Sometimes called OFGs or OLFGs, these groups come closest to the face to face qual model. You recruit, design the topic guide, have people arrive in a ‘waiting room’, hold the group in a (virtual) space, which everyone inhabits simultaneously, during which you ask questions, do exercises and probe answers. At the end you get a instant transcript.
Most OFG platforms offer chat based discussion (fewer technical problems) although as more people get laptops with built in webcams, and broadband quality increases, webcam groups are possible.
Most platforms have some sort of whiteboard on which you can do interactive exercises, stimulus mark up, look at web sites and show video. They also offer respondent management tools, polls and the opportunity for clients to view and send notes to the moderator.
However each one is slightly different and so there is a learning curve when you first start. For this reason you get plenty of time to practce before you run a group for real.
(At right you can see how a webcam group looks at the start of a collage exercise.)
If you are wondering how it is to run an online group bear in mind that you can upload your discussion guide before the group, so you don’t have to type all the time. You send questions to the chat box for them to answer. Respondents all answer at the same time, so there is less opportunity for them to comment on each others answers. Vendors will tell you that OFGs eliminate the issue of dominant respondents, which is partly true. The group dynamics are limited compared to F2F, but he who types fastest speaks most, and some respondents will hold back and self-edit until they see what other responses are coming in.
Case study: 12 online group discussions in one day Note that the groups were combined with bulletin boards. Bulletin boards make up for the shortcoming of OFGs as they give people more time to reflect and typing speed becomes less relevant.
