The use of Electronic Brainstorming for Collecting Ideas in Scientific Research Teams

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to present an under-used technique for collecting ideas in scientific research teams, namely electronic brainstorming. This technique employs networked computer terminals and software designed to allow group members to communicate electronically during idea-generation tasks. A large number of studies have demonstrated that electronic brainstorming is a useful non-verbal technique for improving the efficacy of e-collaboration, but there are very few situations in which this technique has been used to collect ideas in scientific research teams. Writing articles, reports, white papers, and other scientific documents requires good ideas that can be generated through effective brainstorming. Brainstorming is also recognized as a problem-solving technique which can help researchers find solutions to complex problems by listing their potential causes. Although it is a simple technique that can gather ideas from a group of individuals rapidly by letting them express their ideas freely, it has not been widely used to collect ideas for complex research projects involving researchers working together or in geographically dispersed teams. After reviewing the literature in the field of (electronic) brainstorming, the challenges and opportunities for extending this technique to online research by scientific teams are discussed.