Qualitative methods for describing people’s needs have more advantages than quantitative methods applied to social research. The reason is that researchers have more opportunities to collect detailed subjective data on individuals’ needs, experiences, and expectations with the help of tools for the qualitative methodology (Rossi, Lipsey, & Freeman, 2004). As a result, conclusions about needs are made referring to real-life experiences and subjective data rather than to some theoretical assumptions.
However, it is still important to apply both qualitative and quantitative methods when conducting assessments to receive a lot of narrative and numerical information regarding individuals’ needs or potential relationships between these needs and their satisfaction employing certain interventions and programs.
The North Carolina Homeless Education Program (NCHEP) can be discussed as an example of the currently applied program to address social needs, and it requires evaluation. The NCHEP is designed to guarantee that all homeless children and adolescents in North Carolina have access to education. The program can be evaluated with the help of applying qualitative and quantitative methodologies because it is necessary to conduct interviews with educators and homeless individuals regarding the services they provide and receive.
It is also significant to determine how the program launched in 2009 has contributed to changes in the rates of homeless children obtaining education in North Carolina. Thus, interviews, reviews of data, and surveys should be used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data.
The target population of this program includes children and adolescents living in North Carolina and experiencing homelessness. Much attention should be paid to ethical norms of contacting this vulnerable category to gather data on their specific needs. This population requires educational services and assistance, therefore, educators, independent social workers, providers of services, and children should be contacted to assess the quality of help this target audience receives.
Reference
Rossi, P. H., Lipsey, M. W., & Freeman, H. E. (2004). Evaluation: A systematic approach (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.