i-Delphi - Compared to Other Methods

<body bgcolor="#86aad0"> <table border="0" cellpadding=5 cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width=15%></td> <td width=10%></td> <td width="*"> <p align="center" valign="middle"> <font face="Arial" size="6"><b><img border="0" src="images/logd42.gif" width="229" height="42"></b></font> </td> <td width=10%></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left"> <font face="Arial" size="1"> <p><b>Click for desired page</b></p> <p><a href="xtour01.htm">Overview</a></p> <p><a href="xtour02.htm">Early history and core elements of the Delphi method</a></p> <p><a href="xtour03.htm">Delphi's second stage of development</a></p> <p><a href="xtour04.htm">Delphi enhanced for the new millennium</a></p> <p><a href="xtour05.htm">Understanding the Delphi method</a></p> <p><a href="xtour06.htm">About the i-Delphi system</a></p> <p><a href="xtour07.htm">i-Delphi services</a></p> <p><b>i-Delphi compared to other methods</b></p> <p><a href="xtour10.htm">For more information</a></p> <p><a href="index.asp">Return to home page</a></p> </font> </td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">     </td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top" align="left"> <p align="center" valign="top"> <br> <br> <font face="Arial" size="4"><b>i-Delphi Compared to Other Methods</b></font></font> <p><b><font face="Arial" size="3">i-Delphi</font></b><font face="Arial" size="3"> is a unique software-based system designed to implement the Delphi method and to enhance it with many innovations enabled by the World Wide Web.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is useful to note the major distinctions between <b>i-Delphi</b> and other systems that may seem at least superficially similar but are built on different principles.</font><b> <table border="0" cellpadding="0"> <TBODY> <tr><td width="5%" valign="top" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"> </font></td><font face="Arial" size="3"><i><td width="*"></td><td width="5%"></td></tr> </i> </font> <tr><td valign="top" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">1.</font></td> </b> <td><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>i-Delphi</b> is not a technique for choosing between alternatives by breaking them into components that can be voted on separately and then combined mathematically to obtain a score for each alternative. That technique has greatest applicability when issues can readily be separated into discrete factors and there is general agreement that all important influences have been identified. The Delphi method does not require meeting those or any other conditions.</font></td> <td></td></tr> <tr><td></td><td><font face="Arial" size="3"> </font></td><td></td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">2.</font></td> <td><font face="Arial" size="3">During <b> i-Delphi</b> projects, views of participants are solicited and tabulated. Delphi is not, however, an exercise in democracy or predicated on a representative sample of any population. Delphi's effectiveness depends on deliberately assembling non-representative panels of individuals with unusual capacities to contribute. </font> </td><td></td></tr> <tr><td></td><td><font face="Arial" size="3"> </font></td><td></td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">3.</font></td> <td><font face="Arial" size="3">Outcomes of <b> i-Delphi</b> projects are determined by the interaction of panelists, not by establishing which views get the most votes. Consensus is often reached during <b> i-Delphi</b> projects. However, it can be equally or more valuable to uncover and consider the nature and extent of irreconcilable disagreements between panelists. Reasons for extreme views are particularly important.</font> </td><td></td></tr> <tr><td></td><td><font face="Arial" size="3"> </font></td><td></td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">4.</font></td> <td><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>i-Delphi’s</b> principal value is superior ability to arrive at the best available solution to a particular problem. It is not used as a managerial technique for promoting “buy-in” of eventual implementers by including them in a deliberative process.</font> </td><font face="Arial" size="3"><b><td></td></tr> <tr><td></td><td><font face="Arial" size="3"> </font></td><td></td></tr> <tr><td valign="top" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">5.</font></td> </b> <td><font face="Arial" size="3"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><b>i-Delphi</b> enables panelists to collaborate without traditional constraints of time and place. However, it is far more than a technique for holding meetings in cyberspace. <b>i-Delphi</b> has a sharper focus: to address complex problems in a proven process that includes defined objectives, carefully constituted panels, flexible interaction between panelists, total anonymity of contributions, avoidance of detrimental group dynamics, immediate feedback, multiple iterations through an evolving set of questions and issues, and facilitation by an experienced moderator.</span></font> </td><td></td></tr> </TBODY> </table> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="5"> <tr><td> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="5"> <tr> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#c0c0c0" valign="center" align="middle"><font color="#ff0000" size="3" face="Arial"> <A href="xtour10.htm">Next page</A> </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> </td></tr> </table> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="1">  <br>Please note that this version of these pages was prepared for browsers which, like the one you're using now, lack frame-handling capability. Full access to this website and participation in <b>i-Delphi</b> projects require a frames-capable browser, such as a recent version of Internet Explorer or Netscape.</font> <p align="left">  <p align="left">  </div> </td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">  </td> </tr> </table> </body>