Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments
A Practical Guide
- Belle Ruth Witkin - Anthropology, University of Washington, USA
- James W. Altschuld - The Ohio State University, USA
September 1995 | 328 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
"Sometimes a book appears on your desk that successfully defines a field. You look at the book and say "thank you." Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments is such a book. . . . This book is clearly grounded in program planning and is not an afterthought or add-on to some other field. . . . I am excited to see this book appear in print. It clearly fills a niche that has been empty for some time: a practical approach to learning about and conducting needs assessments. . . . This is a marvelous book that should make a significant contribution to the field."
--From the Foreword by Nick Eastmond, Utah State University
"While it has the depth and breadth to be used in a classroom, Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments is written simply and directly enough to be a hands-on guide for needs assessment users and practitioners. The framework proposed by the authors is excellent in that it is readily understood and focuses attention on the most important details/issues in needs assessment practice. The fact that they also present an explanation of so many tools, including examples, makes the book required reading for anyone intending to plan or contract for a needs assessment."
--John Theiss, Director of Planning and Evaluation, Texas
PART ONE: PLANNING AND MANAGING THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT
A Three-Phase Model of Needs Assessment
Phase 1 - Preassessment
Phase 2 - Assessment
Phase 3 - Postassessment
PART TWO: METHODS FOR CONDUCTING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Records and Social Indicators
Surveys, Interviews, and the Critical Incident Technique
Basic Group Processes
Specialized Survey and Group Techniques for Data Gathering and Analysis
Future-Oriented Needs Assessment Procedures
Causal Analysis
Needs assessments are a critical part of our evaluation work and what we want our students to feel confident doing when they complete our program. This book was helpful.
Educational Psychology & Counseling, University Of Tennessee
November 5, 2021