The pilot study in qualitative inquiry: Identifying issues and learning lessons for culturally competent research

This article discusses the importance of a pilot study in undertaking phenomenological qualitative inquiry for culturally competent research. The pilot work was conducted in preparation for a dissertation on Korean-American family dementia caregiving. The definition and useful functions of pilot studies in qualitative inquiry are particularly identified. To highlight the benefits of pilot work, it describes the specific practical and methodological issues emerging in the pilot exercise as well as the modifications made for the main study as a result of the pilot work. The implementation of the pilot exercise proved to be essential in four ways. These comprise (1) finding issues and barriers related to recruiting potential participants, (2) engaging the use of oneself as a researcher in a culturally appropriate way and from a phenomenological perspective, (3) reflecting the importance of the epoche process and its difficulty in conducting phenomenological inquiry, and (4) modifying interview questions. Finally, the value of sharing the pilot study to develop culturally competent research practice is addressed.