Why is having a sufficiently large sample important to the research process?
What will be an ideal response?
A good answer would include the following key points:
- Having a sufficiently large sample means having enough observations or people in a study to reliably detect an effect.
- An outcome resulting from a small sample of people might not reach conventional levels of statistical significance, thereby giving the appearance that nothing interesting is occurring.
- Conversely, even a small effect found in an extremely large sample can appear to be statistically significant yet might be of little practical value. The sheer bulk of people measured can make a small effect appear more important than it is.
- Having a sufficiently large sample, therefore, allows a researcher to know that she or he has the ability to detect actual effects that are there to be detected, with less concern about overestimating small effects or failing to detect effects that are present.c
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EXCEPT A. more estimated arm muscle mass B. more estimated leg muscle mass C. joint diameters D. shorter forearm length E. shoulder-hip ratio
A classmate has missed class again and is copying your notes. Unfortunately, she can't figure out which research design uses each participant as his or her own control. Which should you tell her?
a. double-blind b. within-subjects c. between-subjects d. randomly assigned
Chi (1978) did a very interesting study in which she asked 10-year-old children who were chess experts to remember the position of chess pieces on the board. How did they do?
a. as well as college students who were chess novices b. as well as college students who were chess experts c. not nearly as well as adults in general, chess experts or novices d. better than college students who were chess novices
What irreversible risk does the long-term use of conventional antipsychotic medications pose for 10–20 percent of people?
A. Death B. Tardive dyskinesia C. Parkinson's disease D. Depression