1. Chapter 5: NEEDS ASSESSMENT “Acting without thinking is like shooting without aiming.” B. C. Forbes

2. Introduction After reading this chapter, you should have knowledge about the following: 1. The importance of doing a needs assessment 2. Applying appropriate research skills when conducting a survey 3. Synthesizing information from a survey and incorporating conclusions 4. Community partnerships available to participate in the plan

3. What Is a Needs Assessment?

4. Needs Assessment A tool that reveals the opinions and wishes of potential participants through the provision of personal feedback Involves gathering personal information Allows you to: Become aware of the population’s feelings, beliefs, and attitudes Identify the issues that are important to them Determine what has been done in the past

5. Surveys and Questionnaires Use a questionnaire as the data gathering technique A series of questions Questions should be: Short To the point In simple English Easy to understand and respond to Placed in a sensible sequence Easy scoring system or rating scale Expect about a 10 percent return rate

6. Cover Letter Must be attached to the survey Short Outlines the purpose of your survey Tells respondents why their input is important and what will happen

7. Constructing the Questionnaire 1. Multiple Choice Questions 2. Rating Scales Questions Example _________________________________________________________________ Which municipal community centre do you use the most? (A) Centreville (B) Churchview (C) Parklane Example _________________________________________________________________ Which municipal community centre do you use the most? (A) Centreville (B) Churchview (C) Parklane Example _____________________________________________________________________________________ Please rate your satisfaction with the new drop-in basketball program: 1 2 3 4 5 Not satisfied Somewhat satisfied Very satisfied Example _____________________________________________________________________________________ Please rate your satisfaction with the new drop-in basketball program: 1 2 3 4 5 Not satisfied Somewhat satisfied Very satisfied

8. Constructing the Questionnaire 1. Listed Options Questions 2. Closed-Ended Questions 3. Open-Ended Questions 4. Leading Questions - AVOID Example _____________________________________________________________________________________ In which of the following activities do you currently participate? Basketball Volleyball Ball hockey Ice hockey Baseball Lacrosse Example _____________________________________________________________________________________ In which of the following activities do you currently participate? Basketball Volleyball Ball hockey Ice hockey Baseball Lacrosse Example ____________________________________________________________________________ explain why you are interested in participating in the annual ball. _______________________________________________________ Example ____________________________________________________________________________ explain why you are interested in participating in the annual ball. _______________________________________________________

9. Sampling the Population Populations can be large and unfeasible to measure Sampling is essential Sample can be generalized to the population The larger the sample, the higher the accuracy Random sampling: Equal opportunity Unbiased More likely to represent the population

10. Focus Groups Groups meet and discuss views using open-ended questions Not restricted Will do the following: Test your own assumptions about what you think people want Provide opinions about your needs assessment topics Create enthusiasm

11. Planning a Focus Group 5 steps: 1. What is the purpose of the focus group session? 2. Who will your participants be? 3. What questions will you ask? 4. Which location will suit your needs? 5. What materials, equipment, and supplies will you need for the session?

12. Focus Group Format and Sample Questions ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Welcome and introduction 2. Purpose of the focus group 3. Ground rules for discussion 4. Sample questions (a) What recreation programs at Robertson Recreation Centre are important to you? (b) What difficulties or challenges do you face in programs you have registered for at Robertson Recreation Centre? Focus Group Format and Sample Questions ________________________________________________________________________ 1. Welcome and introduction 2. Purpose of the focus group 3. Ground rules for discussion 4. Sample questions (a) What recreation programs at Robertson Recreation Centre are important to you? (b) What difficulties or challenges do you face in programs you have registered for at Robertson Recreation Centre?

13. Interest Checklists Respondents check off activities they participated in or they would like to have offered List only those activities that you have seriously considered offering Add an “Other” checkbox with a blank

14. - Recording all comments is difficult - Sometimes crowd can be one-sided - Crowd may have a leader that does all the talking - Leader in the audience can sway others + Large numbers + Low cost + Low time commitment + Everyone can be heard + Those who have an interest will attend Public Meetings - Columns may cause people to think it is time consuming - Can be time consuming to tabulate - Return rate is lower + Easy and quick to complete and tally + Minimal staff required + Inexpensive + Can cover a large geographical area Interest Checklists - Controlled by the facilitator - Skill level of the facilitator must be very high - Qualitative data only - Limited in the number of people that can participate + Inexpensive + Convenient and not overly time consuming + Provide a creative atmosphere for idea sharing Focus Groups - Interviewer may have biased tendencies - Must train the interviewers - Can you get a good representation from all - Hang-ups and uncooperative respondents + Not expensive + Easy to organize and implement + Can cover a wide geographical area + Can keep calling back until you speak with someone Telephone Interviews - Low return rate – about 10 percent - Lengthy process - Is the addressee the actual respondent? - No clarification if respondent has questions - Mailing lists – are they current? + Anonymous + Distributed to a large group + Not overly time consuming + Small staff required + Easy to administer Surveys and Questionnaires

15. Organizing and Displaying Data

16. Areas to Summarize 1. Number of questionnaires or people contacted 2. Number of responses 3. Number of participants in public meetings or focus groups 4. Totals of yes or no responses for each question 5. Totals of numbers circled for each scale question 6. Number of similar comments, and those not shared by others 7. Test results

17. Analyzing Data

18. Raw data must be analyzed before conclusions can be made Statistics is one way of collating data Measures of central tendency A single meaningful value extracted Most common statistical measure Describe the central characteristics of a set of data The most representative of all the values in a distribution Allow comparisons

19. The Mean Arithmetic average Most commonly used and most reliable measure of central tendency (All the observations)/(number of observations) Considers the number of scores involved as well as their value Gives each score weight relative to other scores Vulnerable to extreme scores

20. The Median Middle point Half respondents scored higher and half lower than average Used when there are few tied scores or when a distribution has a small number of scores Not affected by outliers

21. The Mode Most frequent scores Simplest, roughest estimate, and least used Does not take into account: Extreme scores Number of scores Scores’ relationship to the middle Obtained by plain inspection, without any calculation

22. Percentiles For interpreting data difficult to appreciate in a raw form Indicates percentage of all scores that lie below a given score and percentage of all scores that lie above it Indicates how one compares with the other raw scores Percent ≠ percentile