Focus Group Discussion Question Guide

Focus Group Discussion Question Guide

Date: / Name of facilitator:
Location: / Name of note taker:
Time: / How were the FGD participants identified:

Introduction to the FGD:

Introduce your team and the aim of the FGD, namely:

“We are a team from a local organization called Development and Justice Initiative collaborating with a university in USA, Tufts University and an organization in Geneva, JIPS. We are working on a research project with the aim to understand the living conditions of people in Delhi. We would therefore like to discuss in this group some important topics and learn from your opinions and experiences. We are not going to ask questions about your individual households but will ask about your community in general.

This survey is not related to any humanitarian or government program, and therefore not linked to any assistance. It is conducted by our organization, which is an independent local organization.

We cannot give you anything for participating in this discussion, except our appreciation. You are under no obligation to participate, and you are free not to answer any of the posed questions.

The information you give us will be kept anonymously. We will not write your name and your name will never appear in our research. The information we collect will help us to better understand the situation of refugees in Delhi and write a report on this. The report will be used by different organizations working with refugees in Delhi.

The discussion should take approximately 2 hours. Do you have any questions?

Introduce yourself, as the facilitator, and the note taker(s); clarify what your roles are.

Set the ground rules for the discussion; namely:

“we are interested in opinions and experiences of everyone present, so do give time and space to each other to contribute”, ‘’please, raise your hand, if you wish to contribute, so we can organize the discussion”, “do avoid parallel discussions, as that will make it very difficult for the note taker to capture the discussion”, ‘’do respect the opinions of others, we are interested in all different views, even if they don’t represent everyone in the community’’

Ask for permission to take notes and, if relevant, to record the discussion.

Focus group composition [fill out below overview]

  1. Sex:
/ ii. Age groups: / iii. Target Population:
□Male □ Female / □ Youth (15-25)
□ Adults (25 +) / □ Refugees from Myanmar
□ Refuges from Afghanistan
□ Refugees from Somalia
iv. Total Number of participants:
v. Location
(Where is the FGD held?):
Any other notes:

Questions

Themes / Subthemes / Questions: / Notes by Facilitator[1]
  1. Livelihoods
/ Access to livelihoods and employment
Subsistence strategies; community safety nets /
  1. How do the families get by in this community?
  2. If a family suddenly needs 2000 rupees, what would you do? Whom would they approach?
  3. What does a family do, if they can’t cover the monthly rent?
  4. How do most people here in the community get a job? And what jobs are those? (What is a good job and what is a not so good job to have?)

  1. Future plans
/ Intentions/preferences for the future /
  1. What are the plans for the future in the community?Where do you think most households will be in one year from now and in five years from now? (Probe if necessary: do people you think of returning, moving elsewhere, staying in Delhi?)
  2. [If relevant:] Are there any obstacles for going ahead with some of those mentioned plans?
  3. Where do you think it would be best for your children to live in the future? And why?
  4. To the youth: What kind of education and/or job do you plan to look for?

  1. Relation to host community
/ Local integration: common activities with host community; access to services etc.
Conflicts; discrimination; accusations.
How are the identified problems resolved or not?
Solutions proposed. /
  1. Are there any activities during the day which you do together with persons from the local community?
  2. How long has your community been here in this part of the city? Do households move often and if so, between how big distances? Does that affect your relation to the local community?
  3. How was the attitude of the local community towards you when you arrived and how is it today? What has changed, and if so why do you think it has?
  4. Have households/persons from the local community sometimes supported you? How?
  5. Do people feel unsafe in the community? When doesthis happen? During which activities do you feel unsafe? Discuss incidents in the community.
  6. How do you respond to these incidents? How are they resolved, if they are?
  7. How do you act, in order to avoid these unsafe situations?
  8. Ideas of other ways to ease the relationship to the local community? Do you think the problems could be solved and how?

  1. Afghan refugees
/ Migration patters /
  1. How long do families from Afghanistan, who come to Delhi, usually stay here?
  2. If they move on, after Delhi, where do they then go, and why?
  3. Some years ago, there were many Afghan refugees in this area, according to the humanitarian organizations, but it seems this is no longer the case; do you know what has happened?
  4. [Probe, if refugees are still in Delhi: Why have they moved and why do you think they no longer wish to have a refugee certificate?]

1

[1]This space is intended for short notes by the facilitator to support him/her in steering the discussion, e.g. by noting topics that need further probing, topics that seem better to skip due to time and discussion developments etc.