Needs Assessment

Abstract

Following critical multiplistic epistemology, this study employed naturalistic and traditional social science models to conduct a need assessment. Thirty-five stakeholders were interviewed about their perceptions of how the crisis agency functions, how it ought to function, and the needs of the community and agency. Note cards with the need statements were presented to a planning committee to sort and assign importance weights. Using concept mapping technology (multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis), the authors analyzed the sort data to establish need categories. A summary of results is presented along with a discussion of the merits of using this combination of methods.