Defining 'need' is an essential starting place for needs assessments. Though the word need is used casually in many context without a definition, in order to assess them, a need is often defined as a gap in results where its satisfaction, or partial satisfaction, is necessary for the achievement of another specific socially-permissible result. Each need therefore consist of two related gaps in results, leading to the assessment (size, direction, characteristics, etc.) of each gap as well as the relationship among the gaps. This distinguishes needs assessments from surveys of people 'wants" or favorite solutions.