Online group deliberation for the elicitation of shared values to underpin decision making

Values have been shown to underpin our attitudes, behaviour and motivate our decisions. Values do not exist in isolation but have meaning in relation to other values. However, values are not solely the purview of individuals as communities and organisations have core values implicit in their culture, policies and practices. Values for a group can be determined by a minority in power, derived by algorithmically merging values each group member holds, or set by deliberative consensus. The elicitation of values for the group by deliberation is likely to lead to widespread acceptance of values arrived at, however enticing individuals to engage in face to face discussion about values has been found to be very difficult. We present an online deliberative communication approach for the anonymous deliberation of values and claim that the framework has the elements required for the elicitation of shared values. © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.