1500 data points are not needed to be representative.
everynametaken Send a noteboard - 03/04/2010 05:31:51 AM
Our Epidemiology professor said there must be about 1500 data points for a sample to be considered representative of the population (based on a number of statistical factors that I really do not feel the desire to go in to)
Even for populations smaller than the US (much less most of the First World countries), that number would be considered much too small to be taken without footnotes.
Even for populations smaller than the US (much less most of the First World countries), that number would be considered much too small to be taken without footnotes.
I have no idea why he would say that. Besides, there is no known population in most psychological testing. That's why it is called inferential statistics.
That said, I will qualify that the needed data points in your field of work may be different. Some preferred testing techniques in biological (and veterinary?) sciences are different than in psychological testing. But, with sufficient power a sample of N-30 is sufficient to minimize error and normalize the curve.
But wine was the great assassin of both tradition and propriety...
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
/Scientific Findings: Video games may hinder learning for boys
- 16/03/2010 07:48:18 PM
1132 Views
Hah. Not a very convincing sample size there.
- 16/03/2010 11:54:44 PM
771 Views
too true.
- 17/03/2010 02:00:38 AM
718 Views
1500 data points are not needed to be representative.
- 03/04/2010 05:31:51 AM
866 Views
Actually an N=30 is sufficient to produce a normal curve and minimize error.
- 03/04/2010 05:26:27 AM
882 Views
And anyway, any null hypothesis can be rejected with a large enough sample size.
- 10/04/2010 03:49:41 AM
812 Views
what? you mean if I don't do my scholastic work, my academic progress will diminsh?
- 17/03/2010 01:47:51 AM
733 Views
Re: /Scientific Findings: Video games may hinder learning for boys
- 18/03/2010 01:37:19 PM
711 Views
The words "video game" can be replaced by anything with the same result.
- 19/03/2010 05:54:51 AM
775 Views
+1 for misspelling the phrase per se. Apparently Yahoo has now corrected that error. *NM*
- 21/03/2010 09:23:04 PM
339 Views