Foundations and stance
Why qualitative work; what the group changes compared with the one-on-one interview; the guide and its blind spots; reflexivity and preparation; relational ethics.
Dedicated offer
Facilitating and training for the group interview
A focus group is not an ordinary conversation, and it cannot be learned in theory alone. This offer grew out of fieldwork — building, for a real team, a complete training programme on the qualitative group interview. It is now formalized as a reusable framework for any organization that wants to equip its teams.
01
The epistemological foundation
Five principles that hold the whole programme together — and explain why a well-written guide is not enough.
Objectivity does not exist — aim for objectivation
We do not chase neutrality, impossible in qualitative work, but objectivation: naming your subjectivity, owning it, putting it to work. Objectivity is subjectivity properly stated.
Invite the story, invite the feeling
Since we are not measuring, we invite narrative and lived experience — questions that let narrative thinking emerge rather than imposing an analytical frame.
Non-directivity as a discipline
Open questions, silence welcomed, reformulation in the respondents’ own words — never presuming the meaning of what is said.
Bring different vantage points together
Putting different frames of reference in dialogue — technical expertise, experiential knowledge, local culture — without letting any one dominate.
Rigour through documentation
Qualitative rigour comes from a record of the process and the choices made — memos, a research journal — not from a fixed protocol.
02
A programme in two parts
Two two-hour sessions cover the core programme. Each session targets one clear objective and one concrete aspect of the interview — never theory piled up without testing.
Facilitating the group interview
Opening the room; non-directivity and the art of the probe; managing dynamics — dominant voice, silence, soft consensus, disagreement; watch points and sensitive situations.
Putting it into practice
Role-play in small groups of three to four, remote or in person: rotating the facilitator, observer and participant roles; targeted scenarios; structured debrief.
03
The tools you keep
Five deliverables reworked for your sector, your audience and your topic. Nothing is delivered generic.
01The training deck
A deck structured in thematic blocks, with full facilitation notes on every slide — usable in a led session or for self-study.
PowerPoint · bilingual FR/EN
02The field checklist
A condensed aide-mémoire organized as before / during / after, with tick boxes — designed to be held during the interview, not read beforehand.
Word · bilingual FR/EN
03The interview guides
Open questions and non-directive probes, tailored to the audience — professionals, community members, patient partners — and reworded to avoid institutional jargon and framing bias.
Word
04The role-play kit
A detailed run-of-show — objectives, timing, character cards, live constraints to test non-directivity under pressure — plus a simplified guide for participants.
Word · scales to the number of participants
05The post-interview memos
Two distinct reflexive templates — one for the interviewer (on oneself, on the respondents, on the guide), one for the observer (on what the interviewer could not see of themselves) — filled in separately before the debrief.
Word · bilingual FR/EN
04
How it runs
Remote or in person. The role-plays work as well by videoconference — one room, rotating roles, camera off for whoever observes — as they do in a classroom.
Short, modular formats. Two 2-hour sessions for the core programme; the practice component runs in groups of three to four.
Bilingual. Every tool exists in French and English, with terminology aligned across both versions.
Tailored. Every tool is reworked for the client organization’s sector, audience and topic.
05
Who it is for
·Health and social services teams running consultations or discussion groups with users or partners
·Social science researchers and students preparing qualitative data collection
·Community organizations and service co-design teams, particularly in culturally diverse settings
·Any organization that wants to gather open speech rather than validate a preset grid
What sets this approach apart
Theory is not enough
Every programme includes a concrete test, with constraints designed to surface the directive reflexes you thought you had outgrown.
Attention to framing bias
Every guide is reviewed for institutional jargon, questions that presuppose an analytical answer, and the blind spots of an outsider’s view.
25 years of fieldwork
Over 500 qualitative interviews conducted, in health sociology. The training passes on a tested practice, not just a theoretical frame.