how do adolescents define depression? - cIRcle - University of ...

Pilot Study
APPENDIX 0: Pilot Study
A one-time, two hour pilot study was conducted to obtain information to refine, if
Appendices
needed, the questionnaire, resource pamphlet, and the process of data collection for the main
research component of this study. The factors that were focused on were the design, terminology,
language of the questionnaire, the time spent in completing the questionnaires, the process in
completing the distribution and collection of questionnaires, and evaluation of the resource
pamphlet. Information was gained through the data collection itself and oral feedback in a focus
group discussion right after survey completion. Due to the small number of students participating
in the pilot study, the questionnaire and the focus group were implemented side by side in a
meeting room adjacent to the school office under group testing conditions. Students volunteered
and were selected by their respective teachers to participate in the pilot study. Signed parental
and guardian consent, and signed student assent was received prior to administering the survey.
The Questionnaires were administered in one high school to eight participants, two boys and two
girls in grade 8, and two boys and two girls in grade 11.
Pilot Study Focus Group.
A 60 minute taped focus group discussion was conducted immediately after completion
of the surveys to obtain the participants' immediate feedback to the implemented Questionnaire.
Taped opinions were received and transcribed regarding the language and layout of the survey,
all the forms to ensure that they could be understood by adolescents their age, and the time frame
to complete the Questionnaire. The focus group was an efficient means of collecting the opinions
of adolescents, immediately after writing the survey. The relatively unstructured group format
allowed a number of adolescents to be consulted in a brief time in a familiar environment where
there was peer support.
As a result of the pilot study, minimal alterations were needed for the questionnaire and
process of the main study. The protocol for participant referrals who were screened as depressed
was revised and more detailed in the main study. The self-recognition of depression values were
collapsed from "yes", "unsure", and "no", to binary values of "yes" and "no".
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