The following is intended to provide a rough outline of the style our focus group report writers should look to achieve
READABILITY -- we prefer writers with a more conversational tone -- avoid jargon or a show of vocabulary. (Assume your audience has a two year college degree)
DIRECTION: Our clients pay us not only to find the truth about an issue for them, but to present it in a palatable manner given their goals and objectives, and, most importantly, to use our findings to provide them with actionable guidance which will move them towards their goals. (It is therefore exceptionally important that you spend time talking to the project leader to understand these goals prior to embarking on your writing). The tone of the report must be optimistic, but not misleading.
COHESIVENESS: Your job is to 'tell the story of the results of the research', not just to report findings point by point. Everything should fit together. The client should be able to walk away with the ability to easily summarize and remember the main points or 'moral of the story' in just a few sentances after having read your report.
ORGANIZATION -- be clear when you are discussing which issue. Many writers choose to follow the discussion guide as an outline for their report, but you don't have to, provided that your organizational scheme is clear to the reader.
NOTE: Our reports contain an Executive Summary - a concise listing of main findings and direction, and a Detailed Findings, which includes material that supports each point made in the Executive Summary in much more detail with the aid of some verbatim responses from respondents in the research.
INSIGHT: -- while you will need to present findings consistent with the person who conducted the group, we give preference to writers who demonstrate the ability to provide additional insights into the material. What is motivating the respondents? What might aid the client's interests? Are there important differences between market segments?
CREATIVITY: we give preference to writers who can add spunk to the report -- something to hold the reader's interest without detracting from the flow of the main points.
THOROUGHNESS: All points on the discussion guide must be covered in the detailed findings, and touched upon in the Executive Summary.
ABILITY TO CONCISELY SUMMARIZE: While the Detailed Findings must present the total findings of the study in detail, the Executive Summary should concisely summarize the "takeaway" of the entire project. This portion of the report is the only part that gets read by the majority of your audience.
SPEED: We generally provide 10 business days for you to turnaround a report once it is assigned to you. However, there are times when we are pressed to meet a deadline (e.g. for a report we had planned to write internally but were unable to because of an increased workload). We will give preference to writers who can write a report more quickly, without sacrificing quality in the above areas. Notwithstanding the above, speed is a consideration. But quality comes first.
SPELLING AND GRAMMATICAL CORRECTNESS: You are representing our company. We don't do so very many, but we does the best what we am! (Think you get the point).
