Glossary O

Online …

See also  e…

Online Community

Individuals who belong to a network sharing common interests and using new technology tools to interact with each other.

Open Days, Consultative

Usually relating to fixed buildings or institutions and meant to show the physical attributes of the building or the work that takes place within it for the purposes of a consultation.

Open Question

This means questions where you can express your own views and opinions rather than picking your answer from a list of options

Open Space

1. A democratic framework is created from which participants create their own programme of discussions around a central theme. Flexible method that can cope with very large numbers of people.

2. Open Space Technology  was created in the mid-1980s by organizational consultant Harrison Owen. Open Space conferences have no keynote speakers, no pre-announced schedules of workshops, no panel discussions, no organizational booths. Instead, anyone who wants to initiate a discussion or activity, writes it down on a large sheet of paper in big letters and then stands up and announces it to the group. After selecting one of the many pre-established times and places, they post their proposed workshop on a wall. When everyone who wants to has announced and posted their initial offerings, it is time for "the village marketplace": Participants mill around the wall, putting together their personal schedules for the remainder of the conference. The first meetings begin immediately.  

Opinion Polls

These are used where a representative sample of people are required to vote for or against one or more options.

See also Deliberative Opinion Polls and Referenda

Opinionmeter

This is a unit (basically a simple keypad terminal and screen although more advanced units use touch screens) with the capacity to hold a number of questions in a questionnaire format. Members of the public can use the keypad to indicate their response. Usually located in a place relevant to the research and easily accessible to the target group.

Outcome

See Consultation Outcome

Output

See Consultation Output