The Delphi Survey study (see Appendix III iv) It was decided therefore to use a survey to elicit the opinions of a large group of multidisciplinary professionals throughout the UK who were all experienced in providing services in the community for people with ID. The methodology of the Delphi technique was chosen for this study because this is a widely recognized rigorous and systematic way of establishing a consensus of expert opinion (Linstone & Xxxxxx, 1975). The Delphi method is a group technique used to obtain the consensus opinion of a group of experts and was first used as an aid in decision- making in the military (Landeta, 2006). It is an iterative process that allows anonymity to participants, controlled feedback and quantitative analysis of responses. The Delphi survey method can be used to gather a range of opinions from a large number of participants and the findings can then be supplemented by in-depth interviews (Landeta, 2006). The Delphi survey method provides valuable benefits over a traditional group feedback based on direct interaction. There is more extensive consideration for the participants thanks to its repetitive nature, and there is a reduction of some undesirable effects that can be found with focus groups’ such as inhibition and dominant personalities (Xxxxxxx, 2006). The Delphi method is particularly useful in areas of research such as in health service delivery where there is uncertainty, controversy or limited evidence (Xxxxxxxx et al. 1999). It has been successfully used previously in generic mental health services research (e.g. Fiander & Xxxxx, 2000). A potential weakness of the Delphi survey method is that it can be constrained by what experts already know about a topic. In this method there is no opportunity for participants to facilitate the development of their ideas, although the Delphi survey method does expose the participants to each other’s suggestions and ideas and therefore other influences en route to the gaining of the consensus agreement. Before then proceeding to feasibility and/or pilot studies it was important to enrich the evidence elicited by the Delphi study. This was approached by using in-depth interviews of clinicians with expertise in the field of services in the community for people with ID and mental health problems.
