The Delphi Method

Those of you following this post (is there anybody out there?), I have decided at last on the Research Question for my MSc dissertation:

“Following the impact of the Obama campaign, what is the potential role of new media in persuasion, engagement and participation in politics in the UK ?”

I have been thinking of the most appropriate forms of research and also which audiences to reach. What I am aiming to do is to research politicians in the UK, PR practitioners and the general public.

Following a suggestion from one of my supervisors (Rudiger Theilmann) for PR practioners I am going to try out the Delphi Method of forecasting. There is a helpful article about the Delphi Method on Wikipedia. It seems to be a really useful way of gathering and refining data from a panel of experts on your chosen subject. The experts answer questions set by the facilitator. The facilitator (me, in this case) summarises the responses and the answers are given back to the panel to revise their answers in the light of responses given by all of the panel members anonymously.

There is a really helpful site which runs a Delphi session for you. I have set up my panel of 10 PR practitioner experts and am giving it a go! Wish me luck!