Participation level:
- Medium (Opinions noted)
Innovation level:
- Medium (Some new elements)
Facilitator skill level, and other support required:
- High (Specialist skills)
- Medium (Computer & other expertise)
Can be used for:
- Engage community
- Discover community issues
- Develop community capacity
- Communicate an issue
Deliberative Opinion Polls aim to develop well-informed core group representatives, who have been privy to good quality information and who can take this information back to share within the community.
Deliberative Opinion Polls will deliver a report which reflects informed public opinion on an issue or proposal. Such reports may then be distributed to the wider community via the popular media.
The DOP uses a random sample of the population so that the results can be extrapolated to the community as a whole. The DOP advises decision makers and the media what the public would think if they had enough time to consider the issue properly.
- DOPs involve a large number of participants (between 250 and 600), therefore set-up costs are high.
- Informing the participants normally irequires access to experts in a number of fields of knowledge
- Speakers need to be organised
- With so many participants' opinions, managing data is a significant undertaking.
- Organising and running the event can be time consuming.
- Organisers need to allow time to select participants, undertake an initial opinion poll, allow two-four days for the deliberation process, and then allow time for another poll, and formulating the report.
Organizing Deliberative Opinion Poll
How many people to organize?
- Large (> 12 people)
- Medium (2-12 people)
Time required:
- Long (> 6 months)
- Medium (6 weeks-6 months)
Cost:
- High (> AUD$10,000)
- Medium (AUD$1,000-AUD$10,000)
- Determine a random sample of the population, so that participants are representative of the wider groups in the community.
- Conduct baseline survey of opinion.
- Contact experts and politicians who may be required to inform the participants on specific aspects of the issue.
- Brief participants and dispatch written information.
- Give participants 2-4 days to compose questions and engage politicians and experts in plenary discussions.
- Record views on a particular issue before the poll begins and again at the completion of the poll.
- Changes in opinion are measured and incorporated into a report.
- DOPs are often conducted in conjunction with television/media companies.
