Extensive
Needs Assessment vs. Intensive Needs Assessment
The broad difference between extensive and intensive needs
assessment is that extensive research uses a large number of cases to determine
the characteristics of a population, while intensive research examines one or a
few cases in depth to understand cause and effect. A variety of data collection
and decision making tools and processes can be used for each, including the
examples below (Watkins, West Meiers, Visser, 2011).
The use of population-based indicators is common in
extensive needs assessments and has several strengths. These strengths include
that such data are available for broad geographical areas, available on a large
number of individuals or cases, allow description of entire populations, allow
trend analysis over time, are relatively easy to access, inexpensive to use,
and perceived as unbiased. Another method commonly used in extensive needs
assessments is the survey. The strengths of the survey method are: they allow
for direct feedback to the public as well as stakeholders, can foster public
awareness about a problem or concern, can be customized to address specific
issues, can be targeted to specific population groups or geographic areas, and
can provide very timely results. An additional potential data source for
extensive needs assessments are service and program databases. The strengths of
this source of data are: they often contain data collected over many years, are
readily accessible by existing program staff, provide the most current data,
and they are relatively inexpensive to operate and maintain.
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