Effective Group Techniques: Application and Best Practices

Posted on Jan 17, 2025 in Psychology and Sociology

Group techniques are not based on pure theoretical models. They are considered best practices because their formulation and operation depend on the specific situation where the technique is applied. Borderline cases and hybrid techniques may be found in practice, as the technique requires adaptation to the objectives and circumstances of the work. No single technique is versatile enough for every situation or need. Adequacy requires taking certain precautions:

  • The pre-established goals justify the actions of group techniques: processing and/or observation.
  • The characteristics of group members: maturity, status, available time, age, etc.
  • The ability and skill of the moderator or facilitator.
  • The spatial context, space, furniture, etc.
  • The economic and human resources.

Working with groups should not be a random decision. It requires considering the situation, learning the techniques and their peculiarities to better understand the social reality in which they operate. This understanding allows for the application of various techniques to achieve the proposed objectives.

Discussion Groups: Definition and Scope

Many and varied groups are artificially designed to obtain information from social reality. The discussion group is one of the different versions, with various names and formats: group interviews, expert panels, focus groups, and Delphi groups. In a discussion group, a more natural and spontaneous stage is created where participants talk and discuss the things that happen around them in social reality.

It may seem like an informal meeting, but its structure makes it different from a round table or a televised debate.

From a descriptive point of view, a discussion group (DG) can be defined as a meeting of 6 to 10 people, previously unknown to each other, encouraged to discuss a topic under the direction or control of a moderator. The goal is twofold:

  1. That the group of people becomes a real group (a ‘we-feeling’ subordinate to ‘me’).
  2. That the dialogue is a discourse focused on a social issue related to the object of study. The language is deployed within the area of the study’s objective.

Both points are required, and the investigator must work on two levels simultaneously:

  • Creating the necessary group situation.
  • Guiding the discourse within the social situation under study.

Through group discussion, the researcher portrays a social micro-group artificially recreated for the investigation of the macro situation. This situation is characterized by the following features:

  1. The people who compose the group maintain face-to-face interaction (new proposals include the internet).
  2. Interrelationships are established between individuals who are unknown to each other, preventing prior ties.
  3. The discussions aim for consensus and the sharing of different viewpoints.
  4. The space and place are timely.
  5. The dynamic interrelationships or operation are controlled by a researcher, whose aim is to guide interventions and channel efforts towards the targets.

The discussion group builds and ensures a situation or scenario in which participants can express their opinions freely and as spontaneously as possible.