, but you must write it with sufficient detail so that the client can read it and know precisely what you intend to do in the conduct of the session.

You are strongly urged to study the following examples before writing your topic guide:

• http://roo.tamut.edu/~bowen/courses/AU03/mkt_res/K9_topic_guide.doc - class example
• http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/REC/pubs/NSF97-153/C3APP_C.HTM
• http://www.scambs.gov.uk/scambs/minutes.nsf/0/6a111695601d468880256d190036e1c3/$FILE/Agenda%20Item%205%20-%20Consultation%20Results%20-%20Appendix%202.pdf
• http://www.abt.sliidea.org/dci3/FocusGroupsGuides.doc
• http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe/r4_234.htm
• http://www.pps.org/topics/parkuse/questionnaireguide - only the first part is the topic guide

Dear Ms. S,

As a followup to the travel and tourism study done by my MBA students last summer, here is a proposal to continue finding answers to the kinds of questions that you had.  Although we found some answers regarding the economic impact of tourism on the local economy, we still don't know what travelers/tourists do for recreation and entertainment while they are here and we don't know how much they spend on these things.  Importantly, we don't know what people would like to see that we do not have.

Objectives

The present study would be an initial exploration into questions associated with what travelers/tourists do for recreation and what isn't offered that they would like to see.

Methodology

Finding actual travelers/tourists could be expensive and time consuming.  Since the information posted by the Texas Department of Economic Development suggests that the majority of travel to Texarkana is to visit friends and relatives, a quick and easy starting point for an exploratory study would be with those friends and relatives who are visited.  Rather than find travelers/tourists and ask them directly, we propose identifying local people who have recently been visited by friends or relatives and asking about recreation and entertainment activities.  A limitation of using this kind of sample is that it still would not tell us what might cause other kinds of travelers (people who have no friends or relatives in Texarkana) to stop and spend money in Texarkana, but it should nonetheless give us a reasonable start without spending a lot of time, effort, and money.

Our proposal is to recruit Texarkana area residents, limiting respondents to a quota sample that includes people within the confines of Texarkana and some people who live in outlying areas (e.g., Ashdown, AR).  The respondent's location would be determined by asking the zip code as an initial screening question during telephone recruiting.  We would like a sample of at least 48 Texarkana-area residents (six focus group sessions of eight people), with 36 from the local Texarkana area and 12 from outlying areas.  We would over-recruit to ensure that we achieve this number of shows for the focus group sessions; our total number of participants could be as high as 56.

Focus Group Topic Areas

Recommended discussion flow is as follows:

1. Initial questions regarding who last visited (friend, relative, acquaintance), the length of stay, the nature of the visit (holiday, vacation, family crisis, etc.), and such.

2. Questions regarding entertainment and recreational activities during the visit and how much money was spent in these activities.

3. Questions regarding entertainment and recreational activities desired during the visit but not available within the Texarkana area.

4. Questions regarding speculation as to why many travelers do not stop in Texarkana or do not stay in Texarkana if they do stop.

Analysis

We will provide you with a topline report summarizing the results of and conclusions from these sessions.  We will also provide you with a presentation of results and conclusions on our campus during our last class meeting.

Timeline for Course Students

Our estimated timeline is as follows:

Weeks 1 and 2: Recruit participants (telephone).

Weeks 3 and 4: Conduct the focus groups (Week 4 Saturday, one week after end of recruiting).

Weeks 5 through 7: Write reports; rehearse presentations in class.

Week 8: Present results to you orally and in written report form.

Budget

Since the materials that we would consume are part of the normal, reasonable costs for a student, there will be no cost to you for materials.  Since this is a student learning project, there also would be no cost to you for time.  However, since students cannot be asked to incur the costs of long distance phone calls to outlying areas, you would have to allow these calls to be made from your shop.  The focus group sessions can be run on our campus, so there would be no facility rental costs to you.  However, you would be responsible for costs and arrangements for food.  You would also be responsible for the payment of inducements to participants ($50 each to a total number of participants that is at least 48 and no more than 56).

Ms. S., please let me know if you need any additional information.  Thanks for these opportunities for my students to work with you.

Sincerely,