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Deliberative Workshops

Brief Description:

Deliberative workshops is a generic name for small-scale dialogue events where the focus is on deliberation.

Description:

Deliberative workshops are a form of facilitated group discussion that provide participants with the opportunity to consider an issue in depth, challenge each other’s opinions and develop their views/arguments to reach an informed end position. Deliberative workshops are similar to focus group although there tends to be more focus on deliberation. They can take anything from a few hours to several days to conduct.

Used For:

Deliberative workshops allow for an in depth discussion on a specific topic with a few people over a couple of hours.

It allows the organisation conducting the event to have a greater understanding of what may lie behind an opinion or how people's views change as they are given new information or deliberate on an issue.


Suitable participants:

Deliberative workshops typically involve between 8 – 16 participants. Who is involved will depend on the issue at stake; participants could be selected on the basis of demographics, interest group, or random selection.

Cost:

Medium-Low

The cost of deliberative workshops is generally not high, unless you need to recruit participants through truly random selection, which can be costly.

An incentive may have to be offered to citizens in order to get them to participate in the workshop. Additional costs include
venue hire (choose an informal setting where possible), catering and supporting arrangements, such as childcare.

Sometimes a deliberative workshop reconvenes on several occasions; which will add to the cost and time requirement.


Time Requirements:

Low, unless the workshop takes place on several occasions

When To Use / What It Can Deliver:

  • To gauge the informed opinion of a small group of people
  • To observe and track how people's views and perspectives change through deliberation or as they receive information

When Not To Use / What It Cannot Deliver:

  • Deliberative workshops only involve small numbers of people and can therefore not be used to gather statistically significant data to accurately measure public opinion.
  • The fact that participants' views are developed through deliberation may also mean that they are not representative of the views of the wider public.

Strengths:

  • Allows participants the time and resources to consider an issue in depth, including costs, benefits and long-term consequences.
  • Discussing with others give participants an insight into other perspectives, allowing their own views to be developed and challenged.
  • Can build and improve relationships between participants.
  • Can give participants new knowledge and skills.

Weaknesses:

Like all forms of qualitative research, deliberative workshops are open to manipulation: how the discussions/activities are framed, how the participants are introduced to the topic, and what questions are asked will all influence the results.

Origin:


Case Studies:


Related Methods


Restrictions In Use


None

Further Information

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