The authors developed a new methodological framework for assessing military personnel and military family needs that fills a gap not currently being met. The framework places personnel and spouse perceptions of problems and needs and the prioritization of those problems and needs at the center of the analysis. This monograph describes the development and testing of a survey tool based on that framework that the Department of Defense and local military commanders can use to gauge the problems and problem-related needs of service members and their families, how well those needs are being met, and the barriers and bridges to accessing services. It discusses how this approach differs from others, the challenges to implementing such a survey, and the value of the survey results to different types of military leaders and support service professionals. The framework could be applied to other types of research questions, such as the problems, needs, and resources for military personnel serving in war zones, and the content of the survey could be modified to address other populations, such as wounded service members. A sample survey is included as an appendix.

"Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense"--T.p.

Introduction and study overview / Background: DoD's policy toward military members and their families over time. DoD commitment to military families has grown significantly since World War I -- Evidence linking support to military personnel and families to outcomes is limited -- Understanding family needs is a central feature of today's DoD policy -- Limitations in approaches to learning about service member and family needs lead to a new approach -- Resource allocation data analyses are unable to control for influential factors not captured in the datasets -- Quasi-experimental evaluations of programs -- Surveys of service members and spouses have not placed service member and family needs at the center -- Focus groups and face-to-face interview studies: impractical for large-scale data collection -- A framework for a new approach / Development of the Service Member and Family Needs Survey. Concept for a new needs-focused survey instrument -- Subject matter experts inform framework and survey content -- Drawing on previous research to inform the survey development -- Deployment-related issues -- Predeployment -- Deployment -- Postdeployment family reunification -- Ensuring that the framework, content, and method fits today's families: focus groups with soldiers, Marines, spouses, and support providers -- Brainstorming approach -- Participant-recommended study methods -- Conclusion / Developing the Service Member and Family Needs Survey Structure. Problems in the past year -- Needs linked to greatest problems -- Characteristics of military and nonmilitary resources used and not used to meet the greatest needs -- Ability of resources to meet greatest needs for greatest problems -- Projected impact of loss of resources -- Outcome indicators: satisfaction and desire to remain in the military -- Conclusion / Testing, refining, and assessing the relative value of a prototype instrument. Testing the instrument with soldiers, Marines, and spouses -- What we learned -- The average length of time to complete the survey was within our goals -- The problems and needs lists needed additional development -- The most common routes to the survey varied -- All eligible respondents chose to complete the survey online, rather than to call In -- Most participants reported no or few competing requests for research participation -- Participants likely differ demographically from the population, but DoD demographic data on spouses are limited -- Revising the instrument -- Assessing the contribution of the sample survey instrument -- Survey paradigm -- Comparing surveys by determining how well they describe a hypothetical family -- Conclusion / Implementation challenges. Challenges to obtaining adequate survey participation -- Access -- Reaching spouses -- Sampling challenges -- Dissemination challenges and the Air Force Climate Survey Model / Potential contributions of the new methodology. Information for leaders and decisionmakers -- Unit commanders -- Service providers -- Base commanders -- Military departments and DoD -- Other applications of the framework -- Conclusion / Appendix A: sample Survey of Service Member and Family Needs -- Appendix B:focus group protocols.