Pilot Study

A pilot study can be defined as small scale or a trial run as a feasibility procedure for the main study. It is important to foresee whether the methods or instruments are inappropriate for the actual study200. The pilot study aims to detect any weakness so that the correction for improvement could be made in the actual questionnaires.201

The researcher conducted the pilot study for this study objectively to develop and test the adequacy and feasibility of this study. A pilot study was conducted among 50 respondents in a Private University in Klang Valley. The targeted population for the pilot study were Muslim students in Taylors University included youth with age ranges between 18 and 23 years old. This group of respondents was selected because they met the characteristics of the population for this study.

The sample size of 50 respondents was sufficient to determine validity and reliability of the questionnaire. According to Stopher (2012), the respondents for the pilot study should not be less than 30. Another opinion mentioned that the sample size for the pilot study can be from 3%-7% of the total sample size in the actual study.202 Gillian et al (2004) also used the general rule of thumb minimum sample size of the pilot study is 30.203 In fact, data normality and reliability of the study tends to increase with the increase of sample size in the actual study.

200 _{David De Vaus, Surveys in Social Research, 2}nd _{ed. (London: University College London Press, 1993),}

79.

201 _{Zainuddin Awang, Research Methodology and Data Analysis, 38.}

202 _{Peter Stopher, “Collecting Managing and Accessing Data Using Sample Survey,” (New York:}

Cambridge University Press, 2012), 259.

203 _{Gillian A. Lancaster, Susanna Dodd, Paula R. Williamson, “Design and Analysis of Pilot Studies:} Recommendations for Good Practice,” Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 10 (2004), 308.

The researcher played a role as a facilitator in administering the questionnaires. Respondents were given a brief explanation about questionnaires and were ensured the anonymity of their profiles. The respondents were given approximately 30 minutes to 45 minutes to complete the surveys and were advised to complete the questionnaire independently. They were allowed to ask questions if they have any doubt on the questionnaire. However, none of the respondents asked questions. This could be due to the “Language Pilot Test” which was conducted earlier to ensure the respondents could comprehend the questionnaire. Data from the pilot study were used to test the validity and reliability in order to improve the questionnaire used.

3.2.6.1 Reliability and Validity of the Instrument Used in the Pilot Study

The objective of the pilot study conducted prior to the actual study was to ensure the reliable and valid instrument to be used for the actual study. For those reasons, several statistical testing using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was run to analyze the data.

Internal reliability test using the Cronbach’s alpha analysis was conducted on each of the construct; attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, religiosity, government initiatives and behavioral intention in consuming halal food. It is observed that the coefficients of all the scales in the pilot study were in the range of .680 to .929. In the pilot study, two items in the construct of subjective norms were identified as having low alpha, which are “People’s perception affect my decision in choosing halal or non-halal food” and “I feel shy with people around me if I eat non- halal food”. These two items are dropped in the actual instruments to increase the reliability of the instrument. The reliability of the instrument used in this pilot study is

acceptable and could be increase with the deletion of 2 items with low alpha coefficient and increase in the sample size of the actual study.

Cronbach’s alpha for actual study were in the range of .775 to .955. The calculated coefficient of .775 to .955 (the maximum value for α = 1) indicated the reliability of the six constructs were acceptable and the internal reliability of the instrument was adequate. Hence, the instrument is reliable to be used in this study. The table 3.17 shows the summary of the results of reliability analysis for the six constructs used in the present study.

Table 3.17. Cronbach’s Alpha Results for Pilot Test and Actual Study

Constructs No of Items Pilot Study

(Cronbach Alpha)

Actual Study (Cronbach Alpha)

Attitude 8 .929 .883

Subjective Norms 5 .680 .775

Perceived Behavioral Control 5 .867 .781

Government Initiatives 13 .893 .943

Religiosity 20 .836 .955

Behavioral Intention 7 .837 .929

Source: The Alpha Cronbach Analysis, Questionnaires of Determinants Influencing Halal Food Consumption among Generation Y, Klang Valley, 2013.

As shown in the table above, the alpha coefficients for all the scales were greater than .70. The minimum Alpha was .775 for the subjective norms construct and the highest reliability scale was religiosity construct at .955. High alpha coefficient for all constructs in this instrument indicated the high internal consistency for each of the constructs.

3.2.6.2 Summary of Instrumentations

The instrumentation strategy of this study is guided by Punch (1998)204 and Ajzen (n.d).205 The instrumentation procedure began with the conceptual definition development and practical conceptualization. The content was then validated by a group of experts and corrections were made based on the feedback from the experts. The language check was conducted to ensure the accuracy and suitability of the language used in the instrument. A pilot study was conducted on 50 respondents.

Then, the construct validity test was conducted to confirm the theoretical expectation of the items in the constructs. A reliability test was conducted using Cronbach’s alpha to ensure the internal constituency of the instrument. After all the steps were finalized, the final instrument was then used and distributed to the respondents.