By Dmitry Khodyakov
What is Delphi? How has the Delphi method stood up over time? How can the best of Delphi be adapted to new circumstances and problems?
The Delphi method is a group-based process for eliciting and aggregating opinion on a topic with a goal of exploring the existence of consensus among a diverse group of handpicked experts. The Delphi method was developed at the RAND Corporation in the early 1950s to obtain a reliable expert consensus, which is often used as a substitute for empirical evidence when it does not exist.
The four key characteristics of the Delphi method are:
- anonymity,
- iterative data collection,
- participant feedback, and
- statistical determination of group response.
As a result, Delphi has become best practice for quantifying the results of group elicitation processes.