Key points at a glance
- A pretest examines how people understand and answer questions.
- Check content and technology in realistic conditions.
- Record problems, revisions and subsequent checks.
What should a pretest reveal?
A pretest deliberately tries out your instrument before the main survey. It can reveal ambiguous terms, missing response options, difficult recall tasks or broken routing. Merely confirming that the survey link opens does not address these problems.
Identify particularly important questions in advance, such as newly written items, sensitive questions or complex filters. A technical pilot and a discussion of question interpretation provide different kinds of evidence and can complement one another.
Check understanding with suitable participants
Choose people who share relevant characteristics with the intended population. Testing only with fellow students when your survey targets employed adults may leave important problems undiscovered. Deliberately include different experiences and levels of knowledge.
The CDC describes cognitive interviewing as a way to investigate the response process, including understanding, recall, judgement and response selection. Use neutral probes to explore these stages rather than explaining which answer you expect.
An original example: identifying an unclear timeframe
The invented question “How often do you use the platform regularly?” contains ambiguous frequency language and no timeframe. During a pretest, ask “Which period were you thinking about?” or “What does regularly mean to you?” without supplying the intended interpretation first.
One possible revision is “On how many days have you used the platform in the past seven days?” Whether this works depends on your construct. It measures days of use, not duration or intensity. A clearer question must not silently become a measure of something else.
Separate the observed problem from your explanation of it. A slow answer may reflect an unclear term, but it may also reflect careful recall. Ask before deciding which revision is needed.
Test the technology, revise and check again
Try the devices your participants are likely to use. Check required fields, backward navigation, branching, interruption and export. Create clearly identifiable test records and keep them separate from the main dataset.
Maintain a revision log with the original item, problem, decision and new wording. Retest affected routing and response codes after changes. A pretest does not establish the validity of the whole instrument; it offers specific evidence for improvement and identifies remaining uncertainty.
Final submission context
Formal details can feel like a separate writing task, but they matter just as much for a printed submission. Anything missing, misplaced or inconsistently formatted in the document will also appear in the bound copy.
Use this guide together with your cover page, table of contents, page numbers, source notes and appendices. Prepare the final PDF for printing and binding only after the complete file has been checked.
Practical check before PDF export
- Do headings, chapter structure and page numbers match?
- Are sources, figures and tables included completely?
- Are required elements such as declarations, appendices or the cover page included where required?
- Did you open and check the final PDF after exporting it?
Checklist
- Identify critical questions and routes.
- Recruit testers relevant to the population.
- Prepare neutral comprehension probes.
- Test devices, branching and export.
- Document revisions and retests.
Common mistakes
- Only asking friends whether the survey looks good.
- Explaining the intended meaning before each response.
- Adding test records to the main analysis without checking comparability.
Print and bind your finished thesis
Once you have checked the content and final PDF, configure the printed copies to match your submission requirements.
Configure printing and bindingRelated content
Explore related guidance on thesis structure, sources, formatting and final submission.
Frequently asked questions
How many people should take part in a pretest?
The instrument’s complexity and the population’s diversity matter. Rather than relying on a universal number, seek relevant problems deliberately, check revisions and report the limited scope honestly.
Can I change questions after pretesting?
Yes. Improvement is a central purpose. Document changes and consider their effects on what is measured, response coding and comparability with established scales.
Can I include pretest responses in the final analysis?
Not automatically. Changed wording, probing and different administration conditions can prevent comparability. Make a justified methodological decision and keep test records identifiable.