(E-Delphi) A method to the future

Volume 11, Issue 2
Autumn 2020
Pages 1-6

Document Type : Letter to Editor

Authors

1 Department of Development and Resources, Committee on Health Economics, University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

2 Vice Chancellor for Resource Development and Management, Information Technology Management, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

3 Department of Public Administration, Islamic Azad University (Central Tehran Branch), Tehran, Iran

Abstract
With the expansion of Internet access and the provision of communication between researchers, the demand for research methods based on this structure is increasing. With the development of the Internet, the limitations of many research methods, such as Delphi - have been reduced, paving the way for the emergence of new implementation methods. E-Delphin is a qualitative method and online to respond to the growing needs of science to experts ‘consensus. Despite all advantages of this method, many Researchers are unfamiliar in many disciplines, such as medical and health education. A large part of it is related to the ignorance of this method in general and the other part is related to the methodological issues and the qualitative nature of this method. The scientists who intend to use this method will face with several challenges, which include limited educational resources in the implementation of this method, lack of general consensus on the quality and framework of research rounds, the problem of generalizability of results, lack of Specialized and free websites in this field, the challenge of access to the Internet for all researchers or experts, conventional technical problems, discussion of the conveying the information to the computer intend to analyzing, the measuring problems of the consensus, theoretical saturation and the risk of false saturation, this method interferes with some other techniques like survey, the need for the researcher's relative mastery of the subject matter. But despite all these shortcomings, the unique advantage of E-Delphi is that it is able to predict the future and fate of an issue such as the future of technology, a training method, or a treatment protocol over the next few years or decades.

Keywords

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