focus group

noun

: a small group of people whose response to something (such as a new product or a politician's image) is studied to determine the response that can be expected from a larger population

Examples of focus group in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The joint Biden-Lula initiative around labor may turn out to be rather vague, a convening of a focus group committed to thinking what the future of the working class may look like in an age of automation, digitalization and increasing precarity. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 20 Sep. 2023 But Republican voters from the early primary state of New Hampshire brought it up unprompted in a recent focus group according to the moderator, James Johnson of the polling firm J.L. Partners. Hannah Knowles and Fenit Nirappil, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Sep. 2023 In Ohio, people in focus groups felt strongly about being able to take care of their families without judgment or interference. Emily Bazelon, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023 Make sure to avoid putting managers together with rank-and-file staff in focus groups, as many employees might be reluctant to be fully transparent when those in managerial roles are in the meeting. Gleb Tsipursky, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2023 People who took the city’s survey are invited to join a focus group. Beacon-News Staff, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2023 Combine the qualitative insights from the focus groups with the quantitative metrics from the surveys. Gleb Tsipursky, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2023 And there’ve been some focus groups done in rural parts of Ohio where that in fact was one of the chief reasons people there voted against issue one. Laura Johnston, cleveland, 25 Aug. 2023 About 160 people who work for the city participated in focus groups and interviews conducted by InQUEST Consulting, which was hired by Elgin in 2020 to develop a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, strategy for the city. Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'focus group.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of focus group was in 1965

Dictionary Entries Near focus group

Cite this Entry

“Focus group.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/focus%20group. Accessed 27 Sep. 2023.

More from Merriam-Webster on focus group

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!