Selected Variables Involved In Assessing Community Needs In Two West Java Villages

Amirsaputra, Mohammad Romli Suparman (1979) Selected Variables Involved In Assessing Community Needs In Two West Java Villages. Doctoral thesis, Michigan State University.

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Abstract

In the attempt to make community education compatible with the needs of the community, Indonesian planners faced with the problems of knowing exatly what are the needs of a particular community, and of knowing what appropriate ways for identifying these needs. This study attempts to deal with these two problems, with emphasis given to the second problem. Purpose The primary concern of this study is to examine and compare the effectiveness and efficiency of a group approach and an interview approach in collecting information about villagers' perceptions of community needs. The comparisons are based on the analysis of five independent variables:quantity of response, specificity of response, means/nonmeans orientation of response, type of response/need, and the time needed to conduct the needs assessment. It also compares the effects of the two approaches on leaders and on nonleaders. Comparisons between sexes, between villages, between leaders and nonleaders, and between educated and less-educated subjects, regardless of the approach used to elicit the needs, were also the purposes of this study. Altogether it made up the six foci of this study. Assumption and Bias Two assumptions and two biases were held in this study. It is assumed that villagers know their community needs, and that they can express their knowledge of their own needs and the needs of their community. The first bias held by the researcher is that a group approach for needs assessment can be both effective and efficient. The second bias is that the village level is an appropriate level for community needs assessment in Indonesia. Hypothesis Twenty-three directional hypotheses were formulated for the six foci of this study. Some projected differences and some projected similarities between the compared independent variable on the dependent variables. Population and Sample Adults in the two villages in West Java,Indonesia were the population of this study. Forty-seven adults in Desa I and 48 adults in Desa II were selected as samples of this study. They were stratified into leader/nonleader and male/female categories. The leaders were official leaders in the two communities, and the nonleaders were the householeders (husbands or wives): 45 leaders and 50 nonleaders. Only 24 were females. Study Design In each village the subjects were randomly selected and assigned to five treatment groups: Leader Interview Approach(LI), Leader Group Approach(LG), Nonleader Interview Approach(NI), Nonleader Group Approach (NG), and a mixed Leader-Nonleader Group Approach(LNG). The subjects in LI and NI were interviewed individually in their own homes, and the subjects in LG,NG,and LNG were asked in separate group discussions. The same four questions were asked concerning their perceptions on: their community needs in general, their community educational needs, three priority needs, and the most important need for themselves. An Interview Approach Guide and a Group Approach Guide were used as intruments of this study wich were in local language (Sundanese). Limitation of the Study Factors that may have influenced the findings of this study to some extent include the small sample size (95 subjects) and the limitation of probing used in both the interview and the group approaches. Conclusion A group approach as a method of community needs assessment is more preferable than an interview approach if the effectiveness and efficiency are the criteria for selection. To collect data of a higher level of specificity, however, the interview approach is most appropriate. Whatever method is chosen, the types of needs identified will be similar. There is no gap between leaders and nonleaders in the two villages on their perceptions of the needs of their community. Needs assessment, therefore, can be conducted from either the leaders ononleaders, through interview approach or group approach. It is suggested, however, that a group approach that involves the nonleaders be used. Since the quantity of community needs derived from villagers varied significantly on the basis of their educational background, sex,and leader/nonleader status, the sampling frame of a community needs assessment should take into account these variables.

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