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Instructions to use the file

• Please click on the “slide show” option on the bottom left hand corner of the screen or by going to “View” from the top menu bar and selecting the “slide show” option

• Please note that the links in this file will NOT work unless you are in the slide show view option

• For questions call 1-800-200-6355 (PIN 0672)

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Management Learning Laboratories

Needs Assessments: Taking the Pulse of Communities

NRPA 1999

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The Feedback Solution for Needs Assessments

The solution is meant for recreation decision makers who need information about the

recreation and leisure needs of the community they serve

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Today’s Speakers

Joe Bannon, Sr.

Mick Pope

Ananda Mitra

Phil Rea

Nancy MacCartney

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A NEEDS ASSESSMENT is a two-fold attempt to gather and

analyze information from a constituency as well as to

establish on-going participating relations with the respondents

for the overall leisure plan

- Bannon

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Values of Assessment

· Really know verses guessing on recreational interests

· Understand community’s priorities and values

· Ability to re-prioritize limited funds

· Focus on important issues

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Values of Assessment

· To sell and persuade voters and elected officials

· Staff focus on expressed needs and willingness to let go of programs in decline or “dead”

· True local benchmarks established

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Values of Assessment

· Replication and measurement of effort

· Personal biases can be eliminated or discounted

· Credibility to grant agencies and foundations

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Challenges

· Selling the costs : benefits to decision makers

· Selecting a consultant that knows parks and recreation verse a general statistical/marketing research firm

· Developing an instrument unique to your community - staff commitment in time and careful review

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Challenges

· Developing valid questions in readily understandable wording

· Understanding by staff and community leaders the statistical process and results (i.e. sample size, random sampling etc)

· Decisions on methodology - mail vs., phone, adult and/or youth/teens

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Challenges

· Timing of the instrument distribution - time of year, holidays

· Extraneous factors - “A snapshot in time”

· Getting a statistical valid sample from various demographic groups

· Using incentives to increase sample size

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Challenges

· Staff accessing the data - time, ease of access and ability to interpret

· Unwanted results

· Requests to tag on questions from other agencies that aren’t related to the assessment verses the opportunity to partner and share costs

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Process

· Don’t reinvent the wheel; ask other professionals for sample RFP/RFQ’s and lists of consultants

· Evaluate and selection - involve your board members and other stakeholders

· Get stakeholders and community leaders buy into the process

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Process

· Stick to the time line, hold you staff and consultants feet to the fire

· Find the time to do the support work the consultants need

· Keep an open line of communication with the consultants

· Share the results; staff, leaders, and policy makers

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You need the Feedback Solution if:

• Plan to do a master plan in the next couple of years

• Plan to apply for State/Federal funds• Get pressure from the community for more

“appropriate” leisure offerings• Elected officials want to know what the

community wants• Planning staff need more community information

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You need the Feedback Solution if:

You already know what your community wants, but need

HARD DATA

to defend your “gut feeling”!

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Questions about citizen inputWhat type of decisions made?

What information necessary to make the decisions?

What information do you get?

What studies do you do?

What information you need but do not get?

What type of analysis needed?

What are the future needs?

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Why a Needs Assessment?

Understand the current level of usage andactivity in a community

Project to the future needs of the community

Assess the attitudes and opinions of thecommunity with respect to leisure

Measure the demographics of the community

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Specific ObjectivesWhat to ask about?

Current activities

Future needs

Personal Opinions

Leisure behavior

Demographics

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What to Ask About?Current Activities

General Activities

Fitness and exerciseFamily events

Activities for different agesActivities for different populations

Trips

Special Events

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What to Ask About?Future Needs

General Needs

Multipurpose CentersSpecific Events

New Centralized FacilitiesNeighborhood Centers

Methods of Payment

Extent of the Need

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What to Ask About?Leisure Behavior

Availability of time

Convenience

Reasons for non-attendance

Information distribution

Competitive leisure behavior

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What to Ask About?Personal Opinions

These questions address the opinion of thecommunity with respect to a variety of issues

such as:

level of maintenancegeneral recreation needs

future goals of a leisure providerspecific concerns in a community

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What to Ask About?Demographics

Age

Gender

Marital Status

Income/Ethnicity

Household Information

Location

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Please be back in 10 minutes

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How to Ask the QuestionsQuestionnaire Development

Focus Group Discussions

These meetings help to produce area specificinformation about the needs and concerns of the

community

Pilot Testing

This process helps to produce a test of thequestionnaire that has been developed

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How to Ask the QuestionsQuestionnaire Development

Questionnaire Formatting

Considerable effort is spent in producingan instrument that is not only pleasing to the

eye but easy to fill out as well

Cover Letter

The letter accompanying the questionnaire iscarefully written to have the maximum impact

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How to Ask the QuestionsSampling

Population Definition

The community to be surveyed is carefullydefined in terms of residency requirements

location, and other specific criteria

Sample Selection

A random sample is selected from the definedpopulation. Random means that every member in

the population has a chance of being selected

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How to Ask the QuestionsData Collection

Mail Data Collection

The questionnaires are sent out by mail andthe respondents send them back by mail as well.

Self-addressed envelopes are provided

Response Rate (RR)

A minimum response rate of 20% to 25% is expectedon the first mailing. When necessary a second

mailing can be conducted to boost the RR

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Things to DO!

• Collect information from a large cross-section of the community.

• Collect information about all the different aspects of leisure - attitudes, use, behavior

• Always ask the demographic questions

• Remember “user” data is different from “community” data

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Things NOT to DO!

• Depend only on public hearings and focus group data

• Collect information at community centers and other public places

• Confuse “user” data with “community” data

• Use a standardized “off the shelf” questionnaire

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Preparing a RFP

• Represent the needs of the entire population being served including all minorities

• Provide in-depth information about the needs of the community

• Provide statistically valid information that can reliably be used for making key decisions

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Preparing a RFP

• Provide a data set that can be dynamically used until it is updated by another needs assessment

• Provide a series of recommendations and action plans that reflect the existing research and scholarship about recreation

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Evaluating a Proposal/Firm

• How many years of experience does the research laboratory have?

• Can the researchers claim expertise in recreation as well as evaluation and survey research (one is not a substitute for the other)?

• Do the researchers use standard methods such as FEE method of Focus Group moderation?

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Evaluating a Proposal/Firm

• Has the research laboratory operated at a national level?

• Does the research laboratory have the technological facilities to conduct a state-of-the-art study?

• Does the research laboratory provide any technological tools that would facilitate ongoing analysis of recreation needs?

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Data AnalysisCompuRec

As the master planning proceeds the datacan be constantly mined and analyzed

The system provides easy access to thedata and helps to answer key questions

about the data

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Shows you the entire data

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Provides easy to use menus

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Produces instantaneous access to data

115 25.4 29.1 29.1280 61.9 70.9 100.0395 87.3 100.058 12.758 12.7

452 100.0

YesNoTotal

Valid

9Total

Missing

Total

Frequency PercentValid

PercentCumulative

Percent

ATTEND PLAYS (ATTEND)

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Report data in desired format

Cases weighted by GENWT

ATTEND PLAYS (ATTEND)

NoYes

Pe

rce

nt

80

60

40

20

0

71

29

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Show it any way you like

Cases weighted by GENWT

No

Yes

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Show data by categoryAttendance by Gender

Cases weighted by GENWT

ATTEND PLAYS (ATTEND)

NoYes

Cou

nt

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

gender

Male

Female

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Resulting Recommendation

• Neither men nor women attend plays in this community. Perhaps more opportunities are required or there might not be enough interest in this activity.

• You can test that too!

• Let’s create a graph of interest broken by gender

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Interest by Gender

Cases weighted by GENWT

ATTEND PLAYS

Great InterestSome InterestNo Interest

Per

cent

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

gender

Male

Female

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Interest by Gender

Cases weighted by GENWT

ATTEND PLAYS

Great InterestSome InterestNo Interest

Per

cent

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

gender

Male

Female

Now we see that women are more interestedthan men

Conclusion:Women will attend more if they are given the

opportunity

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The Feedback Solution becomes much more powerful with the use of the CompuRec analytical tool

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Management Learning Laboratories

1-800-200-6355 (PIN 0672)http://www.m-l-l.com

mllnew@m-l-l.comClick here for information about MLL

Contact MLL for further information about the Feedback Solution