Abstract
It is generally recognized that needs assessment is an important component of program-planning and decision-making processes. However, a more complete understanding is needed about the relationships between methods used to assess felt (self-defined) needs and prescribed (expert-defined) needs. In this research we compared mothers' felt needs with a) prescribed needs based on food intake of preschoolers and b) prescribed needs based on mothers' nutrition knowledge. We administered a pretested interview schedule to a sample of mothers of three-year-old children and analyzed the data by correlating the mothers' felt-need scores both with the food-intake scores of their preschoolers and with the mothers' knowledge scores for each of four food groups. We found no substantive correlations. This research suggests possible implications for program planning.
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