BJSW Advance Access originally published online on October 31, 2005
British Journal of Social Work 2006 36(4):577-596; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch303
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Victoria Climbié Inquiry Data Corpus Project: Using the Delphi Method in Multidisciplinary Child Protection Research
Jacqui Gabb is Staff Tutor, Lecturer in Sociology at the Open University in Leeds and has carried out research and published in the area of families and sexuality.
Rachel Balen is Principal Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Huddersfield and leads a post-qualifying multi-disciplinary Masters pathway in child welfare and protection.
Graham Gibbs is Reader in Social Research Methods at the University of Huddersfield and leads a Masters pathway in social research and evaluation and has published on qualitative methods and computer use.
Christopher Hall is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield and has carried out research and published in child welfare, discourse and narrative analysis.
Andrew Teal is Computer Programmer specializing in learning materials and the School website at the University of Huddersfield.
Correspondence to Rachel Balen, Centre for Applied Childhood Studies, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK.
This paper introduces the Delphi research method and analyses its usefulness in multi-agency research. In particular, the authors examine how it was used in a project aimed at making the material generated by the Victoria Climbié Inquiry accessible to child welfare/protection professionals through organizing the oral evidence in such a way that it can become a web-based data corpus. The thematic analysis of research data-sets usually only reflects the theoretical and analytical ideas of the researchers; however, our research demonstrates that using the Delphi method incorporates thematic ideas both from researchers and from active professionals, thereby pooling expertise. Thus we argue that the Delphi method represents a valuable tool in multidisciplinary child welfare research as it embeds a breadth of expertise throughout the research process.
Keywords: Victoria Climbié Inquiry, data corpus, Delphi research method