Acquiescence in needs assessment studies of the elderly

This study demonstrated that acquiescence response set can inflate estimates of agency awareness in needs assessment studies of the elderly. However, acquiescence does not appear to inflate estimates of service utilization of service need. Contrary to past survey research, less educated respondents were no more likely to exhibit acquiescence than better educated respondents. Similarly, the hypothesis that African-Americans would display more acquiescence than Caucasians received only minimal support.