Teaching · For Teachers

A question route that opens people up and fits the hour.

Set the purpose and the group, write the welcome, then build the questions in order from an easy opener to the key questions and a closing one, with minutes for each. The summary assembles the guide, checks it fits the session and points to the questions that will close discussion down.

Build a guideWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the For Teachers toolkit, $79 for 72 items.

The discussion guide

One guide per study; copy it for each session so key questions stay the same. Participants are never named here. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
For each focus group, a printable moderator’s guide with welcome, ground rules and an ordered question route, with timing and wording checks.
Who it is for
Teacher researchers, school leaders, evaluators and graduate students running focus groups with families, students or staff.
Format
Browser builder with a questions table. Several saved records; printed guide or blank route sheet; CSV of the questions; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
Drawn for this page. A focus group is a conversation with a route: easy questions first, the key questions in the middle, a closing question at the end.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with a guide code and the session date.
  2. Write what you need to learn, the participants, group size and length.
  3. Check off each part of the welcome and ground rules.
  4. Add questions in order with their type, minutes and a probe.
  5. Read the guide in the summary and rework anything it flags before the session.

Build a guide

What the builder is for

A route, not a list

Focus group researchers sequence questions so a group warms up before the questions that matter: an opening question everyone can answer quickly, an introductory question on the topic, a transition toward the key questions, two to five key questions that drive the analysis, and an ending question that asks what matters most or what was missed.

Questions that open discussion

Questions answered with yes or no stall a group; “what” and “how” questions start it. Questions beginning with “why” can sound like a demand to justify, so researchers often rephrase them. The summary flags both, and checks the minutes against the session with time left for the welcome and close.

What this tool is not

It builds a guide; it does not run or analyze the session. Groups with students need parent permission and student assent. Guides stay in this browser.

Sources

  1. Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2015). Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research (5th ed.). Sage. (Question route: opening, introductory, transition, key and ending questions.)
  2. Morgan, D. L. (1997). Focus Groups as Qualitative Research (2nd ed.). Sage.
  3. Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 45 CFR 46.408 (parent permission and child assent).
  4. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR Part 99.

The example guide is made up. The builder prepares a moderator’s guide; follow your approved protocol for consent and recording. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.