Needs analysis

Performing a need analysis involves comparing the current and target statuses, whereby the latter is defined either by the project team or jointly with the target group. Different needs belong to different categories:

• Normative need: a national or international standard is used as a comparison. A normative need occurs if the current situation does not meet the standard mentioned above.
• Relative need: The current situation is compared to that in a  a comparable group, a business competitor or something similar. If they achieve results, there is a relative need.
• Perceived need: A perceived need arises when people themselves feel a need (e.g. to improve their qualifications).
• Demonstrated need: Demonstrated need arises when the behaviour of the target group points to a need (e.g. waiting lists for seminars).
• Future need: a future need is considered as a need resulting from future changes and the prerequisites and consequences thereof.

A needs analysis can be divided into three sub-tasks:

• Examination of the current status
• Definition of the target status
• Identification of the discrepancy between the current and the target status

There are many methods which can be used to carry out these analyses. Depending on the questions to be examined, various qualitative or quantitative methods may be suitable:

• Interviews are suitable for studying individuals (e.g. experts, students) and when the aim is to develop new subjects (esp. ideas for goals) and / or to make a broad investigation of personal experiences, ideas and opinions.
• Using questionnaires allows large numbers of people to be surveyed. They are especially suitable when information is already available about the target group and its needs.
• Observations are suitable for collectubg information which those studied are less aware of. In order to improve a system, for example, it is advisable to observe users as they interact with the system to find evidence of user problems or needs.

Important: Needs, i.e. the discrepancy between the current and the target status, also provide a guideline for a final evaluation of the project by answering the question as to whether the target status has been achieved, i.e. whether the needs have been met and which factors were responsible if the needs have been poorly met or have not been met at all (Reinmann-Rothmeier & Mandel, 2000).

Examples

To give you an idea of how you can design your own needs analyses we have included two examples of needs analyses from the e-learning sector: Need analysis - Examples.