Focus groups can be a good reminder that it is called the Westminster bubble for a reason, writes youngvulgarian Here's what Marie Le Conte discovered when she sat in on one last week ⤵️
Though polling is, of course, useful at telling us whether people like or dislike a certain policy or politician, that is only one part of the story. Among other things, focus groups can tell us how much people care about an issue, whether it’s something they think about at all, if they love or merely tolerate a party leader, and whether they are picking a party out of enthusiasm or because they feel they are no better options.
“The kinds of people who are willing to take 90 minutes out of their Wednesday evening to talk about their views of politics are likely to be a bit odd,” said one frustrated pollster who didn’t want to be named. “It’s easier for people to apply bias to the way focus groups are interpreted,” the pollster said. “So if someone says something surprising it is treated as more significant than people saying things you expect.”
One of Labour’s controversial attack ads that have been criticised by Tories and some in the Labour Party “Actually, when you go into your average focus group, you go through a whole thing without one mention of the word Brexit. It’s only when you’re sat with the voters that you get just how much it has completely receded as a political issue for the general public.”
“What became very clear from the focus groups was that people think it’s hereditary, and I think that’s feeding into part of its problems,” Tryl said. “So you get comments like, ‘oh, yeah but he’s part of the aristocracy, what does he know?’ Someone said in the group, ‘Tony Benn gave his up, didn’t he? Why doesn’t Keir do the same?’ and of course, Benn had a hereditary title and had to give it up to be an MP.
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