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New Boston Housing Authority Focus Group Topic Guide
due in two weeks Our client is interested in peoples' perceptions of public housing and specifically in perceptions of the New Boston Housing Authority (NBHA). Many people associate "public housing" with gangs, thugs, guns, drugs, crime, and such. While this bad reputation is deserved in some cities and some places, this perception does not match reality in many places and certainly not NBHA. NBHA has a lot of long term residents in its total of 230 apartments. Some have rented with them for 25 years, with many tenants being elderly. We are being asked, then, to assist NBHA in gaining an understanding of local perceptions and finding ways to improve peoples' perceptions or to capitalize on good perceptions if that is what it enjoys. NBHA is especially interested in this issue because it is just now completing renovation of its 40 unit Dogwood Plaza apartments and wants to assure that it attracts people who should be interested in what it has to offer. One possible way to explore this issue is to conduct focus group interviews with people who live in and near New Boston. These New Boston and surrounding area residents could be asked what comes to mind (cognitive responses, beliefs) when they think of a government housing authority, what comes to mind when they think of apartments owned by a housing authority, reasons (feelings and beliefs) that they might have for wanting or not wanting to rent such apartments, and such. Refer to our screener assignment: your focus group interviews must be based on the same general research objectives that were outlined in that assignment. Use the proposal letter (below) as a contractual obligation for discussion that belongs in your topic guide. At the top of your Topic Guide, include the following information:
Within your Topic Guide:
For this particular Topic Guide:
Assume that you will be the moderator -- that this time, 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 a script 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:
Dear Mr. Davis, As a followup to our telephone conversation, here is a proposal to help find answers to the kinds of questions that you had. Our understanding is that you suspect that many people associate "public housing" with gangs, thugs, guns, drugs, crime, and such. You are concerned that this will affect the quantity and quality of people who are interested in applying to live in the Dogwood Plaza apartments. Objectives The present study would be an initial exploration into peoples' perceptions of government housing authorities, their perceptions of apartments owned by a housing authority, and their perceptions of the New Boston Housing Authority and of the Dogwood Plaza apartments. We are especially interested in reasons that they might have for wanting or not wanting to live in an apartment at Dogwood Plaza. Methodology Our proposal is to randomly call Texarkana area residents, limiting respondents to a quota sample of heads of households that includes people who live in New Boston, DeKalb, and nearby areas such as Texarkana.. We would like a sample of at least 48 people from the targeted geographic area (including at least 16 from the New Boston area, 16 from the DeKalb area, and 16 from surrounding areas such as Texarkana. This would require six focus group sessions of eight people. To help ensure this number of shows for each session, we would over-recruit for nine participants; our total number of participants could therefore be as high as 56. Focus Group Topic Areas Recommended discussion flow is as follows:
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 Our estimated timeline is as follows: Weeks 1 and 2: Recruit participants (telephone). Weeks 3 and 4: Conduct the focus groups (Week 3 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 from your budget 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 for recruiting, you would have to allow these calls to be made from your budget. The focus group sessions can be run on our campus, so there would presumably be no facility rental costs. However, you would be responsible for costs and arrangements for food. You would also be responsible for the payment of inducements to participants ($75 each to a total number of participants that is at least 48 and no more than 56). Mr. Davis, please let me know if you need any additional information. If you believe that anything in our proposal should be changed, let me know as soon as possible. Thanks for this opportunity to work with you. Sincerely, [be sure to put all information that goes here]
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