Includes bibliographical references and index. Watkins, R., West-Meiers, M., & Visser, Y. L. (2012). A guide to assessing needs : Essential tools for collecting information, making decisions, and achieving development results. Washington, D.C : World Bank.

Introduction -- Section 1: Needs Assessment: Frequently Asked Questions -- Section 2: Needs Assessment: Steps to Success -- Section 3: Needs Assessment: Tools and Techniques -- Part 3A: Data Collection Tools and Techniques -- Part 3B: Decision-Making Tools and Techniques

Making informed and justifiable decisions is the essential beginning to any successful development project. However, critical steps must be taken to help ensure that the decisions made will achieve results. These steps rely on systematic processes and tools - collectively known as "needs assessment" - that help decision makers resist the temptation to select solutions before results have been clearly identified and defined. a guide to assessing needs is intended to be user's guide for the ill-defined "front-end" of development projects that starts with an initial concept and ends with a decision about the best path forward. From deciding to propose a sanitation project in South Asia to selecting approaches that strengthen school management in South America, decisions are the starting place of development. Filled with practical strategies, tools, and guides, this book covers not only large-scale formal needs assessments but also smaller, less-formal assessments that can guide daily decisions. It will be of particular interest to development practitioners.