needs assessment

Considered the "father of needs assessment", Roger Kaufman developed a model for determining needs defined as a gap in results.{{sfn|Fulgham|Shaughnessy|2008}} Kaufman argued that an actual need can only be identified independent of a proposed solution. According to Kaufman, to conduct a good-quality needs assessment, determine the current results and articulate the desired results; the distance between results is the actual need. Once a need is identified, then a solution can be selected.Witkin, B. R. (1994). Needs Assessment Since 1981: The State of the Practice. Evaluation Practice, 15 (1), 17–27.{{sfn|Kaufman|Rojas|Mayer|1993|page=8}}{{sfn|Kaufman|Rojas|Mayer|1993|page=12}}

Extensive research uses a large number of cases to determine the characteristics of a population, while intensive research examines one or a few cases in depth.{{cite book|last=Stoecker|first=Randy |title=Research Methods for Community Change |year=2005|publisher=Sage|location=Thousand Oaks |url=https://archive.org/details/researchmethodsf00stoe |url-access=registration |isbn=9780761928898}}

Once the group has identified needs, they then generally turn to intensive needs assessment in order to rank the needs. This part of the research is concerned with examining the depth of the need, and potentially required resources.

A needs chain model is a framework that allows organizations to simultaneously consider the individuals' needs within an organization, and the organization's needs, in order to prioritise resources and identify areas of improvement for the organization.

A needs chain model is composed of aligned horizontal and vertical processes. The horizontal needs are:

• Performance need: A level of performance required for satisfactory functioning.
• Instrumental need: An intervention, product, or substance that is required to obtain satisfactory functioning.
• Conscious need: Needs that are known to those who have them.
• Unconscious need: Needs that is unknown to those who have them.{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=EJ|title=Evaluation methodology basics: the nuts and bolts of sound evaluation|year=2005|publisher=Sage|location=Thousand Oaks, California}}

Also, it has four vertical factors:

• Organizational need: Needs that pertain to behavior or tangible outcomes, such as market share or sales target.{{cite web|last=Shafloot |first=Fayez|title=Needs Chain Model, presented in AEA 2010, San Antonio |url=http://comm.eval.org/EVAL/EvaluationUse/Resources/ViewDocument/Default.aspx?DocumenKey=86d43b5d-f260-40d1-bc5a-befd9a17d956 |access-date=20 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724104743/http://comm.eval.org/evaluationuse/resources/viewdocument/?DocumentKey=86d43b5d-f260-40d1-bc5a-befd9a17d956 |archive-date=2011-07-24 |url-status=dead}}
  {{*}}{{cite conference|last=Shafloot|first=Fayez |date=November 2010 |title=Needs Chain Model |conference=AEA 2010, San Antonio |url=https://comm.eval.org/viewdocument/needs-chain-model |access-date=2023-08-26}}
• Individual needs: Needs that pertain to the individual's attitudes about the organization or themselves, such as job satisfaction.
• Causes
• Level of objectivity for all needs: This level requires all needs to have a certain level of objectivity, and to be based on deep investigation or further analysis.{{cite journal|author1=Sip Jan Pijil|author2=Hillie Veneman |title=Evaluating New Criteria and Procedures for Funding Special Needs Education in the Netherlands|journal=Educational Management Administration & Leadership |year=2005|volume=33|issue=1|pages=93–108 |doi=10.1177/1741143205048176|s2cid=154075736}}

Training needs assessment is an inquiry of training needs within an organization.

There are three levels of training needs assessment:

• Organizational assessments evaluate the level of organizational performance. An assessment of this type will determine the knowledge, skills, ability, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that are needed within the organization.

• Occupational assessments examine the KSAOs required for affected occupational groups.

• Individual assessments analyze how well an individual employee is doing a job and determines the individual's capacity to do different work. An individual assessment provides information on which employees need training and what kind.{{cite web|title=Training Needs Assessment|url=http://www.opm.gov/hrd/lead/TrainingNeedsAssessment.asp|work=U.S. Office of Personnel Management|access-date=20 September 2011}}

A community needs assessment{{cite web |last=Center for Urban Research & Learning |title=A Community Needs Assessment Guide |url=http://www.luc.edu/curl/pdfs/A_Community_Needs_Assessment_Guide_.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111181012/http://www.luc.edu/curl/pdfs/A_Community_Needs_Assessment_Guide_.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2011 |access-date=22 September 2011}} can be broadly categorized into three types based on their respective starting points. First, needs assessments which aim to discover weaknesses within the community and create a solution. Second, needs assessments which are structured around, and seek to address a problem facing the community. Third, needs assessments of an organization which serves the community (domestic violence centers, community health clinics, etc.).

Consumer leadership assessment is an assessment of the frequency with which community members use or are likely to use an existing or planned service.{{cite web |author=National Consumer Supporter Technical Assistance Center |year=2005 |title=Community Needs Assessment |url=http://www.mha-sc.org/resources/Community-Needs-Assessment.pdf |website=Mental Health America of South Carolina}}

{{harvtxt|Burke|2005}} examined statistics that showed a need within the community of Bayview Hunters Point in order to "identify gaps in service delivery system to create a road map for improving neighborhood conditions by rationalizing the allocation of city dollars to social service programs".{{sfn|Burke|2005|p=7}}

• Environmental impact assessment
• Futures techniques
• Requirements analysis

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1=Kaufman |first1=Roger |first2=Alicia M. |last2=Rojas |first3=Hannah |last3=Mayer |title=Needs Assessment: A User's Guide |year=1993 |publisher=Educational Technology Publications |location=Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey }}
• {{cite book|last1=Peterson|first1=Donna J. |last2=Alexander |first2=Greg R.|title=Needs Assessment in Public Health: A Practical Guide for Students and Professionals |year=2001 |publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers |location=Hingham, MA }}
• {{cite book|author=Environmental Law Institute |title=Building Capacity to Participate in Environmental Protection Agency Activities: A Needs Assessment and Analysis |year=1999 |publisher=Environmental Law Institute |location=Washington, DC}}
• {{cite magazine |last1=Fulgham |first1=S. M. |last2=Shaughnessy |first2=M. |title=Q & A with Ed Tech Leaders: Interview with Roger Kaufman |date=September–October 2008 |magazine=Educational Technology |pages=49–52 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Watkins |first1=R. |last2=West Meiers |first2=M. |last3=Visser |first3=Y. |year=2012 |title=A Guide to Assessing Needs: Tools for collecting information, making decisions, and achieving development results |location=Washington, DC |publisher=World Bank |doi=10.1596/978-0-8213-8868-6 |isbn=978-0-8213-8868-6 |url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/2231 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=A. |last2=Lanum |first2=M. |last3=Saurez-Balcazar |first3=Y. |year=2000 |title=A community needs assessment guide: a brief guide on how to conduct a needs assessment |location=Chicago |publisher=Loyola University }}
• {{cite book |last1=Rossi |first1=P.H. |last2=Lipsey |first2=M.W. |last3=Freeman |first3=H.E. |year=2004 |title=Evaluation: a systematic approach |location=London |publisher=Sage |edition=7th |isbn=9780761908944 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Kavita |last2=Sleezer |first2=Catherine M. |last3=Russ-Eft |first3=Darlene F. |title=A Practical Guide to Needs Assessment |edition=2 |year=2007 |publisher=Pfeiffer |isbn=978-0-7879-8272-0 |pages=14–17 }}
• {{cite book|last=Burke |first=Garance |title=Bridging the Gaps: Toward an Efficient Social Service Delivery in Bayview Hunters Point |year=2005 |publisher=GSPP |location=UC Berkeley }}

{{Further reading cleanup|date=July 2024}}

• Altschuld, J. W. (2010). The Needs Assessment KIT. (ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. [5 volume series].
• Burton, J. & Merrill, P. (1991). Needs assessment: Goals, need and priorities. In L. J. Briggs, K.L. Gustafson, and M.H. Tillman (Eds.), Instructional design: Principles and applications (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology.
• Gilbert, T. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Gordon, S. (1994). Systematic training program design: Maximizing effectiveness and minimizing liability. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Hannum, W. & Hansen, C. (1989). Instructional systems development in large organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology.
• Kaufman, R. (1972). Educational system planning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
• Kaufman, R. (1992). Strategic planning plus: An organizational guide (Rev. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Mager, R. F. & Pipe, P. (1997), Analyzing performance problems (3rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: Center for Effective Performance.
• Murk, P.J. & Wells, J.H. (1998). A practical guide to program planning. Training & Development Journal, 42(10), 45–47.
• Nelson, R., Whitener, E., & Philcox, H. (1995). The assessment of end-user training needs. Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, 38(7) 27–39.
• Ostroff., C & Ford, J.K. (1989). Assessing training needs: Critical levels of analysis. In I.L. Goldstein (Ed.), Training and development in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Robinson, D.G. & Robinson, J.C. (1995). Performance consulting: Moving beyond training. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
• {{cite book|last=Rossett |first=Allison |title=Training Needs Assessment |year=1987 |publisher=Educational Technology Publications |location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ }}
• Rothwell, W.J. & Kazanas, H.C. (1992). Mastering the instructional design process: A systematic approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Rummler, G.A. & Brache, A.P. (1990). Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Witkin, B.R. & Altschuld, J.W. (1995). Planning and conducting needs assessments: A practical guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Category:Sociological theories