Pilot studies

• Pilot studies are a small-scale trial run of a research study. They take place before the full-scale research project begins. They usually use a smaller number of participants who can be questioned afterwards about their experience
• The aims of piloting are to check the research works as its intended to and does not have any extraneous variables and is practical
• The aims of piloting include identifying any problems that can be rectified before running the full-scale study. For example, questions can be clarified and timings can be changed
• Pilot studies can be extremely useful in answering 4 main questions
• One question that pilot studies answer is "Do participants understand the instructions?" It means that any problems can be rectified before the full study begins if participants do not understand what they have to do
• One question that pilot studies answer is "Are the materials and timings appropriate?" A pilot study can make sure that words are clear, a list contains the right amount of words, pictures are clear and participants have the right amount of time. This allows problems to be rectified before the study begins.
• One question that pilot studies answer is "Ask a few participants about their experience of taking part". Debriefing participants after a pilot study can reveal any problems experienced during the study, this may help identify demand characteristics and this would provide an opportunity to reduce these before the study begins
• One question that pilot studies answer is "Have variables been operationalised sufficiently?" For example, if you wished to observe aggressive behaviour in a playground, you could operationalise aggressive as the amount of times children hit each other. This may highlight more behaviours that you didn't think of beforehand like biting and this would ensure that all variables have been identified and fully operationalised.