Assessment of the Use of Delphi Technique in Sustainable Infrastructure Development Research

Abstract

The Delphi technique over the recent decades has increasingly become generally recognized and accepted by a vast range of institutions, government departments, and policy research organizations across the globe. The Delphi method was originally developed in the 50s by the RAND Corporation (an American non-profit global policy think tank aimed at offering research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces) after a series of studies and observations in Santa Monica, California. This approach encompasses a survey conducted in two or more rounds and affords the participants in the second round with the results of the first so that they can modify the original assessments if they want to or stick to their former opinion. It is usually presumed that the method makes better use of group interaction whereby the questionnaire is used as the medium of interaction. The Delphi method is especially useful for long-range forecasting; as expert opinions are the only source of information available. The objective of this paper is to outline how the Delphi technique process was used to predict and understand issues surrounding sustainable infrastructure development in developing countries. The paper’s objective is based on the premise that the technique has not been widely used to study sustainable infrastructure development, despite several empirical studies that have been conducted in its favour. This is because the Delphi approach solicits experts’ views on subjects surrounded with confusion. The methodological approach adopted for the study was a content analysis of published peer reviewed journal articles with regard to the use of the technique in Sustainable Infrastructure Development studies. The Delphi technique is discussed because it is an accepted and reliable research technique that helps to resolve experts’ disagreement with issues. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Budapest University of Technology and Economics & Diamond Congress Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Creative Construction Conference 2019.