The Delphi technique in health sciences education research

The Delphi technique is a method of collecting opinion on a particular research question. It is based on the premise that pooled intelligence enhances individual judgement and captures the collective opinion of a group of experts without being physically assembled. The conventional Delphi uses a series of questionnaires to generate expert opinion in an anonymous fashion and takes place over a series of rounds. The technique is becoming a popular strategy that straddles both quantitative and qualitative realms. Issues that are critical to its validity are the development of the questionnaire; definition of consensus and how to interpret non-consensus; criteria for and selection of the expert panel; sample size;…