Measuring Need and Demands in Evaluation Research

Abstract

This article focuses on the distinction between needs assessment and demand assessment and presents a methodology for operationalizing and measuring demands. We report the results of a survey of a national sample of 32 university and college administrators to assess their need and demand for an adult student opinion package. The study was noteworthy for its differentiation of need for a service (i.e., interest in the service) and demand for a service (i.e., willingness to pay), and its attempt to determine the cost at which demand decreased significantly in relation to need for various evaluation services. The results indicated that levels of need and demand are positively related but not identical. The article concludes with a discussion of the demand concept, a critique of our operationalization of the concept, and a discussion of the use of the results of the study.