Citizen's Juries

Citizen's Juries provide the opportunity for people, drawn randomly from any local population, to express their view on any subject presented to them. The jury is convened and the participants listen to specialists presenting thier point of view on the subject. The jurors are then given the opportunity to give their judgements after hearing all the "evidence". (http://www.juryworld.com/what.htm) This is a type of social research that can be used very effectively in nursing research (http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU37.html) as an paper recently published in Nurse Education Today points out.

The paper "explains the concept of Citizens' Juries and how it is being used as a form of social research, that can simultaneously increase public participation in policy making. Participation has become a key component of the discourse in policy making, and public participation initiatives can be one way of bridging the democratic deficit.

"For nursing, Citizens' Juries offer a way of discovering lay people's considered judgment on key policy issues, while also providing a potentially powerful platform for citizens to express their concerns and priorities, thereby influencing the services they receive. A Citizens' Jury brings together a small group of people over a period of time and presents them with a policy question. The jurors listen to expert witnesses, examine the evidence, deliberate on the issues and arrive at a policy decision or set of recommendations. In this paper we argue that any ordinary person given the opportunity, enough time and the necessary resources can make decisions about complex policy matters. Key findings from two Citizens' Juries on genetics in Wales are offered as case studies.

To read the full article:
Iredale R, Longley M. (2006) From passive subject to active agent: The potential of Citizens' Juries for nursing research. Nurse Educ Today. Dec 7 [epub ahead of print]