Making use of the Delphi technique, research is being designed that will formulate expert-based strategic guidelines on entrepreneurial education within the South African higher education sector. This paper illustrates the use of the Delphi technique for this purpose.

Presenting a research practitioner’s perspective, the aim of the paper is to identify the design considerations that arise in the use of the Delphi technique and to illustrate how they are addressed. The main characteristics of the Delphi are presented and arguments for the use of the Delphi within a constructivist paradigm are discussed. Practical issues related to the design of the Delphi, panel-member selection, and the formulation of panel questions, are examined. This example of the use of the Delphi, serves to highlight the interface and tension between the design requirements posed by the research problem versus those requirements imposed by the typical conventions of a research method, and illustrates how a researcher needs to grapple with both philosophical and practical requirements to develop a coherent design that is customised to the particular study’s needs.