CHES Needs Assessment and Capacity 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which needs assessment framework uses four types of needs — normative, felt, expressed, and comparative — to guide data collection?
- PRECEDE-PROCEED model
- Bradshaw's Taxonomy of Need (Correct answer)
- Social Ecological Model
- Health Belief Model
Correct answer: Bradshaw's Taxonomy of Need
Bradshaw's Taxonomy of Need (1972) categorizes needs into normative, felt, expressed, and comparative types to guide systematic needs assessment.
Question 2: A health educator is conducting a Photovoice project as part of a community needs assessment. Which principle does this method BEST support?
- Statistical data validation
- Community member empowerment and participatory research (Correct answer)
- Randomized sampling methodology
- Epidemiological surveillance
Correct answer: Community member empowerment and participatory research
Photovoice is a participatory action research method that empowers community members to document and communicate their own health needs through photography.
Question 3: When reviewing existing data during a needs assessment, which term describes data collected specifically for the current assessment rather than from existing records?
- Archival data
- Secondary data
- Primary data (Correct answer)
- Administrative data
Correct answer: Primary data
Primary data is collected directly for the current assessment through surveys, interviews, or observations, unlike secondary data which already exists.
Question 4: A CHES practitioner uses the PRECEDE phase of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model. Which aspect is assessed FIRST in this phase?
- Administrative and policy factors
- Behavioral and environmental causes
- Social quality of life and health problems (Correct answer)
- Predisposing factors in the population
Correct answer: Social quality of life and health problems
The PRECEDE phase begins with Phase 1: Social Assessment, which examines quality of life and the social conditions affecting the community.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes 'capacity building' as it relates to a community needs assessment?
- Increasing physical clinic space in underserved areas
- Strengthening the community's ability to identify and address its own health needs (Correct answer)
- Training health educators in data analysis techniques
- Expanding the scope of a needs assessment questionnaire
Correct answer: Strengthening the community's ability to identify and address its own health needs
Capacity building in the needs assessment context means developing the community's own skills, leadership, and systems to address health challenges sustainably.
Question 6: A health education team conducts windshield surveys as part of the community diagnosis process. What type of data does this method collect?
- Self-reported health behaviors
- Observational data on community environment and resources (Correct answer)
- Medical records and clinical outcomes
- Epidemiological mortality statistics
Correct answer: Observational data on community environment and resources
A windshield survey involves systematic observation of the community environment — noting resources, conditions, and hazards — while traveling through the area.
Question 7: In a needs assessment, 'triangulation' refers to:
- Using three separate communities as comparison groups
- Combining multiple data sources or methods to validate findings (Correct answer)
- Applying three theoretical frameworks simultaneously
- Dividing the population into three demographic segments
Correct answer: Combining multiple data sources or methods to validate findings
Triangulation increases the validity of needs assessment findings by cross-referencing multiple data sources, methods, or perspectives.
CHES Needs Assessment and Capacity 3
Which needs assessment framework uses four types of needs — normative, felt, expressed, and comparative — to guide data collection?