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“Underdiscussed, underused and underreported”: pilot work in team-based qualitative research

Jane Morrison (Murray City Country Coast General Practice Training, Warrnambool, Australia and Deakin University, Warrnambool Campus, Australia)
Tim Clement (Murray City Country Coast General Practice Training, Warrnambool, Australia and Deakin University, Warrnambool Campus, Australia)
Debra Nestel (Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia) (Department of Surgery (Austin), University of Melbourne, Australia)
James Brown (Eastern Victoria General Practice Training, Churchill, Australia and Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia)

Qualitative Research Journal

ISSN: 1443-9883

Article publication date: 14 November 2016

473

Abstract

Purpose

The authors, with disparate organisational affiliations and in different geographic locations, worked together on a qualitative multiple-case study of ad hoc supervisory encounters between general practice (GP) supervisors and GP-registrars. The purpose of this paper is to share our experiences and learning to highlight how valuable pilot work can be when conducting team-based qualitative research.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper outlines the value of pilot work in consolidating whole team understanding of the research plan, using our experiences as an example. We first offer a synthesis of published literature relating to pilot work, especially in qualitative research approaches. Next, we outline and justify the pilot work undertaken for the ad hoc supervision study. Lastly, we use each researcher’s voice to describe our experiences and then share the lessons we learned undertaking pilot work in qualitative research.

Findings

We found that while pilot work can be useful in refining strategies, data collection processes and analytic instruments. There are further benefits in galvanising whole team understanding of the research plan, in encouraging reflexivity, in ensuring transparency of the research process, and for ethical considerations.

Originality/value

There are few published papers or books which offer researchers guidance regarding pilot work, especially within a qualitative paradigm. Our experience shows there is value in planning and conducting pilot work. We believe others may benefit from our experience as they embark on team-based research.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the general practice (GP)-supervisors, GP-registrars, practice staff and patients who participated in the research. We also acknowledge the funding for this project from General Practice Education and Training Ltd (GPET) through the Education Integration Projects (II).

Citation

Morrison, J., Clement, T., Nestel, D. and Brown, J. (2016), "“Underdiscussed, underused and underreported”: pilot work in team-based qualitative research", Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 314-330. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-07-2015-0053

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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