Editing Focus group (section)

==History==
Focus groups first started in the 1940s as a research method in the context of market research concerning radio soap operas.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last1=Bloor|first1=Michael|title=Focus Groups in Social Research|last2=Frankland|first2=Jane|last3=Thomas|first3=Michelle|last4=Robson|first4=Kate|date=2001|publisher=SAGE Publications Ltd|isbn=978-0-7619-5742-3|location=1 Oliver's Yard, 55 City Road, London England EC1Y 1SP United Kingdom|doi=10.4135/9781849209175}}</ref> During the [[Second World War]], [[Robert K. Merton]] set out to analyze the effectiveness of [[propaganda]] with the use of focus groups.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Collis, Jill|title=Business research : a practical guide for undergraduate & postgraduate students|others=Hussey, Roger|isbn=978-1-137-03748-0|edition=Fourth|location=Basingstoke, Hampshire|oclc=982130240|date=2013-11-29}}</ref> Merton devised a procedure in which twelve participants at a radio studio would respond to negatively associated content by hitting a red button or positively associated information by hitting a green button. From there, Merton created an interviewing procedure to gain further insight into the subjective reactions of focus-group participants.<ref name=":02" /> He later established focus groups for the [[Bureau of Applied Social Research]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/24/nyregion/robert-k-merton-versatile-sociologist-and-father-of-the-focus-group-dies-at-92.html |title=Robert K. Merton, Versatile Sociologist and Father of the Focus Group, Dies at 92 |date=February 24, 2003 |first=Michael T.|last=Kaufman |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306165928/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/24/nyregion/robert-k-merton-versatile-sociologist-and-father-of-the-focus-group-dies-at-92.html |archive-date=March 6, 2014 }}</ref> The use of focus groups by sociologists gained popularity in the 1980s when Merton published a report on focused interviews.<ref name=":32"/> [[Paul Lazarsfeld]] had also received a government contract to get insight into individuals' responses to war radio propaganda.<ref name=":02" />

Psychologist and marketing expert [[Ernest Dichter]] coined the term "focus group" itself before his death in 1991.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/02/nyregion/the-view-from-peekskill-tending-the-flame-of-a-motivator.html?n=Top%2FNews%2FScience%2FTopics%2FResearch |title=The View From/Peekskill; Tending the Flame of a Motivator |date=August 2, 1998 |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City|first=Lynne|last=Ames |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206160941/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/02/nyregion/the-view-from-peekskill-tending-the-flame-of-a-motivator.html?n=Top%2FNews%2FScience%2FTopics%2FResearch |archive-date=February 6, 2017 }}
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