Pilot experiment

A pilot study, pilot project, pilot test, or pilot experiment is a small scale preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research project.[1]

Implementation

Pilot experiments are frequently carried out before large-scale quantitative research, in an attempt to avoid time and money being used on an inadequately designed project. A pilot study is usually carried out on members of the relevant population.[1] A pilot study is often used to test the design of the full-scale experiment which then can be adjusted.[1] It is a potentially valuable insight and, should anything be missing in the pilot study, it can be added to the full-scale (and more expensive) experiment to improve the chances of a clear outcome.[1]

Other applications

In sociology, pilot studies can be referred to as small-scale studies that will help identify design issues before the main research is done. Although pilot experiments have a well-established tradition, their usefulness as a strategy for change has been questioned, at least in the domain of environmental management.[2] Extrapolation from a pilot study to large scale strategy may not be assumed as possible, partly due to the exceptional resources and favorable conditions that accompany a pilot study.[1]

In the health research context, studies conducted in preparation for a future randomized controlled trial are known as pilot and feasibility studies, where pilot studies are a subset of feasibility studies.[1] A feasibility study asks whether something can be done, should we proceed with it, and if so, how. A pilot study asks the same questions, but also has a specific design feature: in a pilot study, a future study – or part of a future study – is conducted on a smaller scale.[1][3]

A checklist was published in 2016 to provide guidance on how to report pilot trials.[4]

gollark: What? It's still weighting different people differently. Which is not what I would consider representative.
gollark: By design.
gollark: ... but it clearly values the votes of individual people differently.
gollark: That would seem to contradict this.
gollark: Isn't it *also* the case that some states get more electoral college votes per unit of population?

See also

References
  1. Thabane L, Ma J, Chu R, Cheng J, Ismaila A, Rios LP, Robson R, Thabane M, Giangregorio L, Goldsmith CH (2010). "A tutorial on pilot studies: the what, why and how". BMC Med Res Methodol. 10 (1): 1. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-10-1. PMC 2824145. PMID 20053272.
  2. Billé, R. (2010) “Action without change? On the use and usefulness of pilot experiments in environmental management.”. S.A.P.I.EN.S. 3 (1)
  3. Sandra M Eldridge, Gillian A Lancaster, Michael J Campbell, Lehana Thabane, Sally Hopewell, Claire L Coleman, Christine M Bond. Defining Feasibility and Pilot Studies in Preparation for Randomised Controlled Trials: Development of a Conceptual Framework. PLoS ONE. 2016; 11(3)
  4. Sandra M Eldridge, Claire L Chan, Michael J Campbell, Christine M Bond, Sally Hopewell, Lehana Thabane, Gillian A Lancaster on behalf of the PAFS consensus group. Consort 2010 statement: extension to randomised pilot and feasibility trials. BMJ. 2016; 355: i5239
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