What does "focus group" mean in this context?
"Some people hate her for being a Clinton. A lot of people - men and women alike - think that the Clintons have had a modus operandi that is uniquely theirs, and that no other US citizen would be able to get away with. If you were to FOCUS GROUP these people, the words that would get bandied around would be - entitled, arrogant, elitist, rich, takers of shortcuts, legally dodgy." --------- From BBC.
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Answers · 9
2
In theory focus groups are conducted by a trained moderator, who interviews a small group of people using protocols developed by sociologists. The idea is to find out what consumers want, what they will buy, how products are seen by consumers, etc.
The writer is just saying that he thinks many people perceive the Clintons to be entitled, arrogant, elitist, rich, takers of shortcuts, legally dodgy etc.
2
A 'focus group' is a gathering of people to get their opinions. Used like this it's taking the place of a phrase like "If you were to 'gather these people and get their opinions'" or "If you were to 'survey these people'." It has a more professional/businesslike context
1
There is a website called "focus group.com" I believe this person is referring to this website and using this term in the same manner that we say "Google it." It means to use the website.
1
I would suggest that I'm disappointed that the BBC would use "Focus Group" as a verb! (And I work for the BBC!)
Call me old fashioned but I'd prefer to see: "If you were to carry out a FOCUS GROUP on these people, the ...."
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