PILOT STUDIES

• What is a pilot study?

  • Initial run-through of procedures to be used in an investigation
  • Study is trialled on a small number of people 
  • Saves time and money- identify flaws
  • Spot ambiguities / confusion in tasks / information given to participants
• What happens if the task is too hard / too easy?

  • Task too hard- floor effect (low performance e.g. no / low scores)
  • Task too easy- ceiling effect (high performance e.g. virtually full marks /full marks)