A Guide to Assessing Needs: Essential Tools for Collecting Information, Making Decisions, and Achieving Development Results
Washington, DC: World Bank (2012), xvi, 299 pp.
Contains illustrations, tables, bibliogr. pp. 287-292, index
ISBN 978-0-8213-8868-6 (pbk); 978-0-8213-8901-0 (ebook)
CC BY
"A Guide to Assessing Needs offers a much broader perspective than many texts on project management or evaluation. It presents needs assessment within a results framework that applies to international development projects equally as well as to a variety of other contexts. An exceptionally wide range of data collection and decision-making tools are presented, along with descriptions of the purpose and rationale for each tool, its strengths and weaknesses, the process through which it is implemented, and tips for success. The book is a user-friendly reference manual, offering information for selecting among the diverse approaches to achieve results. The authors bring together tools and techniques from diverse disciplines so that even experienced professionals are likely to find many new approaches for collecting information and guiding decisions." (Back cover)
Introduction, 1
1 Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions, 15
2 Needs Assessment: Steps to Success, 39
3 Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques, 81
3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques, 83
Document or Data Review -- Guided Expert Reviews -- Management of Focus Groups -- Interviews -- Dual-Response Surveys -- SWOT+ -- World Café™ (with “Speed Dating” Variation) -- Delphi Technique -- Performance Observations -- Task Analysis (Hierarchical or Sequential, If-Then, and Model-Based) -- Cognitive Task Analysis
3B. Decision-Making Tools and Techniques, 165
Nominal Group Technique (A Group Consensus-Building and Ranking Technique) -- Multicriteria Analysis -- Tabletop Analysis -- Pair-Wise Comparison -- 2 × 2 Matrix Decision Aids -- Fishbone Diagrams -- Scenarios -- Root Cause Analysis -- Fault Tree Analysis -- Concept Mapping -- Future Wheel -- Performance Pyramid
Appendix A. Management and Implementation Guides and Checklists, 245
1 Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions, 15
2 Needs Assessment: Steps to Success, 39
3 Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques, 81
3A. Data Collection Tools and Techniques, 83
Document or Data Review -- Guided Expert Reviews -- Management of Focus Groups -- Interviews -- Dual-Response Surveys -- SWOT+ -- World Café™ (with “Speed Dating” Variation) -- Delphi Technique -- Performance Observations -- Task Analysis (Hierarchical or Sequential, If-Then, and Model-Based) -- Cognitive Task Analysis
3B. Decision-Making Tools and Techniques, 165
Nominal Group Technique (A Group Consensus-Building and Ranking Technique) -- Multicriteria Analysis -- Tabletop Analysis -- Pair-Wise Comparison -- 2 × 2 Matrix Decision Aids -- Fishbone Diagrams -- Scenarios -- Root Cause Analysis -- Fault Tree Analysis -- Concept Mapping -- Future Wheel -- Performance Pyramid
Appendix A. Management and Implementation Guides and Checklists, 245
