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Delphi methods are mostly used in the health sciences to reach agreement among experts on unclear issues. Generally, consensus is reached after several rounds of Delphi using standardized items. Additional open-ended questions offer respondents the opportunity to provide reasons for judgments. Although these free-text responses contribute substantially to the steering and result generation of the Delphi process, so far no analytical strategy has been established which takes into account the context and methodological principles of the Delphi procedure. Moreover, in already published Delphi studies the analysis of qualitative data is often not sufficiently disclosed.

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  We provide an overview of analytical strategies for free-text responses. We critically reflect on them with regard to their use and suitability in the context of Delphi procedures.
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  Following established qualitative methods of qualitative content analysis …