Suppose a pilot study tells you that there is a great deal of natural variability in the population.How will this impact the design of your actual, full blown study?
A)It will cause you to take a larger sample than you may have originally planned on.
B)It will cause you to abandon the bigger study; you won't be able to detect any differences or relationships even if they did exist.
C)Since there is so much variability, you might as well use a smaller sample size, because smaller sample sizes have more variability as well.
D)The pilot study shouldn't impact your design at all; that would be 'data snooping.'

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If there is a great deal of natural variability in the population, it is likely that a larger sample size will be needed in order to detect significant differences or relationships. This is because a larger sample size will provide a more representative sample of the population, which in turn will increase the accuracy of any conclusions drawn from the study.

Suppose a Pilot Study Tells You That There Is a Great