How Will the e-Explosion Affect How We Do Research?: Phase I: The E-DEL+I Proof-of-Concept Exercise

Publication Date: January 2003

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Author(s): Carolyn Wong

Research Area: Science and technology

Type: Brief

Abstract:

What better way to prove that collaborative research can be aided by the electronic tools now available than by using those tools to conduct an actual research project? Using an extension of the Delphi method of exercises known as “E-Del+I,” RAND researchers and others involved in this project attempted to do just that. This briefing documents their efforts to develop the taxonomy (including a research framework and its various phases) of e-aided research and conduct the exercise that would demonstrate the feasibility of this approach. The exercise succeeded in showing that researchers in diverse locations could achieve consensus (and fail to achieve consensus) on a number of issues important to the Army today, preserving the anonymity and independence of the participants and securing two provisional patents in the process. The exercise also demonstrated the cost, time, and efficiency benefits of the E-Del+I method.