Feasibility

Feasibility, as it relates to research, is the extent to which those who implement a research study or an intervention can practically do so within an identified authentic setting. Feasibility can be the central focus of developmental research, as in a feasibility study, or a component of a full-scale intervention trial when used to evaluate effectiveness under typical circumstances and during normal implementation. The importance of evaluating feasibility within education research was noted in 2013 within the Common Guidelines for Education Research and Development, developed via a joint effort of the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Educational Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Education. The remainder of this entry explains the value of feasibility studies, looks at the difference between a feasibility study and a pilot study, and briefly reviews how feasibility data are collected.

Feasibility studies are used formatively to estimate important parameters needed to design a full-scale trial and to reduce threats to the validity of a study’s outcomes. By conducting feasibility studies, a researcher is able to determine the appropriateness of further evaluation, given practical considerations related to (a) process, (b) resources, (c) management, and (d) scientific basis for a planned trial. As part of a feasibility study, a small-scale or pilot test may be implemented to provide initial evidence that assesses and/or compares several study components such as capacity, participant recruitment and retention strategies, or initial data trends. Additionally, a feasibility study may help the researcher identify necessary modifications to the intervention and study procedures and protocols. This information is particularly critical in cases in which there are unique attributes of or little previous research with the selected participants, within the setting, or that employs a specific procedures. Additionally, when researchers involve multiple agencies or groups of people in a study, feasibility data may assist in intervention coordination.

The terms feasibility and pilot are often used interchangeably. However, the National Institute for Health Research Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Center identifies feasibility studies as those that look at specific design aspects of the [Page 668]proposed full study, whereas pilot studies test whether the procedures of the full study are effective to produce unbiased investigation. Thus, randomization is not necessary in a feasibility study but would be required in a pilot for a randomized trial.

When conducted as one aspect within a study, feasibility is often measured retrospectively. The inclusion of feasibility as an aspect of evaluation in a larger trial may be used as evidence of necessary adaptations needed to produce effect within a new context or with a different population. Whether collected as part of a feasibility study or as part of a larger trial, feasibility data are typically collected from those implementing or overseeing the study and may include surveys, interviews, focus groups, cost analysis, direct observation, checklists, and self-reports. In the case of pilot studies conducted within feasibility-process evaluations, data may also be collected via small-scale studies that evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention and implementation fidelity.

See also Evaluation Versus Research; National Science Foundation; Pilot

...