What might you do before you start a pilot study?

What might you do before you start a pilot study?

• A. Develop a plan of care to test on those few people
• B. Select the sample
• C. Obtain funding
• D. Design data collection instruments

Answer: (A)

A pilot study is a small, trial run to test the practicality of an intervention and the procedures you’ll use. Before you begin, it’s essential to have a concrete plan of care to test on a few participants. This provides a clear protocol—what you’ll deliver, how often, and what outcomes you’ll measure—so you can assess feasibility, identify practical issues, and refine the approach before scaling up. While choosing the sample, securing funding, and designing data collection tools are important steps in research, they’re best grounded in a defined plan of care for the pilot. Having that plan first helps ensure the pilot actually evaluates the intended intervention and the measurement processes, rather than testing something vague or undefined.

A pilot study is a small, trial run to test the practicality of an intervention and the procedures you’ll use. Before you begin, it’s essential to have a concrete plan of care to test on a few participants. This provides a clear protocol—what you’ll deliver, how often, and what outcomes you’ll measure—so you can assess feasibility, identify practical issues, and refine the approach before scaling up.

While choosing the sample, securing funding, and designing data collection tools are important steps in research, they’re best grounded in a defined plan of care for the pilot. Having that plan first helps ensure the pilot actually evaluates the intended intervention and the measurement processes, rather than testing something vague or undefined.