adj. complete or all encompassing. For example, a set of 13 hearts, 13 spades, 13 diamonds, 13 clubs, and two jokers forms an exhaustive set of all possible playing cards that could be drawn.
a method of developing and improving group consensus by eliminating the effects of personal relationships and dominating personalities. Conflict is managed by circulating a questionnaire, which is edited and summarized on the basis of the last round of comments and then reissued for further response by those participating in the survey. The Delphi technique is used in many situations where convergence of opinion is desirable (e.g., for defining goals, setting standards, or identifying and ranking needs and priorities).