DELPHI AS A METHODOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVE FOR RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SCIENCES: AN EXPERIENCE ON COLLABORATIVE CONSUMPTION

ABSTRACT

Created in the 1950s from aerospace research, the Delphi method has been gaining diversity in its uses and models. The purpose of this article is to reflect on Delphi as a methodological alternative in the field of social sciences, analyzing its possibilities and challenges based on a research on collaborative consumption. The results showed depth in the identification of drivers and inhibitors of collaborative consumption in multiple dimensions (legal, business, technological and socio-cultural). The study concluded that the Delphi method proves to be current, innovative, and pertinent to contemporary social research due to its prospective capacity in complex contexts;lack of presence (mainly due to the increase in remote connections evidenced from the Covid-19 pandemic), collective and iterative construction of knowledge;reduction of hierarchies and participation of specialists. The challenges are the long research process and the choice of specialists (either due to homogeneity or the diversity between them).