We define need as ‘what, if not met, can cause serious harm or socially recognisable suffering' (Doyal and Gough, 1991)

‘Harm' means being prevented from pursuing one's own vision of a good life, whatever that vision might be, through illness or depression, lack of skills or discrimination.

But need is a contested concept:

• Needs change as societies change and as policy making adapts to new situations
• Need is understood differently across different fields of enquiry and experience

The research will therefore explore unmet and emerging need from four perspectives:

Real life knowledge - People who experience and live with need

Front line knowledge - People directly meeting and observing need and the consequences of unmet need

Service agency knowledge - Organisations delivering services to meet need, assessing need and evaluating the impact of unmet need

Formal knowledge - Gathered by government; statisticians; foundations; academics; think tanks; social scientists

To do this a combination of methods will be used, including:

• An overview of current research
• Knowledge mining of key frontline and intermediary organisations
• Analysis of existing quantitative data
• Primary qualitative research, including a series of local studies examining particular unmet needs in local areas (currently London, Bedford and the North East)
• Participatory research tapping into the public perceptions of need
• Analysing risks and trends which are driving emerging and future needs

 For a detailed document outlining the rationale and the research methods currently being used by the Mapping Needs programme, please click here.