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Shannon College of Hotel Management Focus Group

Shannon College of Hotel Management is undertaking focus group research in February 2026 to better understand

the broad trends in third level education, looking at why students choose particular subject areas, perceptions towards University of Galway and the issues that are important to students in making CAO decisions. The research will inform the Shannon College of Hotel Management in planning for the future and ensuring our offerings are meeting the needs of students. The research data will not be shared to the public domain and will be contained within Opinions Market Research.

Leaving Cert students are invited to take part in the focus groups. The online focus groups will last one hour, with no preparation in advance.

These groups will take place online via Microsoft Teams or Zoom and will be recorded for reporting purposes.
All contributions by students will be presented as anonymous.
Any recorded material will be deleted when it has been fully analysed and reported, or within 6 months of the focus group, whichever is sooner.
Participants will receive a One4All voucher of €25 as a token of our thanks for being involved.

University of Galway has contracted Opinions Market Research to conduct the focus groups on behalf of the University. By signing up to take part in the focus groups, you will be sharing your information with Opinions Market Research.

It is planned that the focus groups will take place on the following dates:

10th February, 6:00pm
11th February, 6.00pm

In the sign-up form you will be asked to identify which of the above session you would be available for and you will then be invited to take part in just one of those sessions.

Next Steps

By clicking the link below and completing the form you are agreeing that the data provided will be held by Opinions Market Research in a GDPR compliant manner. Parental/guardian or responsible adult consent is required for students aged 17 years or younger to participate in the research. If you are selected to participate, you will receive a form by email for your parent/guardian or responsible adult to digitally sign to give their consent for you to proceed.

>>Sign up to participate in the Focus Group

FAQs on the Focus Group Research

Who is conducting this research?

The research is conducted by the Marketing Team, Shannon College of Hotel Management.

What is the purpose of the study?

Shannon College of Hotel Management is exploring the interests and perceptions of secondary school students towards college courses, in particular the potential appeal of a proposed new programme; BBS in Global Luxury Management. In particular, the focus will explore:

The interests of future college students who are exploring business/marketing/management courses
Attitudes and perceptions towards a potential new Level 8 course in Global Luxury Management
Seek feedback on the content of the course and to test the attractiveness of particular elements (curriculum, placement, title, location, reputation etc.)

The findings will help inform the development of the proposed new programme at Shannon College of Hotel Management.

What are the procedures of taking part?

If you decide to take part, you will be asked to take part in a 1-hour focus group over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. It is planned that there will be a maximum of right leaving certificate of fifth year students per groups, from a variety of schools throughout the catchment region of Shannon College of Hotel Management.

The focus group will be moderated by an external facilitator contracted by Shannon College of Hotel Management. Staff from University of Galway, Shannon College of Hotel Management, and Leap Leadership (contract agency) will attend, observe take notes and learn from participants’ insights. During the session, we will discuss the proposed new programme and explore how its global and luxury focus, along with themes such as marketing, management, business, and leadership, are understood and perceived by prospective students.

We will record the conversation to facilitate report writing. The report will be shared with Leap Leadership but will not be shared with any other third party. These recordings will be treated in confidence and will be deleted once the report is finalised.

What will we talk about?

Some of the key topics we will explore are listed below, but the conversation will not be limited to these:

Your initial reactions to the proposed BBS in Global Luxury Management and its key themes (global focus, luxury sector, management, leadership, business)
How you search for course and college information?

What you look for in a degree programme, including course content, career opportunities, learning style, and areas of interest?

What are my participation rights?

Participation in this research guarantees the right to withdraw, to ask questions about how your data will be handled and about the study itself, the right to confidentiality and anonymity and the right to refuse to answer questions.

What if I want to withdraw my information?

If you wish to withdraw responses or any personal data gathered during the study, you may do this without any consequences. You can ask for your data to be removed up until the point of analysis. If you would like to withdraw your data, please contact us directly (details below).

What will happen to my responses collected for the study?

Data collected in this study will be analysed and reported in aggregated form and any specific verbatims used will be anonymised. Any recorded material will be deleted when it has been fully analysed and reported, or within 6 months of the focus group, whichever is sooner.

Will my responses and information be kept confidential?

All identifiable information will be treated with the strictest confidence throughout the study and will only be available to the team working on this project.

What are the possible risks to taking part?

There are very low risks involved in taking part in this research and all relevant steps will be taken by the Shannon College of Hotel Management team to secure your data.