The study did not aim to get representative samples of experts, because the Delphi method requires panel members who are information and experience rich rather than representative.
19 This consensus-building methodology provides an opportunity for a representative group of experts to formulate research priorities.
Our aim was to obtain a balanced and representative sample of experts thus minimizing bias due to the selection of a small group of experts with a particular opinion.
A large and broadly representative group of experts was asked to provide their opinions on the extent to which particular conditions met the selected criteria, relying on supporting evidence and references from the scientific literature.
Nonetheless, panels are expensive and laborious to conduct: It is necessary to identify representative sets of experts, coordinate experts' schedules, arrange meetings, distribute panel questions in advance, and recruit a skilled facilitator to lead discussions either in person or over the phone [ 6, 7].
In lack of quantitative methods, this is usually achieved using medical consensus, i.e. a public statement on a particular aspect of medical knowledge available at the time it was written, and that is generally agreed upon as the evidence-based, state-of-the-art (or state-of-science) knowledge by a representative group of experts in that area.
To determine the schedule of a new treatment the common practice is to make use of the medical consensus, a typical policy where a representative group of experts in some medical areas commonly define the guidelines for the administration of a treatment, basing their decision on the state-of-the-art knowledge and past experimental evidence.
The second query was more representative of what experts face in early stages of protocol design.
The views of the key interviewees of current study may not be representative of all experts in Tehran or in Iran.
The views and opinions of the key informants may not be representative of all experts in KZN or in South Africa more broadly.
