Week 8: Readings response

I will like to comment on Gorman and Clayton’s explanation of the nominal group technique (NGT).This technique is given following a number of steps which includes: participants writing down silently their responses to a question, brainstorming, discussion and a final vote to rank the importance of the ideas. Although it seems that this technique offers an advantage to the researcher to develop a group discussion on a better organize way, I wonder how much this could affect the data gathered for qualitative analysis. One of the main characteristics of qualitative research is its flexibility in the way the researcher gather data by doing in-depth interviews and focus groups. Does NGT limit the participant’s explanation of his/her views? Gorman and Clayton indicate that one of the disadvantages of NGT is that the researcher can only address one issue at a time (p. 154). Can this be a limitation to analyze the participants’ opinions in a broader sense?