Real Time Delphi

An on-line system based on the Delphi principles of feedback of prior responses of a participating group, but faster and less expensive. It guarantees respondents' anonymity. The Delphi study involves a set of questions presented on screen with the following columns: 1.A space for a respondent to provide his or her answer to each question on a Likert-like or unconstrained scale 2. The average of all of the responses of the group so far 3.The number of responses made so far 4.A window that shows reasons that others have given for their responses 5. And finally, a window that provides a place for respondents to provide the thinking behind their own answers. In considering his or her answer to each question the respondent may refer to the reasons others have given. Considering this information, the respondent provides an input and instructs the computer to “save” the answer. The group average or median is updated immediately and presented back to the respondent and anyone else who has signed on, along with the count of the number of people who have contributed to the group response. If the respondent’s answer is beyond a pre-specified distance from the average or the median, an attention-getting indicator may be used to flag the question for the respondent. When the flag is “up” the respondent is asked to give reasons for their response which, when saved, become an entry in the “reasons window” and is seen later when anyone opens that window. The administrator can publish a cutoff time (an hour, a day, a week, or a month away) and encourage participants to visit the site often before that time. The process can be synchronous or asynchronous, and if implemented on an Internet site, can involve a worldwide panel. The central weakness of Real Time Delphi is its failure to attract most of its respondents back for re-estimation. Strengths of the systems include: speed, flexibility, lower costs, and centralization of a database of questions and responses.