Situations are sets of circumstances, contexts or environments which offer opportunity for program decisions and staffing. The county situation, in common usage, is the broad composite of physical, economic and population conditions in relation to circumstances of broader regional, state, national and international situations. In reality, the county situation is a set of conditions with each component interrelated with other components and their relationships continually changing. Situations are settings that vary in relevance, scope, complexity and urgency to Extension program development.
In the Extension model, program development processes are linked to the local situation through the organization involved with Extension faculty in determining the program. Representatives from local communities and enterprises connect the program to the people they represent; they are decisionmakers who are charged with keeping the program relevant to local interests and needs.
Extension faculty should first come to understand the general situation for program development. Every county has particular characteristics that influence how Extension program development works in that setting.
What are things like in this setting? What does this say about programming possibilities? When systematically handled, situation analysis helps those involved with Extension educators to determine whether or not to propose a program and how effective it will be. Four purposes can be served by situation analysis:
Situation analysis in Extension program development is a process by which complex sets of circumstances are observed and separated into smaller, more manageable parts. This process leads to more complete observations, measurements, interpretations and understandings about the parts, the patterns between them, and the environment in which the situation occurs.[9]
Because conditions continually change, all program stages require continuous situation analysis. Because potential customers are more than currently targeted communities and clientele, identifying and involving those other publics can build understanding and acceptance of both planned and potential programs.
Situation analysis is not just collecting background data. Census figures, economic and demographic trends, agricultural production records and other quantitative data are important only when they serve more complete analysis and interpretation. These need a question to be answered, values to which they can be related. Data alone cannot provide meaning and practical program implications - program meaning and interpretive perspectives come through knowing and applying values and judgments to data. Then the situation analysis can influence program direction or serve as a basis for further planning.
Background Information Study - People are directly involved in certain data collection methods: survey, telephone interview, mailed questionnaire, qualitative interview, delphi technique, reconnaissance survey, focus group interview, brainstorming, nominal group technique, observational checklist, knowledge test. Other data collection uses public records and data books (such as the census) and published research.
Needs Assessment - the process of identifying need, a discrepancy between actual and desired conditions, and deciding the priorities among those needs. A combination of methods - knowledgable informants, community forums, surveys, published indicators - can verify whether different sources are producing similar information and assure greater reliability.
Environmental Scanning - periodic and systematic collection and analysis of information of the total environment, using existing public and accessible printed data bases, popular and scientific publications, public polls/surveys.
Futuring - identification of a wide range of views about a future that may exist, both within and outside the Extension system, for the purpose of clarifying organizational mission and emerging program needs.
Preparation -
Define the situation boundaries. What will be considered - subject matter, a clientele, geographic location and/or a time element?
Set the purpose or key question. What will the analysis accomplish - discovering needs, learning, barriers/obstacles and/or resources?
Identify leadership. Who will develop the situation analysis plan - Extension, volunteers, local government, coalitions, powerholders?
Know the personalities. What are the personality types of people involved in the program - inner- or outer-world oriented, objective or subjective, decisionmaking or not?
Implementation -
Identify perspectives within the situation. What values are held by the community, the clientele, the Extension organization and yourself?
Decide which value orientations need inquiry. What orientations - social, health, economic, education, environmental, political, psychological - are pertinent in each of the four perspectives?
Identify important questions. What questions do key leaders feel are pertinent to each perspective and value orientation?
Identify Extension publics within each perspective. Who can provide answers to the key questions?
Decide on public involvement techniques. How will you get answers to key questions - surveys, existing data, group meetings, coalitions?
Collect data and observations. Organize data and summarize so that it serves as evidence related to the purpose, key questions, criteria and specific decisions.
Conclusion -
Compare and interpret evidence. What does the evidence say in terms of criteria offered by perspectives and value orientations?
Develop interpretations and conclusions on high priority problems.
Reflect on, react to and discuss tentative conclusions. Work with the publics on their interpretations of the data.
Decide on audience/customer needs.
Set objectives or impact indicators for programs.
Write a situation statement as preparation for implementing a program.
Thoroughly analyzing local conditions is often overlooked. This process is educational in itself and greatly increases the relevance of Extension programs as they emerge through long-range and annual planning.