RESPONSE BIAS IN NEEDS ASSESSMENT STUDIES

Agency awareness estimates provided in the typical needs assessment st udy are probably inflated by a response set labeled ''agency awareness acquiescence.'' More specifically, respondents who said that they wer e aware of one or more fictitious agencies (acquiescers) were more lik ely to report being aware of more ''real'' agencies than nonacquiescer s. Although agency awareness acquiescence was related to the impressio n management component of social desirability, it was not related to t he self-deception component of social desirability or to two acquiesce nce measures. Women exhibited slightly more agency awareness acquiesce nce than men. Age, ethnic background, and knowledge of the aging proce ss had no impact on agency awareness acquiescence.