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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: This was a focus group and is not necessarily representative of the public writ large. My comments: “This” focus group is a small group, as all focus groups usually are. In other words, there are not a lot of people in it and therefore their interests or opinion may not be representative of the public at large. A focus group, you see, is a small group of people selected for a study on something. For example, in light (or rather lacks thereof) of persistent smoggy air in Beijing, a select group of people is gathered together to form a focus group whose purpose is to both look into the cause of the smog and find possible solutions to it. Now, due to the fact that the group is small (otherwise it won’t be called a focus group – a group to focus their attention on something particular), not all people from all walks of life are picked as members. Hence and therefore, the collective view point of this group may not be representative of the opinion of the general public. I mean, obviously, if most members of the group are environmental activists, their opinion may lean one way – in the way of banning polluting factories. If, on the other hand, if many members of the group are actually from those polluting factories, then their opinion may be very different. Let’s just put it that way and leave it there. Anyways, and oh, writ large. | 
