I did 8 FGDs, participants ranged from 8-12 in a group - rural, urban and specialized groups. It was not easy handling different groups in different locations. Regular follow ups is very important. I started planning for FGDs 3 months ahead of the actual time and completed all 8 groups in 10 days as every single day I had one discussion in different locations - city, villages. It depends upon the type of research you are conducting. It is always better to try to get hold of a strong gatekeeper even though you know the participants individually. Topic guide, information sheets, questionnaire were made ready around 2 months ahead, sent invitation a month ahead and followed up and reminder sent continuously despite having strong gatekeepers for all 8 groups. The most challenging part in FGD is having all people in one place. I always feared that the participants won't turn up so sent invitations to around 15 people so that I had a balance of 8-12 as many did not turn up even though confirmed earlier. Having a good recorder is very important as transcribing FGDs are more problematic than interviews since many people talk at the same time in many instances. Hope it helps. Here are some of the useful references:
Cronin, A. (2008). Focus Groups. In N. Gilbert (Ed.), Researching Social Life (3rd ed., pp. 226-244). Los Angeles. London. New Delhi. Singapore: SAGE.
Macnaghten, P., & Myers, G. (2004). Focus Groups. In C. Seale, G. Gobo, J. F. Gubrium & D. Silverman (Eds.), Qualitative Research Practice (pp. 65-79). London.Thousand Oaks. New Delhi: SAGE.
Tonkiss, F. (2004). Using Focus Groups. In C. Seale (Ed.), Researching Society and Culture (2nd ed., pp. 193-206). London. Thousand Oaks. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Bloor, M., Frankland, J., Thomas, M., & Robson, K. (2001). Focus Groups in Social Research. London. Thousand Oaks. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
