Simulacro de búsqueda y rescate unidad minera Chipmo

The significant pilot study intended to test and define the instrument of research to help the researcher modify the research design and increase the validity and reliability of the methods in data collection in the final administration. Wilson and Sapsford (2006) defined a pilot study as an:

“…investigation [that] is a small-scale trial before the main investigation, intended to

assess the adequacy of the research design and of the instruments to be used for data

collection; piloting the data-collection instruments is essential, whether interview

schedules or questionnaires are used.” (p.103)

Gay and his colleagues (2005) argued that before a research piece is finalized, every questionnaire must be tested under the real world condition by a third party who is independent and not involved in the preparation process. It aims to assist the researcher to discover whether the research design is thorough (Seidman 2005). The pilot study in this research was conducted to check two research instruments for data collection: interview and questionnaire.

The pilot study was conducted in Schools PA and PB (see Table 3.2). Two questionnaires and three interviews were designed: one for Head Teachers and one for pupils. The questionnaires for the Head Teachers was not conducted in the main study as none were returned in the pilot whilst two Head Teachers felt it was more suitable

99

as a guideline for interviews and preferred to answer questions in interviews. Furthermore, in the main study, pupils had a very short break between lessons and had low motivation to participate in interviews after school, thus, the interview with pupils was not employed in main study either for this reason.

Having prepared the questionnaires and interviews, my supervisors made comments about the questions. Three teachers from Schools PA and PB participated in piloting the questionnaires and interviews. I did not ask pupils to pilot the questionnaire as I realized it was difficult to invite an individual pupil to do it after school. The teachers’ and my supervisors’ comments and answers helped me recognize a number of issues which were raised in the pilot study. In the case of the questionnaires, the first problem identified was the length of the questionnaire; because the Head Teachers have a busy schedule, they have limited time to answer a questionnaire; and pupils aged between 11 and 14 have limited patience to complete long questionnaires with long questions. Therefore, they suggested that it would be better to use short questionnaires with short questions but ensure that they capture all of the information needed. There was a concern that as I am a native Chinese speaker, there were cases where the participants did not understand or misunderstood the meaning of the questions so the piloting of questionnaires helped eliminate ambiguities or difficulties in wording (Cohen, Manion et al. 2007). It was recommended to check the time taken to complete the questionnaire, and identify items too easy, too difficult or too vague for participants to answer from their experiences. Finally, it was suggested to group

100

questions by different sections in order to help participants understand them more easily. All the problems mentioned above were amended in order to improve the final version.

Another important method adopted in this study was interview. Seidman (2005) indicated that carrying out a pilot of interviews is the way to enhance their reliability. Similar to piloting the questionnaire, the first issue identified was the number of interview questions and the time required to complete the interview. It is important to identify and beware of redundant questions which require only one or two words response such as yes or no. It was suggested that I use open-ended questions to encourage authentic responses and two-way communication in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. It is also the way to enhance the reliability of the data collected. Some questions were not sufficiently clear or non-completed and were removed, while new questions were added to complete and clarify the meaning and make the interview run more smoothly.

The observations were conducted in 3 classes of pupils in KS3. I was sitting beside pupils and taking notes throughout the class. After two classroom observations, I found that pupils were interested in what I was recording. They were also interested to know who I was, what I was doing there and how long I would be there with them. Some of them even came to talk to me without getting permission from the teacher. The pilot observation indicated that my presence in the class influenced pupils’

101

behaviours and distracted them. It also affected teachers’ activities as they were interrupted and had to stop the lesson and spend time on classroom management. The pilot observation reminded me that firstly, it was necessary to introduce myself and the purpose of my study to the pupils at the very beginning of the observation session. Secondly, sitting at the back of the class would help me keep a considerable distance from teachers and pupils, which avoids disturbing activities and class management. Thirdly, in order to eliminate bias, I should always bear in mind to record what I observed objectively without personal comments or judgements.

The next section will introduce the procedure of the main study.