What is a needs assessment? When is it used?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A needs assessment attempts to answer these questions with systematic, credible evidence. The initial impetus for implementing programs to alleviate social problems and other societal ailments typically comes from a variety of sources, including advocacy groups, moral leaders, community advocates, and political figures. Before a program is designed and implemented, however, it is essential to obtain reliable information on the nature and the scope of the problem as well as the target population in need of the intervention. Evaluation researchers often contribute to these efforts by applying research tools to answer such questions as “What is the magnitude of this problem in this community?” “How many people in this community are in need of this program?” “What are the demographic characteristics of these people (e.g., age, gender, and race or ethnicity)?” and “Is the proposed program or intervention appropriate for this population?”
Needs assessment is a type of evaluation research that attempts to determine the needs of some population that might be met with a social program.
Needs assessment is not as easy as it sounds (Posavac & Carey, 1997). Whose definitions or perceptions should be used to shape our description of the level of need? How will we deal with ignorance of need? How can we understand the level of need without understanding the social context from which that level of need emerges? (Short answer to that one: We can’t!) What, after all, does need mean in the abstract? We won’t really understand what the level of need is until we develop plans for implementing a program in response to the identified needs.