Parents of Program Partcipants - Focus Group

Form Approved OMB No. 0990-0360

Expiration Date XX/XX/XXXX

Girls at Greater Risk Focus Group Protocol for Parents/Legal Guardians of Participants

Introduction

Good afternoon (morning, evening) and thank you for agreeing to participate in this focus group. We greatly appreciate your taking the time to assist us with learning more about the _______________ program for girls. My name is __________and I will be the guiding the discussion and asking questions about your daughter’s experiences in the ___________________ program. I’d also like to introduce ____________________who will take notes on our focus group conversation. This focus group will last about an hour and a half.

You have been invited to participate in this focus group because you have a daughter who is a participant in the _________________ program. You were randomly selected from a list of parents whose daughters participate in the program. This means that the parents of all girls who participate in the program had an equal chance of being selected to participate in this focus group. The purpose of this focus group is to learn your experiences, opinions, and perceptions about the __________________ program. We will use this information to help us learn if and how this program may have helped your daughter and other girls. We would also like to learn about your ideas about how the program can be improved. You should also know that we are having these focus groups with parents from nine other programs for girls around the country.

You each bring a unique perspective to this focus group. Therefore, we want to benefit from your individual and group experiences. I will ask a series of questions and allow each of you to respond. Ideally, it would be nice to get a response from each of you to each question but you do not have to answer a question if you do not want to. My major job is to guide this discussion. I will do this by asking questions and giving you an opportunity to share your experiences and opinions. Hopefully, sharing your thoughts will allow others to feel comfortable enough to share theirs.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is XXXX-XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 1.5 hours per response including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, the gather data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to:

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
OS/OIRM/PRA
200 Independence Ave., S.W., Suite 531-H
Washington D.C. 20201

Attention: PRA Reports Clearance Officer.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0990-0360. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 1.5 hours per response including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, the gather data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate(s) or suggestions for improving this form, please write to:

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
OS/OIRM/PRA
200 Independence Ave., S.W., Suite 531-H
Washington D.C. 20201

Attention: PRA Reports Clearance Officer.

So that everyone is heard and can express her opinions, we will follow these discussion guidelines:

1. Cell phones: We ask that you turn them off or silence them so that they will not ring during the focus group.

2. Only one person should speak at a time. It is difficult to hear if we are all speaking at once. We don’t want to lose any information.

3. If possible, we would like to hear from everyone on each question asked,

4. We also ask that focus group members keep what is said in this group confidential.

5. We will be taping this group so that we have an exact record of our discussion. This tape will be transcribed (put into words, removing any personal identifiers). Each of you has been given a place card that has a number on it. Although, it feels somewhat less personal, each of you will refer to yourselves and to others by your number instead of by your first name, that way when we transcribe the tape no names will appear.

Also, so that the transcriber will be able to tell who is speaking, I need you to state your number before you speak. It takes a few minutes to get used to doing this. I also need you to speak up, especially if you tend to be soft-spoken. Is there anyone who is not comfortable with being taped?

Facilitator Note: If a participant has questions about being taped, the facilitator will indicate that the participant can turn off the tape when he or she is speaking.

Administer approved IRB consent form. (To be submitted.)

6. Background Information Form. We are asking each of you to complete this form to help us get some basic background information on you This information will be used only to describe the individuals participating in the focus group.

Focus Group Questions

1. Why did your daughter join the _______________________ program?

2. What did you hope she would get from participating in this program?

3. Overall, what if anything did your daughter like about the program?

   1. Probe for what girls liked. Include probes for activities, discussion topics, staff, materials and location.

4. Overall, what, if anything, did you like about the program?

   1. Probe for what parents liked. Include probes for activities, discussion topics, staff, materials and location

5. Have you changed your parenting in any way based on your daughter’s behavior as a result of participating in the program?

6. What if anything did your daughter learn from being in this program?

   1. Has your daughter changed from being in the program? If so, how has she changed? (maybe probe, can you provide an example of how your daughter’s behavior changed after being in the program)

7. In what types of activities did your daughter participate?

   1. What did you like about the activities?

   2. Were there any activities that you liked the best?

   3. Were there activities that you did not like?

8. Have you participated in any of the community awareness activities provided by the program? If yes, what did you learn from these activities?

9. What would you do to improve the program?

   1. Probe: What types of activities would you like to see in the program that are not currently offered?

   2. Probe: What types of topics would you suggest adding to the curriculum or activities?

   3. Probe: What activities would you like to change?

10. Do you feel that the program staff understand and address the needs and concerns of your daughter?

    1. Please give examples to help us understand your opinion.

11. How do girls get along in the program?

12. What is the relationship like between staff and girls?

    1. What types of things do staff do to help the girls in the program?

13. What is the relationship like between staff and parents?

    1. How can it be improved?

14. How satisfied are you with this program? If one is not very satisfied and five is very satisfied, how would you rate your satisfaction?

15. Would you recommend this program to a friend’s daughter?

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