You don't really, any more than you know that the people in your traditional focus groups are who they say they are. However, in order to receive payment for participation in an online focus group, a respondent must give his correct name, address and telephone number. They are paid by check, sent by mail to the respondent, within ten days of participating. Yes, children ages ten and over can participate in online focus groups, but only with the permission of their parents. Whenever children participate in online focus groups, the parent is interviewed beforehand, and told of the subject of the research.
Payment is made to the parent for the participation of the child.
As with traditional focus groups, we post visuals to a separate page for viewing during the groups. In this way, all participants can have a more thorough understanding of the subject as a group, and they can make relevant comments and continue with the discussion while the visuals are posted.