pink-book

Conduct the Pretest
The procedures to follow during the pretest
session are relatively simple. The keys to a
successful testing session are to:
• Be friendly and courteous to participants
from the moment they arrive until they
leave (remember to say “thank you”).
• Keep calm and cool-headed throughout
the session.
• Anticipate problems in advance
(conducting a rehearsal to make sure
that both equipment and timing work is a
good idea).
The test session should take no more than
1 hour and 15 minutes if you are organized
and well prepared. Follow the steps below to
conduct your test:
1. Encourage participants to take a seat
as they arrive. Close the doors no later
than 10 minutes after the scheduled
starting time.
2. When everyone is seated, introduce
yourself by your name only (assuming
you are the host). Do not tell participants
the name of your organization during the
session because it might bias their
responses to your test ad.
3. Thank participants for coming and assure
them that the evening should be
enjoyable and that they will have a
chance to give their views to the
producers of “new” television program
material. Discourage participants from
talking to one another during the session.
Tell them you are interested in their own
individual views and that there are no
right or wrong answers. Also, encourage
them to write their answers clearly in the
space provided on the questionnaire.
4. After your introductory remarks, have
your assistants hand out the
questionnaires (see Appendix A for a
sample), pencils, and clipboards (if
needed). Instruct the participants not to
open the questionnaire until you ask them
to do so. Turn on the video recorder and
monitor to begin the test session.
5. Be attentive and watch for any problems
with the sound or picture on the monitor.
Be sure that the equipment is functioning
properly throughout the program.
6. Be prepared to stop the recorder when
the television program has ended.
Introduce the questions, and thank the
participants for their help so far. Ask them
to open their questionnaires and
complete the questions on the first page.
7. When the participants have finished Part I
of the questionnaire, tell them that you
would like to gather their reactions to the
messages/PSAs that were shown during
the program. Have them turn to Part II
and instruct them to fill out the questions
about the messages. When they have
completed these questions, tell them that
you want to obtain their reactions to one
particular message in the series of
messages they viewed.
8. Start the video. (Note: To avoid an
awkward pause in the session’s pace, be
sure there is not too much lead tape
before the message starts.) After your
PSA/ad has been replayed, ask
participants to turn to the next page of the
questionnaire and complete the
remaining questions. Encourage them to
answer every question and to avoid giving
more than one answer, except when this
option is indicated on the questionnaire.
9. Circulate through the room to monitor
progress and to be sure participants are
not discussing their responses. Collect
the questionnaires as participants finish.
152 Communication Research Methods