Perceived needs are perception-based indicators used to understand how a population perceives and prioritizes unmet needs. The indicators measure whether households believe that they have a “serious problem” with respect to a variety of needs.
Mostly used in emergency settings, the indicators are based on the Humanitarian Emergency Settings Perceived Needs Scale (HESPER).
Please find below the resources that will help you in computing and interpreting the perceived needs indicators:
A PowerPoint presentation available in English, that can be used during the training of enumerators and RAM staff.
The survey module required for perceived needs indicator can be found here.
The XLS form for the perceived needs module extracted from the Survey Designer to help simplify the authoring of forms in Excel. The XLS form can be generated directly through the WFP Survey Designer.
Scripts for SPSS, STATA, and R to analyse perceived needs indicators are available on Github.
The ENA Guidance describes how perceived needs indicators are used and analysed in essential needs analysis. A detailed description of the indicator can be found on p.29.
For more information, please contact the Needs Assessments and Targeting Unit in HQ RAM at global.assessmentandtargeting@wfp.org.