A Delphi technique approach of identifying and validating subsidised low-income housing satisfaction indicators

Abstract: This paper reports on the practical experience of the researchers on the adoption of the inductive approach to knowledge diffusion through the use of the Delphi technique approach. The Delphi method is an essential technique of reaching consensus by experts on issues that cannot be resolved in a once off discussion. The research commenced with an extensive review of existing literature in order to identify the core and sub-variables which depicts housing satisfaction, to develop a Delphi questionnaire that was used in the Delphi study. A three iterative round Delphi technique was conducted to attain consensus of the identified housing satisfaction indicators. The experts used for this study were identified from different sources. The sources included the South African institutions of higher learning faculties, research institutes, the South Africa Department of Human Settlement, conference keynote speakers related to housing and human settlement issues in workshops, and individuals who have committed their lives working on the area of sustainable human settlement and housing related issues in South Africa. After three iterative Delphi rounds, consensus was achieved on the identified core-and sub-indicators identified from the literature and other added variables as suggested by the experts during the Delphi process. This study encourage the use of the Delphi technique as a method to achieve consensus in areas where consensus has not been reached such as in housing satisfaction studies to identify indicators for subsidised housing development in South Africa. The author argues that the Delphi method is a comprehensive method of attaining consensus on challenging issues of housing satisfaction; however, the technique requires proper communication management in order to achieve the required results