Innovative techniques of needs assessment

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• Innovative techniques of needs assessment
• Session 8
• Global Youth Network Workshop Needs Assessment
  Programme Planning

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What are innovative techniques?

• The dictionary defines innovation as the
  introduction of something new, so innovative
  techniques are new ways of getting information
• These are opposed to the old techniques like
  surveys, questionnaires, etc.
• Examples include puppet assisted interviews,
  drama based techniques, map making, etc.

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Why use them?

• The old ways or what we may call formal
  techniques make certain assumptions about the
  people they deal with such as a minimum level of
  literacy, the ability to verbalise community
  issues, the willingness to share personal
  information with a stranger, etc.

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Why use innovative techniques?

• But often, when working with youth we need to
  adjust to a whole new set of circumstances, which
  require that we alter the tools we use to obtain
  information.

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Examples of innovative methods

• Role plays
• Various forms of theatre like
• Image theatre
• Forum theatre
• Invisible theatre
• Puppets

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Examples of innovative methods

• Visual methods like maps, collages, collective
  drawing
• Individual and joint story writing

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• The methods discussed here are innovative for one
  particular target audience, youth. Can you think
  of any innovative methods to get information from
  say, teachers, or mothers?