Online Deliberative Polling

Online Deliberative Polling® is especially useful for studies of geographically dispersed communities and organizations and for gauging the effects of long term deliberation.  It is also, other things being equal, less expensive than face-to-face Deliberative Polling, especially for geographically dispersed communities and organizations.

Online Deliberative Polls differ from face-to-face Deliberative Polls in the following respects:

• The participants "meet" to discuss the issues online (communicating by voice, rather than text).
• The small groups are assorted by meeting-time preferences, rather than randomly assigned
• The deliberations are spread over a longer period (at least several weeks).
• The questioning of policy experts and policy makers is by text, and their answers are by text or video.
• The software permits automated tracking of the discussions, questions and answers, and usage of briefing materials.

In other respects the designs are similar. The participants are scientifically sampled, the small group discussions are led by trained moderators, and the participants’ opinions are gauged before and after deliberation.