Needs: Defining What You Are Assessing

In: New directions for evaluation: a publication of the American Evaluation Association, Band 2014, Heft 144, S. 19-31

Abstract

AbstractBy definition your needs assessment should assess needs, but how do you define them? Further, how do you operationalize that definition to measure needs? Do your partners and stakeholders also hold the same conceptual, and operational, definitions? Is there agreement that the project is only going to assess needs and not wants, assets, capacity, or solutions? Or are you really expected to assess all five? Each of these is an important consideration that can substantially influence the success of any needs assessment. In this chapter, the authors examine how definitions and use of the word need influence the design and implementation of an assessment, suggesting that the definition can shape the results of what is found.