Contribution of the Pilot Study for Methodological Enrichment of the Main Study

Abstract

Introduction: A Pilot Study (PS) is useful for the assessment of the practicability of the methods and processes as well as the management of challenges before the main final study. The PS was conducted for the preparation of the mixed-method study related to nurses’ and parents’ perspectives regarding preterm infants’ care practice in neonatal care units (NCUs) in Nepal. Methods: Mixed method PS was conducted among nurses and mothers of preterm infants (PTIs) admitted to a NCU of an academic tertiary hospital. For data collection among nurses, a self-administered questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) were used in the quantitative and qualitative phases respectively. Whereas in-person interviews and in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted among mothers in the quantitative and qualitative phases respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis methods. Results: The major amendments based on PS findings were the study design from convergent parallel to exploratory sequential mixed-method design for contextual instrument development, the addition of the observation method of data collection for enhancing the validity of the findings related to care practice, and the inclusion of both parents of PTIs instead of only mothers. The PS was also useful for providing the experience of qualitative and mixed-method study for the researcher for the final study, especially for the qualitative part. Conclusion: This article reflects the contribution of the PS to the main mixed-method study. Therefore, it is worthy to conduct the PS to enhance the methodological rigor of the study. It is commendable to discuss and disseminate the PS findings.