ReviewJournal of evaluation in clinical practice2026
Sometimes Less Is More: On Sample Size in Medical Research.
Review in Journal of evaluation in clinical practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Large samples have well-known merits in empirical research where multiple factors are at work, some beyond control. Large samples also provide a precise estimate of the effect size, although they produce results for groups and not for individuals. Nonetheless, there are situations where intensive, in-depth, study of a few may be rewarding, particularly in medical research that focuses on basic mechanism rather than treatment effect. With extreme care, logical structure, advanced tools, and rigorous reasoning, many sources of variability can be minimized or eliminated. Thus, small samples tend to foster brilliance by focusing on improved decision making. Reduced cost, faster completion, and clinically relevant effect sizes are among other advantages. Many successful studies have been done on small samples. These merits of small sample studies in certain types of medical research deserve serious consideration.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.