which people make. (Feuerstein, 1986) Observation techniques maybe supplemented or documented by the use of bard equipme nt such as videotapes or cameras to ta. ke photographs, sphygmomanometer to measure blood pressure or weighing scale to determine weights of children. Observation is an important and useful method of collecting data when informant s are unable to directly supply informati on o. r may likely give inaccurate information. Some respondents may resist questions or are unwilling lo am;wer questions or may have problems on recall. On the other hand, there are limitations to the use of observation in data collection especially when observation periods are limited to a specific period of time. Some events may not be accessible to direct observation at the time one schedules the data gathering. Sometimes, it is impossib le to predict occurrenc e of events or events occurred in the past. In these cases, the historical or "limelinc" approach-a participatory technique utilizing the collective memory of community members, particularly, its older members have proved helpful. Prior to actual conduct of community diagnosis, the ·nurse must have a bird's eye view or a "feel'" of what the commun ity looks like. This helps the nurse plans and directs the focus and tne depth of the communi ty diagnosis. A comri1on approach is to perform a rapid appraisal through an ocu1ar survey or what others call as windshield survey. (Hunt, 2005) It consii:;ts of walking around tbe commun ity or in the case of windshie ld survey, dtiving through the community appreciatin g wbat can be seen and perceived as the people go along with their daily lives. Admittedly, the oculru· or windshield survey,vil!l yield cursory or even trivial data but that can be brought to light in the actual community diagnosis. A nurse investigating lifestyle patterns is likely to affect the people they are observing and can cause "artificia!M behavior among them. Observers, therefore, need to live and be fully integrated with the commun ity they are studying and be part of what is happenin. g in the community; This is called participant observation (Feuerstein, 1986). b. Recor. ds l'Cvi. ew Records are written information that are kept in folders, files or books which we often refer to as hard copies but they may also be kept on tape or electronic form as database to be retrieved or access. eel for specific purposes. Records or documented sources offer the data collector savings in time, money. energy and effort since data are pre-collected. However, like any data source, one must recognize the I. imitations of records or written documents. Aside from completeness, accuracy, usefulness or appi:opriateness of data, the nurse needs to evaluate the data's worth if they are up-to-date. Data may be obtained by reviewing those that have been compiled by health or non-health agencies from the governmen t or other sources. The nearer one is to the source of data, the better. For example, if the nurse is looking for data about a sitio or-barangay, data sear-ch will be more productive in the ba. rangay or in the municipal records than when search is done at the provincial or regional records. 159 