← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

Piloting a survey before use

Trying a survey on a few people first to find confusing questions, missing options and timing problems before the real data collection begins.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10 — Acquiring and Validating Data — Module 21

Understanding Piloting a survey before use in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

What it does: Piloting finds unclear wording, and the fix is to reword the question so everyone reads it the same way. Piloting reveals missing answer options, such as someone who cycles or gets driven. Adding an option like Other fixes the gap. A pilot test is a practice run. It finds confusing questions, missing options and timing problems before the real data collection starts. Piloting comes first. If you find a problem after collecting the data, it is too late to fix without starting again. Vague words like 'regularly' mean different things to different people. Replace them with clear choices such as 'every day' or 'once a week'.

Common mistakes: A pilot test exists to find confusing questions so they can be fixed before the real survey. The line should be 'fix confusing questions', not ignore them. If a pilot tester finds no answer option that fits, the options are incomplete. The fix is to add an option, not ignore the problem.

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 226–254) and word search (Modules 226–329).

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Learning

Duo

What is the main purpose of a pilot test of a survey?

Try the survey on a few people first to find problems before the real collectionCollect all the final data from the whole population

Matches

Plan: Send the survey to all 500 students without trying it on anyone first

↓

There was no pilot test, so confusing questions and errors will only be found after the real data has already been collected badly.

Applying

Meanings

Term

pilot test

Meaning

Trying a survey on a few people first to find confusing questions, missing options and timing problems before the real data collection begins.

Practice

pilotGroup ← 5 people

Testing

Gaps

=(B2:B6)

Check Answer

Spots

3record minutes taken

4ignore confusing questions

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Quick Questions

1. What is the main purpose of a pilot test of a survey?

A. Try the survey on a few people first to find problems before the real collection ✓

B. Collect all the final data from the whole population

A pilot test is a practice run. It finds confusing questions, missing options and timing problems before the real data collection starts.

2. When should you pilot a survey?

A. Before you send it to your real sample ✓

B. After all the real responses are collected

Piloting comes first. If you find a problem after collecting the data, it is too late to fix without starting again.

3. A pilot tester says, 'I didn't understand what 'regularly' means in Question 3.' What problem did the pilot test find?

A. A missing answer option

B. Unclear wording ✓

Vague words like 'regularly' mean different things to different people. Replace them with clear choices such as 'every day' or 'once a week'.

4. Question: 'How do you get to school?' The options are Bus and Walk. A pilot tester cycles to school. What should you do?

A. Add the missing options such as Bike and Car, plus Other ✓

B. Leave it, because most people will pick Bus or Walk

Missing answer options force people to choose an answer that is wrong for them. That makes your data less accurate.

5. Your pilot testers take 25 minutes to finish a survey that was meant to take 5 minutes. What is the best action?

A. Send it out anyway, because people will get used to it

B. Shorten the survey before the real collection ✓

Timing the survey in a pilot shows if it is too long. Long surveys make people quit or rush, which gives poor data.

Match the Pairs

pilot test → Trying a survey on a few people first to find confusing questions and errors before the real data collection begins

pilot_time = 6 (minutes) → Recording how long a pilot tester takes to finish the survey, so you can check it is not too long

A pilot tester says a question is confusing, so you rewrite the unclear wording before the real survey → Q3 old: How often do you use tech? Q3 new: How many hours a day do you use your phone?

Pilot testers find that no answer fits them, so you add the missing answer options → Q5 options: Bus, Train, Walk, Car, Other

Plan: Send the survey to all 500 students without trying it on anyone first → There was no pilot test, so confusing questions and errors will only be found after the real data has already been collected badly.

Pilot group: the 3 people who wrote the survey, so no changes needed → The pilot testers helped write the survey, so they already know what each question means and will not spot confusing wording or missing options.

Key Term

pilot test

Trying a survey on a few people first to find confusing questions, missing options and timing problems before the real data collection begins.

Fill in the Blanks

1. =AVERAGE(B2:B6)

Hint: Type the function that finds the mean minutes the pilot testers took to finish the survey.

2. =COUNTIF(C2:C6,"Other")

Hint: Type the function that counts how many pilot testers chose Other, which can show a missing answer option.

3. =MAX(B2:B6)

Hint: Type the function that finds the longest time a pilot tester took.

4. =IF(B2>10,"Too long","OK")

Hint: Type the comparison operator that checks whether a pilot tester's time is greater than the 10 minute limit.

5. =COUNTIF(D2:D6,"Unclear")

Hint: Type the cell range holding the five pilot testers' wording feedback.

Spot the Error

Question 1

A pilot_group ← 5 people

B give survey to pilot_group

C record minutes taken

D ignore confusing questions

E run real survey

Line D — A pilot test exists to find confusing questions so they can be fixed before the real survey. The line should be 'fix confusing questions', not ignore them.

Question 2

A options ← [Never, Sometimes]

B pilot_user picks an option

C IF none fits THEN ignore it

D ELSE keep options

Line C — If a pilot tester finds no answer option that fits, the options are incomplete. The fix is to add an option, not ignore the problem.

Question 3

A start ← time at question 1

B end ← time at last question

C minutes ← end + start

D IF minutes > 10 THEN shorten

Line C — The time taken is the end time minus the start time. Adding them gives a meaningless number.

Question 4

A pilot_size ← 800

B real_size ← 200

C IF pilot_size < real_size

D OUTPUT 'Pilot is smaller'

E END IF

Line A — A pilot test uses only a few people. A pilot of 800 is bigger than the real sample of 200, so the IF check would fail. It should be a small number like 8.

Question 5

A q ← 'Do you game much?'

B IF pilot says clear THEN

C q ← 'Hours gamed per week?'

D END IF

Line B — The question should only be reworded when the pilot testers say it is unclear. The condition should be 'unclear', not 'clear'.

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