Survey Pilot

The survey pilot is a field test of the questionnaire(s) and all survey protocols. Piloting is not just about the questionnaire: it is also an opportunity to test survey protocols (e.g. respondent selection, replacement, geo-data collection) and learn about relevant logistics. The Pilot is done before Enumerator Training. It is not the same as the field practice all enumerators do at the end of Training.

GUIDELINES FOR SURVEY PILOT

Stages of a Survey Pilot

A complete survey pilot includes 3 stages:

Figure 1: A Complete Survey Pilot Includes 3 Stages

Stage 1 - Pre-Pilot	Stage 2 - Content-focused Pilot	Stage 3 - Data-focused Pilot
Answer broad questions about survey design and context through qualitative interviews and focus group discussions	Refine overall order and structure, wording of specific questions, and translations. Check completeness of answer choice options, response variance, survey length.	Validate programming, export a sample dataset, check dataset structure and completeness, test all data quality checks
Early, printable draft, and/or qualitative instruments	A translated, printable, complete draft	A translated, programmed, final draft
Pen-and-Paper	Pen-and-Paper	Tablet/Phone-based

Are all 3 stages of piloting necessary for every survey?

All three stages of piloting are not necessarily required for every survey. If your survey is a brand new survey instrument, then it is necessary to start with Stage 1 - Pre-Pilot. If your survey is an adaptation of a well-designed questionnaire from a reliable source in the same country, then you may start the survey pilot with Stage 2 – Content focused pilot.

If your survey is an adaptation of a survey instrument from a previous data collection for the same project, and if significant revisions or additions have been made then start with Stage 2 – Content focused piloting. Otherwise in cases where you have not done any major changes to the adaptation, skip directly to Stage 3 i.e. Data-focused pilot.

Why do a pen-and-paper pilot for a CAPI survey?

Pen-and-paper pilots hold an advantage over CAPI surveys due to their flexibility in recording answers and qualitative observations. Pen-and-paper pilots are especially useful to:

• Record open-ended responses (critical for a pilot) more quickly / easily
• Draw lines and arrows between questions to suggest restructuring
• Record their observations and feedback in the margins
• Make notes of questionnaire wording or translation problems directly in the text

A good pilot will provide significant inputs to questionnaire design, and result in significant changes to content and structure. Changing programming in CAPI software is time-consuming and can create bugs (e.g. if order of questions shifts and all skip codes need to be re-programmed).

What is the timeline for a survey pilot?

Piloting should start 4-6 months before survey launch. Do not confuse the Pilot with field testing during the enumerator training. It typically involves significant changes to the survey instrument and/or protocols – which should always be made before enumerator training starts. See Timeline of Survey Pilot for details The earlier you start the better!

What should be tested during the pilot?

The pilot should test: questionnaire content checklist: refining questionnaire, questionnaire programming [[]] and all survey protocols Piloting Survey Protocols

Who should be involved in a survey pilot?

Typically, survey pilots are done before the survey firm is on board. The DIME Field Coordinator plays a central role. Ideally other research team members (e.g. the Principal Investigator) will participate. For details, see Survey Pilot Participants

How to structure a survey pilot?

• Develop a clear protocol for each stage of the pilot and get research team approval
• Plan sufficient training time for interviewers!
  • Length depends completely on complexity of instrument and survey protocols. 1-day minimum
  • Interviewers must be familiar with the instrument and the objectives of the pilot by the end
  • Interviewers will have useful insights and feedback on the survey instrument at the training itself. Plan time to incorporate their feedback/ make revisions before starting the actual pilot
  • Build in a minimum of 1 day between training and the start of the piloting
  • For data-focused pilots, essential to have interviewers do mock interviews with each other to familiarize themselves with programming, and catch any bugs missed in office tests.
• Check what approvals are needed. Sometimes local IRB approval is required even for a pilot.
  • A letter of support from the relevant Ministry or implementing partner always helps.
• Plan time for group feedback and discussion sessions at the end of each day.
• Plan sufficient time to make revisions each evening, and pilot again the next day
  • If logistically feasible, best to pilot every other day (otherwise all-nighters are common)
  • For pen-and-paper pilots, make sure you will have access to a printer to make and share revisions in real time.
    • Depending on context, using research budget to purchase a printer the FC can travel with may be necessary/ cost-effective.
  • Be aware of the need for careful version control: If the survey is in a language the FC doesn't understand, it can be tricky to keep track of daily changes in both local language and English version.
  • Best to work with an assistant who speaks the local language to make the edits in that version of the survey while the FC makes them in the English version.
    • Ideally this is someone other than an enumerator (they should go rest so they're fresh for the pilot on the following day, and end of the day edits can go well into the night if piloting needs to happen the next morning)
  • Where logistically possible, piloting every other day is a better plan
• Pilot until there are no more substantial changes to be made. Field plan will depend on:
  • Extent of changes to be made
  • Availability of printing facilities (if paper pilot) in the area where you are piloting.
  • Where the pilot location is (if far from home-base, and teams are staying in the area, breaking for a full day may not be practical / cost-effective)
• If you will be ‘pre-loading’ data during the survey (e.g. from a baseline survey), you will need to simulate this during the pilot.
  • If you have reduced the sample size from previous rounds, you can use non-sampled households for whom baseline data exists.
  • Otherwise you may need to do ‘pre-interviews’ one day ahead to collect basic indicators for pre-loading. This is logistically challenging, but very worthwhile!
• Ideally the survey firm will participate in the data-focused pilot. This has to be clearly specified in the Terms of Reference (for more details see Guidelines on Survey Firm Procurement). Important points:
  • Timeline includes a few days’ pause between the end of the piloting and enumerator training, to incorporate any all final revisions
  • Distinguish between the data-focused pilot and the field practice during enumerator trainings.
  • Make sure the timeline for the piloting is clear from first discussions.

Tips and Reminders

• Throughout the questionnaire design process, and discussion with the research team, take notes of what needs to be piloted
  • Are there multiple ways of asking questions that should be tested?
  • Should you learn more about how people think to see what flow makes sense?
    • For example, do people think about their input use at plot-level? by crop? overall?
  • Have any questions been flagged as likely sensitive?
• Encourage interviewers to probe and follow-up much more than they would in a typical interview
• Encourage respondents to think out-loud, to understand how they are coming up with their answer.
  • In some cultures, appropriate to ask respondents their feedback at the end of the interview
• Aim to finish fieldwork early, to have time to debrief
  • You will get better feedback if the team is not exhausted / hungry!
  • Make sure all voices heard at feedback sessions (especially if age/ gender/ ethnicity differences)
• Take careful notes during the pilot, the discussions and clarifications will be important to include in the enumerator manual and to discuss at training
• You will get valuable feedback by observing pilot interviews even if you don’t speak the local language.
  • Bring a copy of the questionnaire in English, with the same question numbers / variable labels, so that you can follow along with the interview.
  • Focus on observing the respondent and the enumerator. It may be a good idea to ask the enumerator to explain if a significant discussion starts over any particular question (depends on the timing, if already a long interview may not want to make it longer, and on how confident you are that the interviewer will be able to report back later the substance of the discussion)
• Consider obtaining IRB approval before the pilot (when an IRB is needed)
  • When you are developing new instruments, there are some opportunities for publication even at the piloting level. The PIs will know when this is a possibility. This requires further planning but it can be well worth it.
• Do a data-focused pilot for your backcheck questionnaire
• Hiring a local "mobilizer" to coordinate with respondents can facilitate piloting, particularly in urban areas or settings in which people are particularly busy. They explain the purpose of the survey and get consent, reducing down time between surveys. (though do note this may not be consistent with piloting sampling protocols)

CHECKLISTS FOR FIELD COORDINATORS

Field coordinators can also use the Preparing for the Survey and Refining the Questionnaire checklists to make sure that they have not forgotten anything during a survey pilot.