c:\geo412\g412-asg5-00-delphifinalreport.htm

Geog 412, 2007

Assignment 4: Delphi Final Report

Final Report: As always know your audience. This is aimed at college students at WWU. You are both showing the results of a Delphi study (and enabling each student to compare his/her thoughts with those of colleagues) and discussing the methodology in a little less technical terms. This is a good opportunity to take a somewhat technical study and present it to the public, a task that will most likely be quite common in your career. Thus, making this a very useful document for your portfolio.

For typing-up your assignment follow the guidelines presented below.

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1. INTRODUCTION: First define and discuss the purpose of the study in the WWU student setting and define the Delphi Technique.  Second discuss general applications of this kind of study (sort of general discussion and some examples).  Remember you are trying to obtain data that may not easily be obtained by other means.  Be sure to address questions like what are you trying to learn, why would it be useful, why is the Delphi method a good technique to be using,... 

2. APPLICATION OF DELPHI: Discuss how this method is applied and specifically how it was used in an abbreviated format in your study. Be certain to include a discussion of how you:

1. Developed your panel
2. Specified the Information to be Collected
3. Proceeded through the Rounds.
4. Collected the data based on Instruments and methods of collection (also provide as an appendix your data collection instrument and instructions)

3. DATA: Provide output such as candidates names, histograms of expectations, and summary statistics of averages...for each round (as appropriate).

4. DISCUSSION:  Describe and discuss your results.  What if any patterns emerge.  Is there any change between rounds 2 and 3, were any comments by panelists especially useful or not,....  Keep in mind that this is very much a pilot study to help learn the technique in a hands-on manner as it is a way of obtaining data.

5. CONCLUSIONS:  Critique your results and suggest future directions.  Critique the methodology, again realizing that this was very much a pilot study.

REFERENCES: As always provide full references for any materials that you cite such as in a definition.  This provides you with references if you ever return to this technique.

Title Page: With your Assignment Title, your name, and date, and place last and facing outward so the assignments are graded in an anonymous fashion.

Appendix:  Round instruments and any other important data that you want to include.