It is typically highly important to guarantee that the instrument employed is dependable and valid in any research, whether it is an undergraduate project, master's thesis, PhD dissertation, or publication (that is to say its suits the population of interest used in a particular study). This is referred to as a pilot study or a pre-study.

However, for most study, the mistake of using an instrument (questionnaire) that was not developed and validated in a specific place of study or developing a new instrument without testing its accuracy and consistency with the population of interest chosen by the researcher is very common and when this happens, one can conclude that such result is invalid because the context in which such instrument were developed may not fit or suit the present population which the research adopted. Therefore, it is on this note that this article aimed at highlighting the importance of pilot in an undergraduate project.

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A well-designed pilot study with clear goals and objectives done inside a formal framework increases methodological rigor, can result in higher-quality research and publishable work, and can benefit patients and health-care delivery. During the course of a research project, a pilot study can give valuable information to researchers. Conducting a pilot study helps the researcher to gain experience and develop skills before moving on with the bigger inquiry. The researcher obtains preliminary data, assesses their data-analysis method, and determines the financial and human resources necessary to carry out a pilot. This article gives an overview of pilot studies, including why they are conducted, what to consider when reporting pilot studies, and the authors' own experiences with pilot research. To conduct a successful study, researchers must polish their skills, use acceptable methodologies, and painstakingly plan every step of the procedure.
The Value Of A Pilot Study In A Project For Undergraduates
The following are some of the reasons why a pilot study is so important in undergraduate projects:

1. It enables preliminary theory testing, leading to more precise testing in the main research. It might lead to the revision of certain theories, the removal of others, or the creation of new hypotheses.

2. It frequently gives the researcher with new ideas, techniques, and recommendations that you would not have considered before doing the pilot study. Such suggestions and ideas increase the chances of getting more precise outcomes in the primary research.

3. It allows you to examine the proposed statistical and analytical approaches in depth, allowing you to assess their applicability to the data. You may then be able to make required adjustments to data gathering techniques, allowing you to more effectively review data in the original research.

4. Because you have the ability to change components of your study to address obstacles identified by the pilot study, it can greatly minimize the number of unforeseen problems.

5. It has the potential to save the researcher a significant amount of time and money. Unfortunately, many study projects that appear to have a lot of promise turn out to be useless once they are implemented. Almost always, the pilot study provides enough information for the researcher to decide whether or not to move forward with the main study.

6. In the pilot study, the researcher can try out a number of prospective measurements before choosing the ones that provide the clearest findings for the main study.

7. If the researcher is a doctoral student, the master's research may serve as a pilot study for future research that will be undertaken as part of a PhD program. A pilot study is more likely to help a student who has little or no research experience. Because of this possibility, the student should do a pilot research whenever feasible, even if it means restricting it to a small number of cases or a population with a limited reach in some other way.

From the preceding structure, it is clear that pilot studies play a critical role in undergraduate research projects and should be treated as such during the writing process of projects and other research publications.