Hi Peter, Sample size is a complex question depending on design of the project, intended tests, reliability levels etc. Best advice is to check with an experienced researcher/ statistian before finalising the design of your project and before you start collecting data.
If this part of formal graduate study -- many institutions provide a service for students giving well-founded statistical advice on the research design. This is time well spent. Good luck with the research project and hope that you will consider publishing your research work under an open access license :-) Cheers Wayne On Feb 8, 9:34 pm, Peter McCrory <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Wayne > > Many thanks for your assistance with the statistics questions. > > Yep and the stats books do not explicitly define a 'small sample' size so > they leave the reader almost guessing which I find strange??!! > > All the best, > > Peter McCrory > > T. +44 1522 514422 > > M. +44 7812 080853 > > E. [email protected] > > Skype. peter.mccrory > > Twitter: @Peter_RAFUltra > > www.wikieducator.org/User:Wikipeedy > > Follow our progress in preparing for the World's Toughest Bike Race > atwww.raf-ultra.co.uk > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of Wayne Mackintosh > Sent: 08 February 2010 04:36 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [WikiEducator] Small Sample Size - Non-parametric tests? > > Hi Peter, > > That's a good question. > > mmm ... I'm stepping out of my zone of comfort here, I'm not a > statistician or applied mathematician -- so you'll need to check my response > with a professional. > > Your population is small --- so not sure whether sampling techniques are > relevant or appropriate in this instance. With a small population like this > -- I'm not sure how one one would figure out how your population fits any > parametrized distributions. So my uninformed opinion is to go with > non-parametric statistics. I could be totally wrong here ;-) > > Let me ask one or two WikiEducators with better statistical knowledge and > point them to your question. > > Cheers > Wayne > > On 7 February 2010 21:31, Peter McCrory <[email protected]> wrote: > > Can anyone help? I am looking to conduct some research into the effects of 5 > mental skills on self-regulation, and I will be selecting a sample size of > approx 10-12 people from a total population of approximately 30 people. Am I > required to use non-parametric statistics? Or is the sample large enough to > use parametric tests? > > Many thanks > > Peter McCrory > > T. +44 1522 514422 > > M. +44 7812 080853 > > E. [email protected] > > Skype. peter.mccrory > > Twitter: @Peter_RAFUltra > > www.wikieducator.org/User:Wikipeedy > > Follow our progress in preparing for the World's Toughest Bike Race > atwww.raf-ultra.co.uk > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator:http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum:http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > > -- > Wayne Mackintosh, Ph.D. > Director, > International Centre for Open Education, > Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. > Board of Directors, OER Foundation. > Founder and Community Council Member, Wikieducator,www.wikieducator.org > Mobile +64 21 2436 380 > User Page:http://wikieducator.org/User:Mackiwg > Skype: WGMNZ1 > Twitter: OERFoundation, Mackiwg > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator:http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum:http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
