Cited by 1,012Psychometric Methodologies and TestingHealth Education and ValidationSurvey Methodology and Nonresponse

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Initial Scale Development: Sample Size for Pilot Studies

Johanson, George A., Brooks, Gordon P.·2010·Educational and Psychological Measurement

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Abstract

Pilot studies are often recommended by scholars and consultants to address a variety of issues, including preliminary scale or instrument development. Specific concerns such as item difficulty, item discrimination, internal consistency, response rates, and parameter estimation in general are all relevant. Unfortunately, there is little discussion in the extant literature of how to determine appropriate sample sizes for these types of pilot studies. This article investigates the choice of sample size for pilot studies from a perspective particularly related to instrument development. Specific recommendations are made for researchers regarding how many participants they should use in a pilot study for initial scale development.

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“The sample size for pilot testing was recommended to be at least 30 participants [22].”
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“Pilot research was conducted to increase the validity and reliability of the research and reduce the negative impact of an improperly designed survey instrument on the quality of the final survey results (Connelly, 2008; Johanson & Brooks 2010; Morse, Barrett, Mayan, Olson & Spiers, 2002).”
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“…construct, positive and enjoyable aspects of the caregiving experience, this study offers an initial effort to address a gap in the literature and in clinical practice (Furukawa & Greiner, 2021; Johanson & Brooks, 2010; Lawton et al., 1989; Smaling et al., 2021; Yamamoto-Mitani et al, 2003, 2004).”
D2C-WEBCRED
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“As this was an exploratory study to gather preliminary insights, 30 carers were recruited for the online survey which is in-line with the recommendations due to the pilot nature of this study (Johanson & Brooks, 2010), 10 of whom were then invited to participate in an interview.”
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“This number fits the range recommended in the literature for pilot studies, which is 30–50 participants (DeVellis, 2016; Johanson & Brooks, 2010).”
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“There is no fixed rule for the number of respondents in a pilot study; prior research suggests that sample sizes between 30 and 50 are typically considered adequate for pre-testing survey instruments (Hertzog, 2008; Johanson & Brooks, 2010).”
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“A pilot test with 40 university students from the Department of Religion and Human Values at the University of Cape Coast, within the recommended range of 30 to 50, checked the reliability and validity of our measurement tools (Johanson & Brooks, 2010; Hertzog, 2008).”
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“Following this review, a pilot study was conducted with the preliminary 46-item version of the scale among 30 participants to assess linguistic clarity and item compre-hensibility, in line with the recommendations of Johan-son and Brooks [20].”
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“Validity was indicated by a Tolerance value > 0.2 and a Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) 10 (Johanson & Brooks, 2010).”
Influential
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“The demographic diversity across disciplines and semester levels provides a representative snapshot of the target user group [24].”
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R, S. C., Murali, J., Chandran, A., & Pradan, A. (2025) · IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science · doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1579/1/012011 · Cited by 1
“This number satis (cid:976) ies pilot study recommendations of 10-15 participants per stratum, facilitating variability estimation for larger future studies (74).”

Authors: Johanson, G. A., & Brooks, G. P.
Affiliations: Ohio University (US)
Corresponding author: Johanson, George A.
ORCID: Johanson, George A.
Brooks, Gordon P.
Venue: Educational and Psychological Measurement
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2009-12-18
Volume: 70
Issue: 3
Pages: 394-400
ISSN: 0013-1644 (ISSN-L)
1552-3888
DOI: 10.1177/0013164409355692
OpenAlex: W1984294110
Cited by: 1,012
References: 19
Citations by year: 2026: 134 · 2025: 115 · 2024: 110 · 2023: 99 · 2022: 89 · 2021: 104 · 2020: 83 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 33 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 13
FWCI: 9.92
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Educational and Psychological Measurement (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Health Education and Validation
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
Keywords: pilot study, sample size determination, scale development, instrument development, item difficulty, item discrimination, internal consistency, response rate, parameter estimation

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Initial Scale Development: Sample Size for Pilot Studies

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