The Use of Nominal Group Technique: Case Study in Vietnam

Abstract

The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a structured process to gather information from a group. The technique wasfirst described in early 1970s and has since become a widely-used standard to facilitate working groups. The NGT iseffective for generating large numbers of creative new ideas and for group priority setting. This article reports on acase study carried out in Vietnam on exploring the perceptions of key stakeholders towards the vocational educationtraining (VET) sector where the study applied the NGT. Therefore, this article has two purposes: (1) describing whatNGT is and outlines how to use it; and (2) describing the case study findings by providing an analysis of datagenerated during a workshop led by the author. The findings of the case study indicated that the Government policyfactor or the roles of Government on the VET sector are ranked as the most important force impacting upon thequality of VET programs in Vietnam. Both the established research technique used to collect data and present thefindings of the case study have particular significance as they contribute to a major problem which has not beenresearched seriously in Vietnam in the past as has happened in many other countries. Importantly, the study providesan overview of the Vietnamese VET system which both VET experts in Vietnam and international scholars will beable to understand.