Learn from your primary audience

Plan to hold each FGD for about an 1-1.5 hours, including between five and 12 participants. Smaller groups with five to eight participants often encourage participation and provide rich and detailed insights.

It is vital that FGDs are conducted in a comfortable environment so that participants can speak freely and openly. It is usually best to hold separate FGDs for men and women. Also consider holding separate FGDs with minority groups, including individuals with disabilities, older adults, migrants, and others, if they will be a priority for your campaign.

Consider how many FGDs to hold to learn from the primary audience. For example, if you are planning for a national- or subnational-level campaign, conduct FGDs in at least two or three diverse geographical locations, including urban, semi-urban and rural participants. In each location, your team should work with community leaders to ensure they are informed about the FGDs, why FGDs are being conducted, and also to help identify suitable participants. 

As you plan for FGDs, there are a number of tasks that should be considered, before, during and after the meetings.

Before:

• Prepare FGD guides, identify a facilitator and note taker, recruit participants and choose a time and place to hold the meeting. Each FGD should be held in a location that is easily accessible and safe for participants. Reserve the space with enough time for set-up before the meeting and a debrief afterwards.
• Prepare the space for the FGD, including arranging seating in a circle, preparing snacks and water, and gathering any necessary supplies, for e.g., markers, pens, chalk, paper for the group discussion. Use name tags if culturally appropriate.
• Test the FGD guide with a local staff member to ensure the questions will be easy for participants to understand.

During:

• Upon arrival, participants should register and provide consent to participate. Any relevant demographic or background information should be noted in confidential participant files.
• The facilitator and note taker should each introduce themselves, their roles and organisation they represent. They should also review details about the FGD, including duration, purpose, and other relevant information.
• The facilitators should discuss how the information gathered during the meeting will be used and request permission for the note taker to take notes during the conversation. Participants should be assured that everything they share remains confidential.
• Ensure each participant is aware they can leave the FGD at any time if they feel uncomfortable. Allow participants to ask questions about participation, data collection and confidentiality if they have them.
• Close the FGD by thanking everyone for sharing their thoughts and experiences.

After:

• Once the FGD is finished and participants have left the meeting location; the facilitator, note taker and any other staff present should meet to debrief about the meeting, insights and notable happenings. Any important information should be recorded immediately so it is not forgotten.

At a minimum, each FGD will need a facilitator and a note taker. Both should be the same gender as the FGD participants. They should also both be comfortable communicating in the local language or dialect that the FGD will be conducted in. If either is not fluent in the chosen language, an interpreter is also needed.

• Facilitator: Should be an excellent communicator who engages all participants, understands when follow up or probing questions are needed, can rephrase or clarify questions so that participants understand what is being asked, and guide the conversation along if participants move off topic or too much time is allocated to any one question. They should also be familiar with the FGD guide and goals of the research, remain neutral and avoid reacting to the participant’s responses to any of the questions. Finally, they should be an active and empathetic listener who asks sensitive questions in line with local culture and customs.
• Note taker: Should be a keen and neutral observer with excellent listening, observation and writing skills who is able to record as much information is possible during the FGD. They will take brief notes during the conversation, clarify participant responses when necessary and add details to their notes once the FGD is over. They should be familiar with the FGD questions and record what is said by the participants, as well as the actions and behaviours displayed, for e.g., attitude, physical responses, reactions during the FGD. Finally, they should keep notes confidential by using numbers or initials rather than names.

In some cases, recording FGDs may be possible for later reference. However, recordings are not possible or appropriate in many contexts because of confidentiality and trust concerns. Establishing and prioritising trust and comfort for participants is vital for a successful and insightful FGD. 

FGD guides include a series of questions that are used to make sure important insights are gathered from participants. Your team will write FGD guide(s) based on your key IYCF behaviour(s) identified in the situation analysis.

Using the COM-B model, FGD questions should be focused on determining what factors support or prevent behaviour change based on the participants perceptions of capability, opportunity and motivation. Questions should be open-ended and focus on participants beliefs, perceptions and experiences with the given IYCF behaviour. The goal is to gather information by fostering conversation among the FGD participants, where they can build upon statements made by others by explaining their individual experiences in agreement or disagreement.

Organise the FGD guide in two parts: 

1. the group’s thoughts and experiences with the key IYCF behaviour your team selected, and
2. the group’s hobbies, interests and media habits. 
   Most of the discussion time should be dedicated to Part 1, though the insights from Part 2 are also important and will influence the campaign and communications strategies that you will develop in the planning phase.

The example FGD guide includes questions related to exclusive breastfeeding practices and behaviours. It includes a narrative introduction for the facilitator to present, questions aligned with the COM-B model and a brief closing section to review with participants.

As noted in the earlier section, the note taker is responsible for recording participant insights, responses and reactions to the questions during the discussion. The facilitator and note taker should debrief following the FGD to capture any additional information.