The use of the Nominal Group Technique for eliciting opinion for policy evaluation

Summary

Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a structured process for gathering knowledge from groups. The NGT has proven particularly effective and efficient for assessments of organic farming and other agri-environmental policies. These assessments typically consider impacts on a wide range of often conflicting objectives including economic, social and environmental objectives; often in situations were an incomplete knowledge base prevents an evidence–based assessment. The NGT process acquires knowledge in a manner that enhances group dynam-ics and limits the effect of dominant individuals. This paper presents an application of the NGT for assess-ing organic farming support schemes in Wales. This application was im-plemented using a computer-based Group Decision Support System (GDSS) which was constructed from common business software applications