Purpose This article provides insights into the value of pilot studies in facilitating and enhancing knowledge transfer within the broader field of journalism research. It specifically examines the context-dependent challenges, opportunities, and limitations associated with conducting pilot studies. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a pilot study conducted with German journalism students for a Design Thinking project in 2023, this article proposes a three-phase analytical framework (pre-, main, and post-phase) for understanding how pilot studies facilitate knowledge transfer in journalism research. Findings Pilot studies can strengthen the transfer and co-construction of knowledge, mitigate methodological uncertainty, and thereby foster more rigorous qualitative research designs. Participatory Design Thinking workshops involving journalism students have demonstrated effectiveness in this regard. Originality/value This study extends the limited body of scholarship on knowledge transfer in journalism by introducing a conceptual framework for analysing challenges, opportunities, and limitations of pilot studies. In doing so, it foregrounds pilot studies as a distinctive methodological contribution to advancing qualitative inquiry in journalism research.
Maximilian Eder (Tue,) studied this question.
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