Nominal Group Technique — Structured Group Consensus Method
Nominal Group Technique (NGT) · Also known as: NGT, structured group process, nominal group process, priority-setting group method
The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a structured group facilitation method designed to generate and prioritise ideas, problems, or solutions while ensuring equal participation from all members. Developed by Delbecq and Van de Ven in 1971, it combines silent individual idea generation with structured group discussion and systematic voting to produce a ranked list of priorities. Unlike unstructured focus groups, NGT prevents dominant voices from suppressing quieter participants, making it especially valuable for needs assessment, program planning, and stakeholder priority-setting in applied research and policy contexts.
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When to use it
NGT is appropriate when a research or planning team needs to identify, rank, and reach structured consensus on a set of priorities, needs, problems, or solutions from a defined stakeholder group. It is ideal when equal participation is critical — for example, when status differences, personality dominance, or cultural norms might otherwise suppress minority views. It suits needs assessments, program planning, policy prioritisation, curriculum development, and service evaluation. Ideal group size is 5–12 participants; for larger stakeholder populations, multiple independent NGT groups can be run in parallel and their outputs combined. NGT is not appropriate when the research goal is to explore the social dynamics of discussion, when in-depth narrative accounts of lived experience are needed, or when the question is purely exploratory and no definite set of options can be listed.
Strengths & limitations
- Equal participation: the silent generation and round-robin phases structurally prevent dominant voices from monopolising idea generation.
- Efficiency: a well-facilitated NGT session produces a ranked consensus list from a group of 5–12 in two to three hours.
- Produces both qualitative data (the listed ideas and clarifications) and quantitative data (the aggregate ranked scores), supporting mixed-methods analysis.
- Reduces social conformity pressure relative to unstructured focus groups; anonymous voting protects individual judgement from status and peer influence.
- Versatile across disciplines — widely used in health services research, education, social policy, organisational development, and community planning.
- Requires a skilled facilitator to manage timing, neutrality, and group dynamics; a poorly run session can produce shallow or biased results.
- The method structures convergence: it is designed to produce a ranked list, not to explore open-ended complexity or contested meanings.
- The final ranked list reflects the priorities of the specific participants recruited; results are not statistically generalisable to the broader population.
- Logistical requirements — all participants must be co-present (physically or virtually) at the same time — can limit feasibility in dispersed or hard-to-reach populations.
Frequently asked
How is NGT different from a focus group?
A focus group is an open, moderator-guided discussion that deliberately captures group interaction, disagreement, and the social construction of meaning. NGT suppresses open discussion during idea generation in order to ensure equal contribution and reduce conformity pressure, then uses structured voting to produce a ranked list of priorities. Use a focus group when you want to understand how people collectively make sense of an issue; use NGT when you need a structured, ranked consensus output from a stakeholder group.
How is NGT different from the Delphi method?
Both methods are designed to produce structured group consensus while minimising social conformity pressure. The key differences are format and iteration: the Delphi method is conducted asynchronously over multiple rounds of anonymous questionnaires, making it suitable for geographically dispersed expert panels. NGT is conducted in a single synchronous session with a small face-to-face (or videoconference) group. Delphi is better for large dispersed groups requiring multiple feedback iterations; NGT is faster and richer when participants can be brought together in real time.
How many participants does an NGT session need?
The optimal group size is 5–12 participants. Fewer than five reduces the diversity of ideas generated; more than twelve makes the round-robin sharing phase unwieldy and the clarification discussion too lengthy. When a larger stakeholder population must be consulted, multiple separate NGT groups can be run in parallel — each producing its own ranked list — and the results combined through a second-level analysis.
Can NGT be conducted online or virtually?
Yes. Virtual NGT using videoconferencing platforms combined with shared online whiteboards or collaborative documents (e.g., Miro, Google Jamboard, or survey tools for anonymous voting) is well-established in the literature following adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The facilitator must pay additional attention to managing turn-taking and ensuring that the silent generation phase is genuinely silent and uninterrupted for all participants.
Does NGT produce qualitative or quantitative data?
Both. The listed ideas and clarification discussion yield rich qualitative data that can be subjected to thematic or content analysis. The voting and ranking phase produces numerical scores per item and an aggregate ranked list — quantitative data that can be reported descriptively or, across multiple NGT groups, analysed statistically. This dual-output character makes NGT naturally suited to mixed-methods research designs.
Sources
- Delbecq, A. L., & Van de Ven, A. H. (1971). A group process model for problem identification and program planning. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 7(4), 466–492. link ↗
- Delbecq, A. L., Van de Ven, A. H., & Gustafson, D. H. (1975). Group Techniques for Program Planning: A Guide to Nominal Group and Delphi Processes. Scott Foresman. link ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 3). Nominal Group Technique (NGT). ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/qualitative/nominal-group-technique
Which method?
Set this method beside its closest kin and read them side by side — the library lays the books on the table; the choice is yours.
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