Developing the Ethical Delphi

Abstract

A number of EU institutions and government committees across Europe have expressed interest in developing methods and decision-support tools to facilitate consideration of the ethical dimensions of biotechnology assessment. As part of the work conducted in the EC supported project on ethical tools (Ethical Bio-TA Tools), a number of ethical frameworks with the potential to support the work of public policy decision-makers has been characterized and evaluated. One of these potential tools is the Delphi method. The Delphi method was originally developed to assess variables that are intangible and/or shrouded in uncertainty by drawing on the knowledge and abilities of a diverse group of experts through a form of anonymous and iterative consultation. The method has hitherto been used by a diversity of practitioners to explore issues such as technology assessment, environmental planning, and public health measures. From the original (classical) Delphi, a family of Delphi-related processes has emerged. As a result of the evaluation of the various Delphi processes, it is proposed that the classical method can be further developed and applied as a form of ethical framework to assist policy-makers. Through a series of exercises and trials, an Ethical Delphi has been developed as a potential approach for characterizing ethical issues raised by the use of novel biotechnologies. Advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed. Further work is needed to develop the procedural aspects of the Ethical Delphi method and to test its use in different cultural contexts. However, utilizing an ethical framework of this type combines the advantages of a methodical approach to capture ethical aspects with the democratic virtues of transparency and openness to criticism. Ethical frameworks such as the Ethical Delphi should contribute to better understanding of and decisionmaking on issues that involve decisive ethical dimensions.

Is the Delphi method valid for business ethics? A survey analysis

“…More recently, certain authors (e.g., [44,45]) have proposed the use of an Ethical Delphi, as a specific application of this methodology, with the aim being to resolve ethical questions, or at least establish the dimensions of ethical problems. BAn ethical Delphi is an iterative participatory process between experts for exchanging views and arguments on ethical issues.…”

“…The lack of use of the Delphi method in business ethics is surprising [44,63] because the Delphi method has several benefits and advantages, which have already been shown in the business area, both for an organisation itself and for forecasting purposes [41,49,55]. To fill this gap, this paper seeks (1) to establish the validity and utility of the Delphi method as a research tool in ethical decision-making, determining the fuzzy area in which decisions are applied, and (2) to identify the behaviour of scholars in business ethics in order to assess the contribution this method makes.…”

The effects of trust‐ and leadership‐based practices in virtual alliance outcomes

“…Th ematic coding of nominal data generated through the responses from Round 1 open-ended questions was refl ected in a Likert-type scale survey in Round 2 that ranged from 1 (agree completely) to 5 (disagree completely) (Creswell, 2005;Millar, Th orstensen, Tomkins, Mepham, & Kaiser, 2007;Skulmoski, Hartman, & Krahn, 2007).…”

Research Integration Using Dialogue Methods

“…We are aware of at least one example of the method being given a title that reflects the contents being judged-namely, the 'Ethical Delphi' (Millar et al , 2007. This is not so much a methodological variant as the application of the standard Delphi technique to a particular content area-in this case, concerns about ethics and values.…”

“…We use a definition from The Oxford English Dictionary (1989) The researchers in that project were particularly concerned about the ethical issues involved in the introduction and application of new technologies in agricultural and food production and pointed out that it was unlikely that a single ethical tool would be adequate for a full ethical assessment-a point also made by Lockwood (2005). One of the tools to which they point is the ethical Delphi, an application of the Delphi technique to ethical issues (Millar et al 2007). …”