Research Snapshot: Can multi-sectoral needs assessments be done online?

Needs assessment is a critical phase of humanitarian response, typically done through face-to-face interviews. This project showed that using a self-administrative web version of the Humanitarian Emergency Settings Perceived Needs Scale (HESPER) to assess needs in humanitarian contexts gave the same results as interviews.

The HESPER Web was easy to use, less time consuming than the interviews, and provides a new possibility for humanitarian organizations and for researchers to collect data on perceived needs when internet is available. It should be considered as a tool valid for producing humanitarian needs overviews.

This snapshot contains key messages, findings, implications for humanitarian policymakers and practitioners and recommendations for further research.