Sample Size Planning for Power and Accuracy

My goal is to give participants a motivating and interactive workshop experience that broadly considers sample size planning for confirmatory research studies. I aim to balance coverage of the conceptual foundations of sample size planning for statistical power and accuracy with the practical execution of sample size planning in realistic conditions. The workshop is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to sample size planning and provide researchers with the tools and knowledge to apply sample size planning in practice.

This workshop is designed for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty, and research scientists from the behavioral, social, educational, and health sciences and other related fields. It is recommended, but not required, that participants have a working knowledge of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and linear regression. Participants who would like a more thorough refresher on linear regression prior to attending may wish to watch our (no cost) Linear Regression Playlist on YouTube.

Chapter 1. General Introduction and Goals for Sample Size Planning
1.1. Introduction to Null Hypothesis Testing
1.2. Introduction to Effect Size Estimation
1.3. Benefits of Statistical Power and Accuracy

Chapter 2. Sample Size Planning for Statistical Power: Minimally Interesting Effect Size
2.1. Background and Definitions
2.2. Why Power Should be Considered A Priori, Not Post Hoc
2.3. Sample Size Planning Based on Minimally Interesting Effect Size

Chapter 3. Sample Size Planning for Statistical Power: Anticipated Effect Size
3.1. Issues when using prior information as a guide.
3.2. Sample Size Planning Based on Anticipated Effect Size

Chapter 4. Sample Size Planning for Accurate Estimation
4.1. Background and Definitions
4.2. Sample Size Planning for Accuracy in Parameter Estimation

Chapter 5. Advanced Sample Size Planning
5.1. Sample Size Planning Using Monte Carlo Simulation
5.2. Sequential Sample Size Planning for Statistical Power
5.3. Sequential Sample Size Planning for Accurate Estimation

Chapter 6. Additional Considerations and Conclusions
6.1. Additional Considerations in Sample Size Planning
6.2. Increasing Power Without Increasing Sample Size
6.3. Conclusions

Livestream lectures will begin at 10:00 a.m. and finish at approximately 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (US) each day. There will be 10-minute morning and afternoon breaks and a one-hour lunch break, the exact times of which are determined during lecture. Local time zones within which the participant is connected must be adjusted to correspond to Eastern Time (US).

Because each power analysis software package is best suited to a different type of sample size planning, specific software demonstrations will vary depending on the particular model and procedure used. Software demonstrations using the freely available program G*Power, freely available web applications, and the free statistical software R will be interwoven with the lecture material. While it is helpful to have some familiarity with R ahead of time, this is not necessary. All necessary code, as well as screenshots of web application entries, will be provided assuming no prior knowledge.

The workshop is livestreamed via Zoom, with recordings posted at the end of each day. Participants will receive complete PDF copies of the course notes and the computer demonstrations as well as data and code for all examples. The PDFs are not time-limited and may be retained indefinitely but should not be distributed to others without obtaining prior permission.