The Delphi Method has been established as an effective way to determine the collective opinion of a group of experts. However, one of the main criticisms of the Delphi Method is that it lacks clear guidelines on how to systematically implement a study. Existing guidelines tend to be difficult to extend to other studies, leading to inconsistent usage of the method. These inconsistencies can lead to various levels of rigor in the application of the Delphi Method. While other papers provide a foundation for defining parameters, additional research is needed to show how to effectively choose and apply them within a study. This paper will demonstrate a set of parameters and how they were chosen with the intention of providing guidance for future Delphi studies. Parameters that will be discussed are; a) the use of content analysis to strengthen the first round of a Modified Delphi study, b) how to operationalize a measure of consensus, c) the importance of defining criteria for expert inclusion in a study, and d) the sufficient number of experts required. By improving the process for applying a Delphi study the method will gain in strength and rigor for its use in future research. How these parameters were implemented in a recently completed Delphi study for research sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute will be discussed. This demonstration will provide future researchers with a starting point for systematically designing Delphi Studies and provide a set of guidelines for successfully executing such studies.
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