Experiential evidence methods

Interviews ^{1-7 *+}

Structured, semi-structured or unstructured conversation with individuals or small groups to gather perspectives, opinions and world views.

Roundtable ⁺

Small group discussions with well-informed individuals to exchange perspectives and debate an issue or topic.

Focus groups ^{1-3, 5, 7*+}

In-depth exploration of an issue or topic with 8 to 12 individuals, under the direction of a facilitator, for up to 2.5 hours.

Yarning circles ⁺

A conversational process that involves the sharing of stories and the development of knowledge in a culturally prescribed and respectful way.

Workshops ⁺

An interactive process to discuss among groups of various sizes.

Nominal group technique ⁺

A structured approach to group brainstorming which combines information gathering, idea generation and consensus building on a specific topic.

User or working groups ^{2, 8, 9*+}

A small group established to process a particular issue or achieve a specific task.

Dialogues ⁺

Small group sessions, usually over one day, where individuals receive information and deliberate on a topic. A formal vote, ranking exercise or pre- and post- surveys assess the deliberation outcome.

Experts or representatives ^{4, 9, 10*}

Health professionals and consumer representatives on advisory councils, committees and participating in research or improvement initiatives and projects.

Consensus conference ^{8, 11*+}

A panel of experts evaluate the scientific literature related to an issue or topic, hear testimonies and then formulate recommendations.

Q-method ^12*

Investigates the perspectives of individuals who represent different views on a topic through ranking and sorting statements.

Citizen juries or mini publics ^{8, 11*+}

A small representative group of 12 to 24 individuals, deliberate on an issue or topic (generally one clearly framed question), over the period of 2 to 7 days. The groups are presented with evidence-based expert views.

Citizen panel ^11*+

A demographically representative group used to assess public preference or opinion.

Narratives or storytelling ^{3, 13-15*+}

An account of an individual’s experience and includes detail, characters and some plot. Communicated in verbal, print, audio or video formats.

Vignettes or case studies ^2*+

Self-reported verbal, print, audio or video illustrations, including key elements of a scenario, experience or setting.

Observation ^{1, 5, 16*+}

Gathering information by observing people, places and/or processes either directly or indirectly.

Checklists / rating scales ^6*

A checklist or rating scale presents a list of events or characteristics on which a person can indicate, by a check mark or rating on a scale, whether the event or characteristic of interest did occur or is present.

Polling ^8*+

Measures informed opinion on a particular issue, through aggregated individual opinions, rather than consensus.

Delphi ⁺

Iterative multi-stage process designed to combine opinion into group consensus, through multiple rounds of opinion sharing, discussion and aggregation of quantitative data.

Social media content ^{17, 18*+}

Written posts, comments and microblogs on social media platforms and networking sites.

Questionnaire / survey ^{2, 4, 6, 8, 19*+}

Specific set of open* or closed written questions to gather information from a large number of individuals.

Crowdsourcing ^20-22*

A process of having a large group, including experts and non-experts, share ideas or solve issues through activities, such as open challenges, contests, hackathons and innovation tournaments.

Creative arts ^{3, 5, 7, 23*+}

Art genres, such as performance, writing, painting, photography, collage and installation art, as a method or as technical, communication or aesthetic element.