Personal characteristics of the focus group participants as a factor of the data quality

The article presents the results of the search for methodological ways to improve the quality of sociological information obtained in the focus group discussion. Today the scientific sphere is changing, and, in addition to the development of new methods, the existing interdisciplinary ones are being adapted to the specific research goals. An important way for improving sociological methods is the study of psychological aspects of respondents’ behavior during focus groups, since unconscious reactions can indicate the potential information bias and affect the quality of the project results. In the RUDN University, a three-stage methodological experiment was conducted based on the psychological technique “7 radicals”, the Specific Affect Coding System (SPAFF) and the personal differential method. At the first stage, the experiment aimed at examining the ability of respondents without special knowledge in the field of psycho-typing to identify the dominant radicals. At the second stage, representatives of different psycho-types assessed each other so that the researchers would develop recommendations for the seating of focus group participants. At the third stage, the quality of the data obtained in focus groups was assessed depending on the moderator’s special skills (knowledge of psycho-types, FACS and SPAFF). Thus, the recommendations for moderators were developed - to increase the efficiency of work with focus group participants and to improve the quality of sociological data. The moderator needs knowledge in three areas: respondents’ psycho-types, affects in SPAFF, and the proxemic component (seating of respondents). The authors assess the prospects for introducing psychological techniques into the training system for focus group moderators and provide recommendations for moderators based on the results of the multi-stage experiment. Its results partially solve the problem of the quality of the focus group data by explaining the need to teach moderators interdisciplinary techniques (SPAFF and psycho-typing of the focus-group participants).