Narrator:    Listen to a conversation between two students.

Student A: Hi, Tony. Hey . . . I wonder if you could . . . uh, do me a little favor tomorrow afternoon?

Student B: Oh, hi, Alison. Well . . . depends on what the favor is.

Student A: Okay, you know that class I’m taking with Professor Marquez? Well, she’s asked us to try to find some volunteers to . . . uh, well, to take part in a role play . . .

Student B:    And so what sort of a role would I have to play?

Student A: Well, you won’t find out until tomorrow. See, we’re learning about focus groups and how they work and how to be a moderator of a focus group. You and the their volunteers from outside our class will be members of the focus groups. The students in my class will take turns being moderators. In real life, there’s only one moderator for each focus group, usually, but Professor Marquez wants every-one to have a chance to play the role of mode tor. Now, since a good focus group has people from different back-grounds, uh, when you come in the classroom tomorrow, Professor Marquez will give you a little card that tells you your vital information: your age, your occupation, how much education you have, that ort of thing . . . and that’s the role you play when you’re pr tending to be in this focus group.

Student B: Tell me a little about focus groups. I mean, I’ve heard of them, but . . .

Student A: All rig t. Well, according to Professor Marquez, there are two basic types. There’s . . . uh, the exploratory group . . . the moderator asks the focus group if a company should arket a new product at all, if there would be any demand for it. Then there’s the experiential group—you’ll be in an experiential group tomorrow. Experiential groups, they try out several versions of a product. People in the group tell the moderator which version of the product they like better. This helps the company decide which one of these versions of the product to market.

Student B:    Don’t they use focus groups a lot in Hollywood?

To make movies?

Student A: Yeah, they do. I mean, a movie’s a product, too, and film companies want to know which version of a movie to market. So a lot of times, a director will make several dif-ferent versions of a movie. Usually each version has a different ending. The focus group watches them all and then says which one they like best.

Student B: So, what product will the groups in your class be testing?

Student A: Well, different teams will have different prod-ucts. My team, the three students I’m working with, we’re

. . . uh, pretending that a client company, an imaginary food company came to our marketing agency and said, “We’re thinking about adding a new flavor of ice cream to our product mix, and we’ve come up with a half-dozen recipes for this ice cream flavor, and we want you to help us figure out which of these we should market.”

Student B: Ice cream, huh. So where are you getting the ice cream?

Student A: We’re just gonna buy different brands of the same flavor of ice cream at the supermarket.

Student B:    So, you get a grade for this project?

Student A: Yeah, and it’s actually a fairly important part of our total grade. Professor Marquez says that . . . that the chemistry, the uh, interaction between the moderator and the focus group, is key in making sure a focus group goes well. You have to be sure that the people in the group feel free to give their opinions, but you have to keep them on topic. And you want to help the group develop a . . . a group identity, a gr up spirit, you know? But at the same time you don’t want them to fall into the “group think” trap, where the members say things just to be going along with the group . . . being a moderator’s not all that easy, I guess.

Student B:             Well, I’m pretty sure I’m free tomorrow after-

• Oh, and . . . uh, what flavor ice cream are we going to be tasting?

Student A:    Umm, mint chocolate chip.

Student B:    Okay, that settles it . . . I’m in!

Narrator: Now get ready to answer some questions about the conversation. You may use your notes to help you.