德菲法,一種兼具量化與質性之科技整合研究方法。研究過程中,針對設定的議題,透過專家匿名,不斷書面討論方式,誘導專家以其專業知能、經驗與意見建立一致性的共識,進而解決複雜議題。其不僅排除質性研究不夠嚴謹的缺點,同時將量化研究之科學性、系統性應用得淋漓盡致。 對不明確性、複性度高、具爭論性之議題可應用德菲法尋求出專家之共視,德菲法具有集思廣益、維持專家獨立判斷能力、打破時空隔離困境及不需要複雜統計等之優點,但也具有不能考慮不可預料事件、對模稜兩可問題難劃分、專家代表性質疑、耗費時間等之缺點。 在醫務管理的領域中,常面臨高度變化的醫療政策,對於預測未來的多變情況下,德菲法不失為一種值得加以應用的研究方法。
Delphi method is a qualitative and quantitative analysis for interdisciplinary research. For a predetermined topic, anonymous questionnaire and discussion are carried on between experts until reaching a consensus and solving problems. This method avoids the problems of qualitative research, which usually lacks stringency. We can use Delphi method to generate professional consensus for an ambiguous, complicate and disputable topic. The advantages are as follows: being able to achieve consensus among experts, participants remaining independent during the involvement, surmounting geographic distance, and not requiring sophisticated statistics. However, there are some disadvantages: unpredictable results, difficulty in separating ambiguous issues, panel members may be not representative and time-consuming. In the field of health care management, medical policies are often quickly modified. Delphi method appears to be an important research tool to predict such a variety.