Needs Assessment

What is the definition of needs assessment?
Needs assessment is used when we want to find out, document, and state clearly what should be in terms of results, and relate that to the results now being achieved. Kaufman and Thomas, 1980

Needs Assessment: need is the discrepancy between current and desired results or consequences. Kaufman 1988, 1992

Needs Assessment: a systematic process for determining goals, identifying discrepancies between desired and actual performance, and establishing priorities for action. Retrieved October 8, 2007 from http://www.ibstpi.org/Resources/glossary.htm

When do you do a needs assessment?
When you want to find out what needs to be done in order to reach the desired state/performance.

Needs assessment can be done in formal and informal processes.

• Formal needs assessments are done when you want to find out what is going on. An example of a formal needs assessment is the program planning process in extension. This process takes time to gather information and ideas before the plan of what will be done is put together.
• Informal needs assessments are done “on the fly” or “just in time”. Some examples of informal needs assessments include critical incident needs assessment, when the need is immediate and there isn’t time to conduct a more formal needs assessment.

Both informal and formal needs assessment utilize a technique called “gap analysis”. This technique is used to determine the steps (three) to be taken in moving from a current state to a desired future state. Retrieved October 8, 2007 from www.businessdictionary.com/definition/gap-analysis.html

What is the difference between a needs assessment and an evaluation?
Sometimes evaluation is confused with needs assessment or the two terms are used interchangeably. A needs assessment will show us what it is we should be doing in the first place, while an evaluation will tell us how well we are doing in an ongoing operation.

Questions you may have when implementing a needs assessment.

How do I create interview questions?

How do I create focus group questions?

How do I conduct focus groups?

How do I create a survey? (online or written)

How do I distribute a survey? (online or written)

What do I do (analysis techniques) with the data from interviews, focus groups, survey, etc?

What steps are involved in conducting an observation?


Where can I learn more about the needs assessment process?

http://www.extension.psu.edu/evaluation/titles.html

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/evaluation/index.html