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Delphi Method

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RAND developed the Delphi method in the 1950s, originally to forecast the impact of technology on warfare. The method entails a group of experts who anonymously reply to questionnaires and subsequently receive feedback in the form of a statistical representation of the "group response," after which the process repeats itself. The goal is to reduce the range of responses and arrive at something closer to expert consensus. The Delphi Method has been widely adopted and is still in use today.

Tool

ExpertLens: An Online Approach to Stakeholder Engagement and Expert Elicitation

Oct 18, 2013

When making complex decisions, researchers and policymakers often seek the input of many stakeholders and individuals with varied perspectives. ExpertLens is an online application developed by research and programming experts at the RAND Corporation to help achieve these goals easily and cost effectively.
Report

The Delphi Method Uses Informed, Intuitive Judgment to Analyze the Future

Nov 30, 1967

The Delphi method solicits the opinions of experts through a series of carefully designed questionnaires interspersed with information and opinion feedback in order to establish a convergence of opinion.

Explore Delphi Method

Essay

Giving Patients a Voice in Medical Guidelines

Clinical guidelines are the user manuals of modern medicine. They can dictate insurance coverage and help hospitals set quality standards. Yet they often lack the perspective of those who care the most about good treatment: patients and their caregivers. Researchers are working to change that.

Dec 31, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Participant Experiences with a New Online Modified-Delphi Approach for Engaging Patients and Caregivers in Developing Clinical Guidelines

Participants were satisfied with an online approach to participating in guideline development.

Nov 21, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

The RAND/PPMD Patient-Centeredness Method: A Novel Online Approach to Engaging Patients and Their Representatives in Guideline Development

The RAND/PPMD Patient-Centeredness Method allows patients and their representatives to provide input in clinical practice guidelines.

Nov 21, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Using an Online Modified-Delphi Approach to Engage Patients and Caregivers in Determining the Patient-Centeredness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Care Considerations

Clinical guidelines that meet patient-centeredness criteria are likely to be consistent with the preferences, needs, and values of families dealing with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Nov 21, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Practical Considerations in Using Online Modified-Delphi Approaches to Engage Patients and Other Stakeholders in Clinical Practice Guideline Development

This article's objective is to illustrate how to use an online modified-Delphi approach to engage patients and their representatives during different stages of clinical practice guidelines development.

Nov 21, 2019
Report

What Could Help Law Enforcement Deal with Crime on the Dark Web?

Crime in traditional online forums often leaves a trail of data that can be followed. But on the dark web, the process of collecting those data and turning them into evidence can be difficult. A panel of law enforcement practitioners and researchers identified ways to address this challenge.

Oct 29, 2019
Report

Report

Leveraging Technology to Enhance Community Supervision: Identifying Needs to Address Current and Emerging Concerns

An expert workshop of correctional administrators and researchers explored how technology can be used to address key challenges faced by community corrections agencies.

Oct 28, 2019
Report

Recommendations for Improving Access to Primary Care

Access to primary care is critical for ensuring population health. Evidence-based priorities can help health care organizations improve access and access management.

Sep 5, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Citizen Science: Generating Ideas and Exploring Consensus

The final report in a three-part series on citizen science looks at the growing number of online tools for gathering and understanding opinions.

Aug 16, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Lack of Preregistered Analysis Plans Allows Unacceptable Data Mining for and Selective Reporting of Consensus in Delphi Studies

A lack of standards and norms for defining and publicly registering analysis plans in advance threatens the credibility of using consensus-oriented Delphi processes to inform health research practice, and policy.

Apr 17, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Involving Stakeholders in Programme Theory Specification: Discussion of a Systematic, Consensus-Based Approach

Non-academic developers of a complex intervention can arrive at consensus about programme theory after the programme has been developed and actively participate in the development of a logic model to be used as a framework for subsequent evaluation.

Mar 28, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Practical Considerations for Using Online Methods to Engage Patients in Guideline Development

This study developed practical considerations for including large, diverse, and geographically dispersed groups of patients in clinical practice guideline development through online engagement methods.

Oct 31, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Standardization of Health Outcomes Assessment for Depression and Anxiety: Recommendations from the ICHOM Depression and Anxiety Working Group

Experts and patient advocates developed recommendations for an internationally standardized dataset to measure patient-reported outcomes for depression and anxiety disorders.

Sep 6, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Engaging Patients and Caregivers Managing Rare Diseases to Improve the Methods of Clinical Guideline Development: A Research Protocol

A new, online method to engage more patients and caregivers in developing clinical guidelines will be created and then tested, using Duchenne muscular dystrophy as an example.

Jun 2, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions: Screening Tools to Alert Doctors to Right Treatment Medication Criteria Modified for U.S. Nursing Home Setting

Experts have identified new criteria for assessing the quality of prescribing in nursing homes.

Mar 15, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Comparative Analysis of Stakeholder Experience with an Online Approach to Prioritizing Patient-Centered Research Topics

Engaging diverse groups of stakeholders through online collaborative platforms is a promising and scalable approach to prioritizing patient-centered research topics.

Mar 14, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Acceptability of an Online Modified Delphi Panel Approach for Developing Health Services Performance Measures: Results from 3 Panels on Arthritis Research

An online Delphi-based process to select criteria for defining health care quality was rated as acceptable by three groups of participants, indicating it could be used to engage stakeholders in developing performance measures.

Sep 29, 2016
Journal Article

Journal Article

SEaRCH™ Expert Panel Process: Streamlining the Link Between Evidence and Practice

In this paper we describe expert panels and ways to adapt those models to form part of Samueli Institute's Scientific Evaluation and Research of Claims in Health Care (SEaRCH™) program.

Jan 21, 2016
Report

Report

The Potential of Blind Collaborative Justice: Testing the Impact of Expert Blinding and Consensus Building on the Validity of Forensic Testimony

RAND researchers investigated two potential contributors to biased testimony within adversarial litigation involving forensic evidence: experts' knowledge of which side they were testifying for, and lack of input from relevant scientific communities.

Aug 7, 2015
Journal Article

A Conceptual Framework and Protocol for Defining Clinical Decision Support Objectives Applicable to Medical Specialties

This article describes a conceptual framework and protocol that combines evidence review with expert opinion, using a modified Delphi expert panel process, to elicit clinically meaningful objectives for clinical decision support directly from specialists.

Sep 1, 2012

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RAND Topic:
Delphi Method

Topic Synonyms:
Delphi Technique

Research conducted by

RAND Project AIR FORCE