What is a pilot survey?
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One of the key elements in conducting surveys and other data gathering methods is efficiency. It is important to utilize money, time and effort in the most efficient way possible to achieve success in performing surveys, especially those that require a large number of participants. To promote efficiency in conducting surveys, researchers usually perform a pilot survey.
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What is a Pilot Survey?
A pilot survey is a strategy used to test the questionnaire using a smaller sample compared to the planned sample size. In this phase of conducting a survey, the questionnaire is administered to a percentage of the total sample population, or in more informal cases just to a convenience sample.
Advantages of a Pilot Survey
Conducting a pilot survey prior to the actual, large-scale survey presents many benefits and advantages for the researcher. One of these is the exploration of the particular issues that may potentially have an antagonistic impact on the survey results. These issues include the appropriateness of questions to the target population.
A pilot survey also tests the correctness of the instructions to be measured by whether all the respondents in the pilot sample are able to follow the directions as indicated. It also provides better information on whether the type of survey is effective in fulfilling the purpose of the study. Practically speaking, pilot surveys save financial resources because if errors are found in the questionnaire or