Pilot Study Section
William & Mary research-compliance guidance describes pilot work as preliminary, small-scale exploratory work used to test or develop procedures, design, or instruments intended for a larger study. Ethics and institutional-review requirements for pilot or feasibility work vary by jurisdiction and institution; the cited William & Mary procedure is institutional guidance, not a universal rule.
A Pilot Study section explains the preliminary testing done before the main study, what the pilot was intended to test, and what was changed or learned before full implementation.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
Ethics and institutional-review requirements for pilot or feasibility work vary by jurisdiction and institution; the cited William & Mary procedure is institutional guidance, not a universal rule.
Further guidance
Content
Do not label every informal pretest as a formal pilot study, and do not imply that pilot findings establish the main study’s substantive conclusions.
Practical Application
A Pilot Study section should state what was tested before the main study, who or what was involved, what feasibility or measurement questions the pilot addressed, and what changed as a result. Keep pilot findings distinct from the main study’s results.
Purpose
State the pilot purpose, scale, procedures or instruments tested, major refinements that followed, and whether any pilot data were included in the main study when that matters to interpretation.
Reader Check
Can a reader tell both why the pilot was run and which design decisions changed because of it?
Worked Example
Write “The pilot tested survey length with 12 volunteers; median completion time exceeded the target, so five redundant items were removed before recruitment began.”
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- IRB Procedure for Review and Approval for Pilot and Feasibility Work (opens in a new tab)William & Mary · Institutional research-compliance guidance defining pilot and feasibility work as preliminary testing of procedures, design, or instruments