1. Amount of research
The amount of research done by participants before the discussion may affect both the quality of discussions and the quality of the results.
2. Underlying motives or secret interests
May also affect discussion quality and results e.g people who are not honest and open because they stand to lose something (friends, positions, status etc) may sway a discussion to protect their secret interests.
3. Nonverbal, vocal & verbal messages
Disgusted expressions, stressed words, or technical terms may suggest attitudes and emotions of the people involved.
4. Sensitivity of the participants to each other and to themselves.
If participants are unaware that others are tense, shy, frustrated or bored they’ll probably not be able to draw them into the discussion and benefit from their judgments and opinions.
Other factors may be:
- Time of day i.e. when the discussion is conducted
- Place where the discussion occurs
- Size of the group discussing
- Time limit for completing a task
