Deliberative workshops are a form of facilitated group discussion that provide participants with the opportunity to consider an issue in depth, challenge each others opinions and develop their views/arguments to reach an informed end position. Deliberative workshops are similar to focus group although there tends to be more focus on deliberation. They can take anything from a few hours to several days to conduct.
Deliberative workshops allow for an in depth discussion on a specific topic with a few people over a couple of hours.
It allows the organisation conducting the event to have a greater understanding of what may lie behind an opinion or how people's views change as they are given new information or deliberate on an issue.
Deliberative workshops typically involve between 8 to 16 participants. Who is involved will depend on the issue at stake; participants could be selected on the basis of demographics, interest group, or random selection.
Medium-Low
Low, unless the workshop takes place on several occasions
Like all forms of qualitative research, deliberative workshops are open to manipulation: how the discussions/activities are framed, how the participants are introduced to the topic, and what questions are asked will all influence the results.
Initiating a deliberative dialogue effort may not be the solution for every community wrestling with an issue. To plan and implement it successfully will require work, time, resources, and especially the willingness and enthusiasm of the people involved. For it to be a uniquely valuable experience, participants will need to explore the topic they discuss at a deeper level than they usually do and with others whose perspectives significantly differ from their own. http://www.sedl.org/policy/insights/n09/8.html
Note: Most of the material in this link is borrowed from people and participation.net. It is a very informative site on issues related to public participation and clarifies some of the confusion many of us initially have about forms of consultation and engagement. http://www.peopleandparticipation.net/display/Involve/Home