National Service

Training Program
Civic Welfare Training Service

Specific Module 5
Introduction to The Community
and Community Assessment
Module Outline:
▪ Understanding and Describing the Community
o Community Defined
o Examples of Community
o Understanding the Community
o Aspects of Community Description
o Importance of Understanding the Community
▪ Community Needs Assessment
o Community Needs Assessment Defined
o Needs and Resources Defined
▪ Guidelines in Conducting Community
Assessment
 Understanding and
Describing the Community
Know the Community
 Community Defined
➢ The word ‘community’ originated from the Latin word communis which means
common, public, general or shared by all or many. It later develop into its Latin
translation communitatem which translates into community, society, or
fellowship.
➢ Community is defined in the dictionary as a unified body of individuals such as:
a. people with common interest living in a particular area
b. a group of people with a common interest or characteristic living together
within a larger society
c. a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered
through a larger society
 Community Defined
➢ While we traditionally think of a community as the people in a
given geographical location, the word can really refer to any
group sharing something in common. This may refer to smaller
geographic areas -- a neighborhood, a housing project or
development, a rural area -- or to a number of other possible
communities within a larger, geographically-defined community.
➢ In a sociological point of view, the simplest definition of a
community is “an aggregation of families and individuals settled in a
fairly compact and contiguous geographical area, with significant
elements of common life, as shown by behaviors, manners, customs,
traditions and modes of speech.”
Examples of Community

1. The Muslim Community in Quiapo District, Manila

2. The Scientific Community
3. The Business Community
4. The LGBT+ Community
5. The Riders Community
6. The PLM Community
Understanding the Community
Understanding the community entails understanding it in a number of
ways. Whether or not the community is defined geographically, it still
has a geographic context -- a setting that it exists in. Getting a clear
sense of this setting may be key to a full understanding of it. At the
same time, it's important to understand the specific community you're
concerned with. You have to get to know its people -- their culture, their
concerns, and relationships -- and to develop your own relationships with
them as well.
The following are common Aspects on how to describe the Community.
But Community Description can be as creative as you’re capable of
making it. The more important thing is that you capture the important
information depending on the purpose why you are making the
description.
 Aspects for Community Description

1. Physical Aspects - Every community has a physical presence of

some sort. Most have a geographic area or areas they are either
defined by or attached to. If the community, is one defined by its
population, then its physical properties are also defined by the
population: where they live, where they gather, the places that are
important to them. The characteristics of those places can tell you a
great deal about the people who make up the community. Their self-
image, many of their attitudes, and their aspirations are often
reflected in the places where they choose -- or are forced by
circumstance or discrimination -- to live, work, gather, and play.
 Aspects for Community Description
2. Demographics - the facts about the population that you can find
from census data and other similar statistical information. Some
things you might like to know, besides the number of people in the
community:
a. Gender
b. Racial and ethnic background
c. Age
d. Marital status
e. Family size
f. Education
g. Income
h. Employment and Location
 Aspects for Community Description
3. Community History - The long-term history of the community can
tell you about community traditions, what the community is, or has
been, proud of, and what residents would prefer not to talk about.
Recent history can afford valuable information about conflicts and
factions within the community, important issues, past and current
relationships among key people and groups -- many of the factors
that can trip up any effort before it starts if you don't know about and
address them.
 Aspects for Community Description
4. Community Leaders, formal and informal - Some community
leaders are elected or appointed – Barangay Officials, Chairman,
Kagawad, Mayors, Councilors. Others are considered leaders because
of their activities or their positions in the community -- community
activists, corporate CEO's, college presidents, doctors, clergy. Still
others are recognized as leaders because, they are trusted for their
proven integrity, courage, and/or care for others and the good of the
community.
 Aspects for Community Description
5. Community Culture, formal and informal - This covers the spoken
and unspoken rules and traditions by which the community lives. It can
include everything from community events and slogans -- “Matira
matibay sa Barrio Dalisay” -- to norms of behavior -- turning a blind eye
to alcohol abuse or domestic violence -- to patterns of discrimination and
exercise of power.
6. Existing Groups - Most communities have an array of groups and
organizations of different kinds -- service clubs (Lions, Rotary, etc.), faith
groups, youth organizations, sports teams and clubs, groups formed
around shared interests, the boards of community-wide organizations, as
well as groups devoted to self-help, advocacy, and activism. Knowing of
the existence and importance of each of these groups can pave the way
for alliances or for understanding opposition.
 Aspects for Community Description
7. Existing Institutions - Every community has institutions that are
important to it, and that have more or less credibility with residents.
Colleges and universities, libraries, religious institutions, hospitals -- all
of these and many others can occupy important places in the community.
It's important to know what they are, who represents them, and what
influence they wield.
8. Economics- Who are the major employers in the community? What, if
any, business or industry is the community's base? Who, if anyone,
exercises economic power? How is wealth distributed? Would you
characterize the community as poor, working, class, middle class, or
affluent? What are the economic prospects of the population in general
and/or the population you're concerned with?
 Aspects for Community Description
9. Social Structure - Many aspects of social structure are integrated into
other areas -- relationships, politics, economics -- but there are also the
questions of how people in the community relate to one another on a daily
basis, how problems are (or aren't) resolved, who socializes or does business
with whom, etc. This area also includes perceptions and symbols of status
and respect, and whether status carries entitlement or responsibility (or
both).
10. Attitudes and Values - Again, much of this area may be covered by
investigation into others, particularly culture. What does the community
care about, and what does it ignore? What are residents' assumptions about
the proper way to behave, to dress, to do business, to treat others? Is there
widely accepted discrimination against one or more groups by the majority
or by those in power? What are the norms for interaction among those who
with different opinions or different backgrounds?
 Aspects for Community Description

There are many more aspects of community that can be

explored, which are not included in this enumeration. The
assumption here is that as part of an assessment, you'll aim for a
general understanding of the community, and also assess, with a
narrower focus, the specific aspects you're interested in.
 Importance of Understanding the
Community
➢ Knowing the context of the community so that you can tailor
interventions and programs to its norms and culture and
increase your chances of success.
➢ Gaining a general idea, even before an assessment, of the
community's strengths and the challenges it faces.
➢ Capturing unspoken, influential rules and norms. For
example, if people are divided and angry about a particular
issue, your information might show you an event in the
community's history that explains their strong emotions on
that subject.
 Importance of Understanding the
Community
It is important to understand community -- what a
community is, and the specific nature of the communities we
work in. Anything we do in a community requires us to be
familiar with its people, its issues, and its history. Carrying out an
intervention or building a coalition are far more likely to be
successful if they are informed by the culture of the community
and an understanding of the relationships among individuals and
groups within it. Taking the time and effort to understand your
community well before embarking on a community effort will pay
off in the long term.
Importance of Understanding the
Community

Having enough familiarity with the community to allow

you to converse intelligently with residents about community
issues, personalities and geography. Knowing that you've taken
the time and effort to get to know them and their environment
can help you to establish trust with community members.
That can make both a community assessment and any actions
and activities that result from it easier to conduct.
Importance of Understanding the
Community

Ensuring the security of your group and participants.

There may be neighborhoods where staff members or
participants should be accompanied by others in order to be
safe, at least at night. Knowing the character of various areas
and the invisible borders that exist among various groups and
neighborhoods can be extremely important for the physical
safety of those working and living in the community.
Community Needs
Assessment
Community Needs Assessment

Community assessment is the process of identifying the

strengths, assets, needs and challenges of a specified
community. Assets refer to the skills, talents and abilities of
individuals as well as the resources that local institutions
contribute to the community. Local institutions may include
political, religious, educational, recreational and youth
organizations; community, civic and service groups; local
businesses; nonprofit organizations and volunteer groups.
Community Needs Assessment

Community Needs Assessments seek to gather accurate

information representative of the needs of a community.
Assessments are performed prior to taking action and are used
to determine current situations and identify issues for action.
Needs assessments establish the essential foundation for vital
planning.
Community Needs Assessment

A community needs assessment provides community

leaders, workers and volunteers with a snapshot of local policy,
systems, and environmental change strategies currently in
place and helps to identify areas for improvement. With this
data, communities can map out a course for improvement by
creating strategies to make positive and sustainable changes in
their communities.
Community Needs Assessment

A community assessment identifies the strengths and

resources available in the community to meet the needs of
community members. The assessment also focuses on the
capabilities of the community, including its citizens, agencies,
and organizations.
Needs and Resources Defined

Needs can be defined as the gap between what is and what

should be. A need can be felt by an individual, a group, or an
entire community. It can be as concrete as the need for food
and water or as abstract as improved community relationship.
It is helpful to categorize the gaps based on these four types of
community needs: perceived needs, expressed needs,
absolute needs, and relative needs.
Needs and Resources Defined
➢ Perceived needs: perceived needs are based on what individuals feel
their needs are. The standard may change based on each individual’s
point of view. It’s important not to dismiss perceived needs as merely
opinion. Taking into account the feelings and concerns of community
members should be an essential component of your assessment.
➢ Expressed needs: defined by the number of individuals who sought
help. Individuals may have felt a need and acted upon it. Be mindful of
the false assumption that all people with needs seek help.
➢ Absolute needs: needs deemed universal, including those for survival
(i.e. food, wat based er, safety, and clothing).
➢ Relative needs: needs rendered necessary on equity. The standard may
vary based on population differences.
 Needs and Resources Defined
➢ Resources, or assets, can include individuals, organizations
and institutions, buildings, landscapes, equipment -- anything
that can be used to improve the quality of life.
➢ Community Resources are resources in an area that
accommodate satisfy some requirements for those around
them. These resources may include people, sites or buildings,
and population assistance. Public schools, parks, community
centers are some of the examples of community resources.
 Needs and Resources Defined:
➢ Resources, or assets, can include individuals,
organizations and institutions, buildings, landscapes,
equipment -- anything that can be used to improve the
quality of life.
➢ Community Resources are resources in an area that
accommodate satisfy some requirements for those
around them. These resources may include people, sites
or buildings, and population assistance. Public schools,
parks, community centers are some of the examples of
community resources.
Guidelines in Conducting
Community Assessment
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Form a planning group that represents all

stakeholders and mirrors the diversity of
the community
• A truly representative planning group is not only
more likely to come up with a plan that produces
an accurate assessment but is also a signal to
community members that they are part of the
process. They are more apt to trust that process
and support whatever comes out of it.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment
➢ Design an evaluation process for the
Assessment
• Why is this step here, at the beginning of the
planning process, rather than at the end? The
answer is that evaluation should start at the
beginning of an effort, so that you can monitor
everything you do and be able to learn from and
adjust any part of the process -- including planning
-- to improve your work. That's the purpose of
evaluation: to make your work as effective as
possible.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide why you want to conduct the

assessment
• The reasons for an assessment will affect from
whom and how you gather information, what is
assessed, and what you do with the information
you get. It's obviously important to start planning
with a clear understanding of what you're setting
out to do, so that your plan matches your goals.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Determine what data is already available

• It's important that make sure that whatever data
exists is timely. The chances are that if it's more
than six months to a year old, it's out of date and
no longer accurate. Even census data, which is
extensive and generally reliable, is a snapshot of a
particular time. Since a full census is a once-a-
decade event, census information may be as much
as ten years out of date. There are updates in
between, but only to selected categories, and not
every year.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment
➢ Figure out what other information you need
• This is the time to finalize the questions you'll ask
your informants, as well as the questions you hope to
answer with the assessment. Those questions will
depend on your purposes. In most cases, you'll want to
find out what is important to members of populations
of concern or those who might benefit from or be
affected by any action you might take as a result of the
assessment. You will probably also want to hear the
opinions of the people who serve or work with those
people -- doctors, human service staff and
administrators, teachers, police, social workers,
advocates, etc.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Figure out what other information you

need
• Before you start, take careful stock of your
resources -- people, money, skills, time -- to be sure
you can do all you plan to. An assessment can be
conducted with volunteers and lots of (free)
legwork, or it can require statistical and other
expertise, professional consultation, and many paid
hours. Don't plan an assessment that you don't
have the resources to carry out.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide what methods you'll use for

gathering information
• Each community is different, and so you might use
any one or any combination of these and other
methods detailed in this chapter, depending on
what you're looking for and who can help.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment
➢ Decide what methods you'll use for gathering information
• Using existing data. This is the research you might do to unearth the
information in census and other public records, or to find information
that's been gathered by others.
• Listening sessions and public forums. Listening sessions are forums you
can use to learn about the community's perspectives on local issues and
options. They are generally fairly small, with specific questions asked of
participants. They can help you get a sense of what community
members know and feel about the issue, as well as resources, barriers,
and possible solutions. Public forums tend to be both larger in number
of participants and broader in scope than listening sessions. They are
gatherings where citizens discuss important issues at a well-publicized
location and time. They give people of diverse backgrounds a chance to
express their views, and are also a first step toward understanding the
community's needs and resources. A good public forum informs the
group of where the community is and where the members would like to
go.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment
➢ Decide what methods you'll use for gathering
information
• Interviews and focus groups. These are less formal than
fora, and are conducted with either individuals or small
groups (usually fewer than ten, and often as few as two or
three.) They generally include specific questions, but allow
room for moving in different directions, depending on what
the interviewees want to discuss. Open-ended questions
(those which demand something more than a yes or no or
other simple answer), follow-ups to interesting points, and a
relaxed atmosphere that encourages people to open up are
all part of most assessment interviews. A focus group is a
specialized group interview in which group members are not
told exactly what the interviewer wants to know, so that
they will be more likely to give answers that aren't
influenced by what they think is wanted.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide what methods you'll use for

gathering information
• Direct, and sometimes participant, observation.
Direct observation involves seeing for yourself. Do
you want to know how people use the neighborhood
park on weekends? Spend a few weekends there,
watching and talking to people. If you regularly join
a volleyball game or jog through the park with
others, you're a participant observer, becoming part
of the culture you want to learn about.
Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide what methods you'll use for gathering

information
• Surveys. There are several different kinds of surveys,
any or all of which could be used as part of a
community assessment. Written surveys may be sent to
people in the mail, given out at community events or
meetings, distributed in school, or handed to people on
the street. People may also be surveyed by phone or in
person, with someone else writing down their spoken
answers to a list of questions. Many kinds of surveys
often have a low return rate, and so may not be the
best way to get information, but sometimes they're the
only way, or can be given in situations where most
people complete them.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide whom you'll gather information

from
• For the same reason that you've put together a
planning group that represents all the different
sectors of the community concerned or involved
with the assessment, you should try to get
information from as broad a range of people and
groups as possible. The greater the variety of
people that supply your data, the better perspective
you'll have on the real nature, needs, and resources
of the community.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide whom you'll gather information

from
• This brings up an important point. Your plan
should make sure that the assessment includes the
opportunity for all points of view to be aired. You
may not like what some people have to say, but if
you don't know that there are people with differing
opinions, you only have half of the information you
need.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide who will collect data

• Will you use a participatory research process,
whereby community members gather data
themselves or in collaboration with professionals?
Will you hire an individual or a group to gather
information? If you choose neither of these, then
who will do the work of interviewing, surveying, or
carrying out whatever other strategies you've
chosen to find information?
Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide who will collect data

• These are important questions, because their answers
can affect the quality and quantity of information you
get. Individuals in the community may be more willing
to be interviewed and/or to give honest and detailed
answers to people they know or can identify with, i.e.,
other community members. Participatory researchers
may need training to be able to do a good job. You may
need an experienced researcher to put together a
survey that gets at the issues you're most concerned
with. A combination of several types of data gatherers
may work best. It's worth spending some time on this
issue, so that you can assemble the crew that's right for
your community and your plan.
 Guidelines in Conducting Community Assessment

➢ Decide how you'll reach your informants

➢ These are important questions, because their answers can
affect the quality and quantity of information you get.
Individuals in the community may be more willing to be
interviewed and/or to give honest and detailed answers
to people they know or can identify with, i.e., other
community members. Participatory researchers may need
training to be able to do a good job. You may need an
experienced researcher to put together a survey that gets
at the issues you're most concerned with. A combination
of several types of data gatherers may work best. It's
worth spending some time on this issue, so that you can
assemble the crew that's right for your community and
your plan.