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Special Issue on “The Delphi technique: Current developments in theory and practice”
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 77 (2010) 836
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Technological Forecasting & Social Change
Call for Papers
Special Issue on “The Delphi technique: Current developments in theory and practice” Guest Editors Gene Rowe, Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK. E-mail: [email protected] George Wright, Durham Business School, Durham University, Mill Hill Lane, DH1 3LB, UK. E-mail: [email protected] The Delphi technique has been in existence for around 50 years, having originally been developed at the RAND Corporation as a tool to assist forecasting related to military issues. During the subsequent years (and especially since the technique was introduced to the wider world by Linstone and Turoff in their 1975 edited book), the technique has proliferated in its forms and domains of application. To the ‘traditional’ Delphi process has been added the Policy Delphi, the Fuzzy Delphi, and all sorts of other variants. The technique has been used both to help achieve consensus of forecasts, and to aid in the elaboration of reasons and sources of dissensus. But what do we really know about the method and whether it ‘works’ (howsoever we define this term)? How do the different variants compare and contrast? Is there empirical evidence for the superiority of any one variant over others—or indeed, over other approaches that might be used to achieve similar ends? Are there any domains in which the technique has proven particularly useful? In this Special Issue we wish to focus on the Delphi technique in its widest sense, providing an up-to-date analysis of its past, present, and future prospects. We therefore invite papers that consider some aspect of the method, in particular: • Critical theoretical considerations of the method and its rationale/s (however, there have been a number of good reviews on the topic over the years, and hence such papers will need to have a significantly novel angle) • Reviews of the use of the technique in specific areas (for forecasting purposes, or more widely), including evidence of the method's impact on field development or policy making • Empirical studies comparing Delphi variants, or comparing some variant of the technique to alternative (forecasting) approaches • Novel practical applications of the method • Novel elaborations of the method (and the critical appraisal of these) • Considerations of future prospects for the technique If you are interested in contributing to this Special Issue, please submit a one-page abstract via e-mail to each of the two Guest Editors listed above, preferably by the end of July. A quick response will be given regarding potential suitability of the full paper for this issue. The deadline for submission of full papers is 30th of October 2010. All submitted papers will go through the normal review process and only those that meet the requirements of Technological Forecasting and Social Change will be accepted for publication. Manuscripts should be submitted online via Elsevier's online submission system (see: http://www.ees.elsevier.com/tfs) indicating in the letter that they are for this Special Issue. Please also refer to TFSC's “Guide for Authors” for the styling and formatting guidelines (see: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/505740/authorinstructions).
doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2010.04.003
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Technological Forecasting & Social Change
Call for Papers
Special Issue on “The Delphi technique: Current developments in theory and practice” Guest Editors Gene Rowe, Institute of Food Research, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK. E-mail: [email protected] George Wright, Durham Business School, Durham University, Mill Hill Lane, DH1 3LB, UK. E-mail: [email protected] The Delphi technique has been in existence for around 50 years, having originally been developed at the RAND Corporation as a tool to assist forecasting related to military issues. During the subsequent years (and especially since the technique was introduced to the wider world by Linstone and Turoff in their 1975 edited book), the technique has proliferated in its forms and domains of application. To the ‘traditional’ Delphi process has been added the Policy Delphi, the Fuzzy Delphi, and all sorts of other variants. The technique has been used both to help achieve consensus of forecasts, and to aid in the elaboration of reasons and sources of dissensus. But what do we really know about the method and whether it ‘works’ (howsoever we define this term)? How do the different variants compare and contrast? Is there empirical evidence for the superiority of any one variant over others—or indeed, over other approaches that might be used to achieve similar ends? Are there any domains in which the technique has proven particularly useful? In this Special Issue we wish to focus on the Delphi technique in its widest sense, providing an up-to-date analysis of its past, present, and future prospects. We therefore invite papers that consider some aspect of the method, in particular: • Critical theoretical considerations of the method and its rationale/s (however, there have been a number of good reviews on the topic over the years, and hence such papers will need to have a significantly novel angle) • Reviews of the use of the technique in specific areas (for forecasting purposes, or more widely), including evidence of the method's impact on field development or policy making • Empirical studies comparing Delphi variants, or comparing some variant of the technique to alternative (forecasting) approaches • Novel practical applications of the method • Novel elaborations of the method (and the critical appraisal of these) • Considerations of future prospects for the technique If you are interested in contributing to this Special Issue, please submit a one-page abstract via e-mail to each of the two Guest Editors listed above, preferably by the end of July. A quick response will be given regarding potential suitability of the full paper for this issue. The deadline for submission of full papers is 30th of October 2010. All submitted papers will go through the normal review process and only those that meet the requirements of Technological Forecasting and Social Change will be accepted for publication. Manuscripts should be submitted online via Elsevier's online submission system (see: http://www.ees.elsevier.com/tfs) indicating in the letter that they are for this Special Issue. Please also refer to TFSC's “Guide for Authors” for the styling and formatting guidelines (see: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/505740/authorinstructions).
doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2010.04.003