Introduction

Before a survey is committed to the field, the various designs and procedures of the survey should be tested. Despite everything that has been written on the topic of the design of surveys, the ways to word questions, the procedures to use, and so forth, each time a new survey is put in the field, new issues will arise and different interpretations and responses will occur among the respondents. Pilot surveys and pretests are the procedures that are used to test and refine the survey before it is actually fielded (see, for example, Freeman, 2003). Unfortunately, those commissioning surveys are often ignorant of the needs for pilot surveys and pretests, or assume that they are unnecessary in this particular case, and therefore do not budget either the time or money to undertake them. However, it has been proven time after time that surveys that are fielded without testing result in problems that could have been avoided, had such prior testing been undertaken (Brace, 2004).

Pilot surveys and pretests can be used for many purposes. Most obviously, they are used to test aspects of the survey, to make sure that everything in the survey works as intended. However, they can also be used to test alternative approaches to various aspects of the survey design and execution, to assess response rates and completion rates of a survey, and to refine the instruments and protocols to be used.