Once the data collection process is complete, analysis of the results is the next step. This is a crucial stage of the process and includes analysis of both community resources and needs. In needs analysis, it is important to express the need as a problem, rather than a potential solution to the problem. For example, it might be said that there is a need for more dentists in a community. however, describes a solution to the problem rather than the problem itself. The problem may be bet ter described as long waiting lists to see dentists. More dentists in the community might then be identified as one of a number of potential solutions to the problem Making explicit this difference between problems (needs) and solutions may alert the project team and steering committee to a number of possible causes and solutions to each need identified. During the analysis of results, it is important to be mindful of the original purpose of the assessment and to link the analysis back to that purpose