Delphi Method vs. Nominal Group Technique

I recently read two papers, one on the Delphi Method and one that described a single use of the Nominal Group Technique as a curriculum evaluation tool.

At the beginning of this futuring and innovation course, I was interested by the innovative idea of an automobile that automatically detects an unsafe maneuver by a driver and automatically safely corrects itself. Given the choice between the Delphi Method and the Nominal Group Technique for researching such a problem, the best choice is clearly the Delphi method, mostly because it allows participants the freedom of anonymity, but also because the iterative process itself is more rigorous.

Anonymity is important since research participants would include subject matter experts from the major car companies, tire and part manufacturers who may disagree with a competitor’s analysis or suggestions. Keeping the input and feedback of the participants anonymous ensures that all of the information presented is treated fairly.

Skulmoski et. al. (2007) point out that the Delphi Method is well suited when there is incomplete knowledge or the problem is not well understood. Furthermore, their paper indicates that the Delphi method is very adaptable to a variety of problems. They cite no less than sixteen cases of the Delphi method used in published research in both non-IT and IT areas of study.

I will be fair in stating that the paper written by Dobbie et. al. (2004) only presented one application of NGT, a curriculum evaluation tool (which was actually a “modified” version of the NGT that adds three additional discussion stages to the original NGT process), so at this point in the course it is still difficult for me to say one research method is better than the other in all cases. However, from their paper I was able to note another disadvantage to the NGT other than the lack of anonymity. In addition, the NGT seems to require a lot of face time between the contributors. It has been my experience in the manufacturing and aerospace industries that the type of subject matter experts (SMEs) who would be involved in such an automotive study (they are similar industries) would be very busy people. In most cases it would be almost impossible to get them all in the same room together. Even if face-to-face meetings were replaced by virtual meetings, there would still be a lot of overhead in organizing the group working sessions involved. The SMEs I know just don’t have that kind of time or the patience (I disagree with the statement that “anonymity takes more time”). They would favor the questionnaires of the Delphi Method.

References

Dobbie, A., Rhodes, M., Tysinger, J.W., & Freeman, J. (2004). Using a Modified Nominal Group Technique As a Curriculum Evaluation Tool. Family Medicine, 36(6), 402-406. Retrieved from http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2004/June/Alison402.pdf

Skulmoski, G.J., Hartman, F., Krahn, J. (2007). The Delphi Method for Graduate Research. Journal of Information Technology Education., 6. Retrieved from http://jite.org/documents/Vol6/JITEv6p001-021Skulmoski212.pdf