Needs Assessment

Presenting a step-by-step guide to designing and conducting methodologically sound yet cost-effective needs assessments, this book is responsive to program planning and policy-making goals and is applicable to determining the needs of diverse target populations. Working from a definition of needs assessment that includes the entire process from project conceptualization through active utilization of results, Needs Assessment offers steps to follow and strategic considerations for designing, planning, and carrying out research, as well as analyzing and disseminating findings. The reader is led through the development of an integrated master matrix that serves as a blueprint for research design, and is introduced to methods that employ primary and secondary data as well as qualitative data collection and analysis. Separate chapters are devoted to sample surveys and to qualitative and mixed method approaches. Three in-depth case studies illustrate the applications and outcomes using distinctively different needs assessment approaches to assessing HIV-related needs of low income urban women; housing, health care, social service, transportation, and recreational needs of both the mainstream and homebound minority elderly; and maternal and child health needs of a rural county with high rates of infant mortality. Strongly emphasizing the applied nature of needs assessment, this book argues for actively involving key stakeholders throughout the process and offers advice on how to effectively convey and disseminate findings to maximize their utility to different user groups. As a state-of-the-art review and a practical guide, this volume is aimed at beginners as well as more experienced applied social researchers, and should be useful to students and professionals in a wide range of fields including psychology, gerontology, public health, urban planning, program evaluation, sociology, and social work.