productive, the interviewer must he skillful not only in evoking responses from participants but also in leading them to crysta. Llize their ideas. d. Focus Group Discussion The Focus Group Discussion (FGO) is a qualitative research technique utilized for its value in understanding and documenti ng human behavior. (Tan and Dalisay, 1999) It is a very popular mctl,od appropriate in the community to elicit :ind e:-.-plore opinions of people, determine their attitudes and practices regarding a limited set of concepts. Data collection time with FGD is signilicanlly reduced because a cc>nsidcrab le number of participants can become i Jivolved ut a given time. The participants are selected based onthevari. ablcs that are being studied. Fm· instnnce, we wish to determine what factors in the child feeding practices in the community will likely contribu te to tl,e incidence and prevalence of malnutrition, TI1e mothers and other child care providers ;:ire I. he probable participants for the FGD as they are the ones involve in the day-lo-day pursuit in caring for the children. In the conduct of focus g1·oup discussions, make sure to set the characteristics of the participants in terms of a. those characteristics that will be common to them; and b. those characteristics tbat will differentiate them from each other. Such characteristics may include socio-eco11omic status, demographic variables as age, sex, civil status, educatio nal attainment, n:!1igious affiliation, ethnicity and occupation. Th. esc arc importnnt factors that,,;11 dictate variability in people·s perceptions and opinions about certain issues. As in group interview, a focus group discui:;sio n will need a highly skilled fadlitator with deep understanding of the issues being discussed; making sure that everyone contnlmtes into the discussion, and with all angles of the issue well-covered. It is also crucial that the facilitator can engage the participants back into impartiality when the debate becomes heated. Finally, the facilitator has to summarize and synthesize the discussio n to make certain that the issues have clarified rather than confused the participants. 5. Developing the instrument Instruments or tools facilitate the nurse's data-gathering activities. The tools or instruments to be used depend on the method of data gathering needed to supply the information for the community diagnosis. The following are the 1nost common instnnnen ts that the nurse uses in her data co11ecticm: a. Survey questionnair e The survey questionnaire, also called the survey instrument is tlie form one uses to document the data being collected. The survey questionna ire may be in the form of an interviev, schedule or a self­ administered questionnai re. (Hawe, Degeling and Hall, 1990) W11en the nurse uses the interview schedule, she reads out the question and records the respondent's reply to th~ questions. If the respondents read the questions and,,Tite down their responses, they are filling out a self­ completed or self-ad. ministered questionnaire. Vvhetherthe tool is an interview schedule or a self-competed questionnaire, 161 