| Sumario: | This article addresses the dearth of reports of pilot studies by describing one used to strengthen a funding application for a collaborative project between the Lampeter and Aberystwyth colleges of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales. Piloting helped the article authors to re-formulate and gain funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Board for the full project, which aims to explore the Aberystwyth experience of women working in ceramics and determine their motivations for becoming and remaining self-employed ceramic artists and craft potters. Original intention of the authors for the main project was to interview 60 women ceramic artists and craft potters working on a self-employed basis in Wales, using a small sample of men in similar situations as a control. The authors also needed to investigate women working in the different areas and contexts provided in Wales in order to determine the effect of different environments on their lives and work. Several factors needed to be considered during the pilot: the length of the interview, the importance of observation to data collection and to interaction between interviewer and interviewee, the possibility of bias, ethical considerations, and the cost.
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