World Wide Web

Engineering

Participatory design

Chromatography

Social psychology

Data collection

Parallels

Computer science

Qualitative property

Anthropology

Management science

Qualitative research

Mechanical engineering

Physics

Psychology

Optics

Citizen journalism

Sociology

Focus (optics)

Focus group

Data science

Strengths and weaknesses

Chemistry

Sample (material)

Knowledge management

Participatory action research

Participatory evaluation

Machine learning

Social science

International Journal of Qualitative Methods

We introduce and discuss “World Café” (WC), a participatory assessment tool widely used in community development and organizational change processes, as additional qualitative research method. We propose WC as a participatory method of data collection for a large group of participants, discussing its strengths and weaknesses in comparison to semistructured interviews and focus groups, two well-established methods in qualitative research. As a research method, we find that WC complements other methods in important ways. When there are many participants, it helps guide the exploration and verification of themes. Integrating the method into the research design may help increase both the reference sample and the level of participation. Furthermore, as a participatory method, it not only produces data for the researchers but also has the potential to benefit the participants, as it facilitates dialogue and mutual learning, thus motivating their participation and responses.

The “World Café” as a Participatory Method for Collecting Qualitative Data