PILOT STUDY
A pilot or feasibility study is a small experiment designed to test
logistics and gather information prior to a larger study, in order to improve
the latter’s quality and efficiency. A pilot study can reveal deficiencies in the
design of a proposed experiment or procedure and these can then be
addressed before time and resources are expended on large scale studies. A
good research strategy requires careful planning and a pilot study will often
be a part of this strategy.
Definition
According to Julie Stachowiak: “A pilot study is a smaller version of a
larger study that is conducted to prepare for that study.”
According to Short and Pigeon: “Pilot studies are small-scale
rehearsals of larger data collections.”
According to Gordon Marshall: “A pilot study is any small-scale test of
a research instrument (such as a questionnaire, experiment or interview-
schedule), run in advance of the main fieldwork and used to test the utility
of the research design.”
Purposes
The purposes of pilot study are as follows:
Developing and testing adequacy of research instruments
Assessing the feasibility of a (full-scale) study/survey
Designing a research protocol
Assessing whether the research protocol is realistic and workable
Establishing whether the sampling frame and technique are effective
Assessing the likely success of proposed recruitment approaches
Identifying logistical problems which might occur using proposed
methods
Estimating variability in outcomes to help determining sample size
Collecting preliminary data
Determining what resources (finance, staff) are needed for a planned
study
Assessing the proposed data analysis techniques to uncover potential
problems
Developing a research question and research plan
Training a researcher in as many elements of the research process as
possible
Convincing funding bodies that the research team is competent and
knowledgeable
Convincing funding bodies that the main study is feasible and worth
funding
Convincing other stakeholders that the main study is worth
supporting.
Advantages
The following are the advantages of pilot study:
1. It permits preliminary testing of the hypotheses that leads to testing
more precise hypotheses in the main study. It may lead to changing
some hypotheses, dropping some or developing new hypotheses.
2. It often provides the researcher with ideas, approaches and clues you
may not have foreseen before conducting the pilot study. Such ideas
and clues increase the chances of getting clearer findings in the main
study.
3. It permits a thorough check of the planned statistical and analytical
procedures, giving you a chance to evaluate their usefulness for the
data. You may then be able to make needed alterations in the data
collecting methods and therefore, analyze data in the main study more
efficiently.
4. It can greatly reduce the number of unanticipated problems because
you have an opportunity to redesign parts of your study to overcome
difficulties that the pilot study reveals.
5. It may save a lot of time and money. Unfortunately, many research
ideas that seem to show great promise are unproductive when actually
carried out. The pilot study almost always provides enough data for
the researcher to decide whether to go ahead with the main study.
6. In the pilot study, the researcher may try out a number of alternative
measures and then select those that produce the clearest results for
the main study.
Limitations
The following are the limitations of pilot study:
1. Completing a pilot study successfully is not a guarantee of the
success of the full-scale survey.
2. Although pilot study findings may offer some indication of the likely
size of the response rate in the main survey, they cannot guarantee
this because they do not have a statistical foundation and are nearly
always based on small numbers.
3. The possibility of making inaccurate predictions or assumptions on
the basis of pilot data; problems arising from contamination; and
problems related to funding.
4. Furthermore, other problems may not become obvious until the larger
scale study is conducted.
PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION
Once the problem has been decided and methodology is planned, the
systematic collection of reliable and valid evidence is the next step in the
research process. Data collection should be systematic and meticulous.
The purpose of gathering is to transform them into information in
order to identify variable, measure variables, describe behavior and obtain
empirical evidence.
There are various steps involved in data collection as follows:
Step 1: Define Your Needs
The first step in any data collection project is simply to assess the
needs. Try writing down your overall goal and objectives for collecting data
as succinctly as possible. Just this process of putting the words on paper
will force you to think critically about your needs and help you refine what
you are trying to do.
Step 2: Clearly Define the Project
Before you begin any data collection project, you should have a few
details clearly defined, preferably written out on paper.
Step 3: Identify the Data Sources
After clearly defining the project objectives and goals, it is time to start
thinking about where to get the data you will need for your project.
Step 4: Plan How to Store the Data
When collecting the data, you need to have an idea of how the data
you collect will be stored (usually on a computer) and how someone may use
the collected data to analyze it.
Step 5: Choose Your Project Design
Based on the goals of your project, you will need to select an
appropriate study design. There are three main categories of study design as
follows:
Descriptive design
Retrospective design
Prospective design
Step 6: Eliminating Bias and Confounding Variable
In this step it is pointed out that a few principles that is watched
carefully before conducting your research or collecting data.
Step 7: Participant Selection
When you want to gather information about a group of people such
as, “the number of people in Neyveli town that drive to work everyday,” it
would be nice to just observe all of the people in Neyveli town that drive to
work.
Regrettably, in terms of staff, budget, time and other available
resources, it is not usually feasible to observe or question the entire
population you are interested in getting information about. This is where
probability sampling comes into play.
