A question that you will need to consider when you are
designing your study is whether to pilot the study on some test subjects. My
recommendation is yes! Do it! I always pilot test my studies, and the reasoning
is simple, I want to know that everything works in the way I have visualized, I
want to check how long it takes, and I want to make sure everything is clear to
the subject. Be aware that you must have IRB approval before conducting any
pilot tests.
Whom should you ask to be pilot subjects? There are a number
of schools of thought on this. If there are concerns about the suitability of
your questions, you may want to consider selecting people who are familiar with
your topic but not necessarily eligible for your study. Let's use an example of
a study on women who are currently in domestic violence relationships, I would
recommend searching for women who were formerly in such relationships. They
would be familiar with the topic but you are not using possible participants.
You can them make any needed changes (and submit the changes to IRB through the
Change in Procedure form), before you test real participants.
I would also recommend using the above procedure if you are
using a technique with which you are unfamiliar. So if you have never conducted
a qualitative interview (even if you have done other types of interviews), take
the time to do some practice ones. You can get over your nervousness, learn how
to pace yourself, and learn the value of being silent and waiting for the
participant to think about their response. Plan to always debrief your pilot
subjects by speaking to them about your study when you are done with their
testing/ interview. Ask them how long it took to complete any surveys and how
they felt about it (e.g., bored, annoyed, interested). Ask if any questions
were vague or any words unclear. Also, ask if there were things they wished you
had asked them (this is always a good last question for any interview).
A second option is to have friends or family members be test
subjects. This is best used for general surveys, when anyone is eligible to be
in a study. It is not advisable to have someone pretend to fit a specific
subgroup (e.g., domestic violence victims). You can use family or friends for
trying out the technique, but I do not recommend this for any official pilot
interviews; family and friends will not respond in the same way as people you
do not know, so you really will not get the experience that you need.
A third piloting option (if you have experience in the
technique) is to consider having your first few "real" subjects be
potential pilot subjects. Again, interview them after they are done and ask
about the issues listed above. If no changes are needed, then you can count
them as "real" subjects. However, if you need to make any changes in
the materials, questions, or your techniques they may not be included in your
official sample.
Treat pilot testing seriously, record your interactions with
the subject, go back and listen to the recording. Everyone hates to hear their
own voice, but it is particularly important with any interviews that you make
sure you are giving people sufficient time to answer. The tendency is for the
new researcher to be worrying about asking the questions, the trick is to learn
to worry about their response. Did they actually answer your question? Did you
cut off their answer?
Next time we will look at criticism. Do you have an issue or
a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me
your ideas! Send me an email with your ideas. leann.stadtlander@mail.waldenu.edu
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