Maybe Small Is Too Small a Term: Introduction to Advancing Small Sample Prevention Science

Abstract

Prevention research addressing health disparities often involves work with small population groups experiencing such disparities. The goals of this Special Section are to (1) address the question of what constitutes a small sample, (2) identify some of the key research design and analytic issues that arise in prevention research with small samples, (3) develop applied, problem-oriented, and methodologically innovative solutions to these design and analytic issues, and (4) evaluate the potential role of these innovative solutions in describing phenomena, testing theory, and evaluating interventions in prevention research. Through these efforts, we hope to promote broader application of these methodological innovations. We also seek whenever possible, to explore their implications in more general problems that appear in research with small samples but concern all areas of prevention research. This Special Section includes two sections. The first section aims to provide input for researchers at the design phase, while the second focuses on analysis. Each article describes an innovative solution to one or more challenges posed by the analysis of small samples, with special emphasis on testing for intervention effects in prevention research. A concluding article summarizes some of their broader implications, along with conclusions regarding future directions in research with small samples in prevention science. Finally, a commentary provides the perspective of the federal agencies that sponsored the conference that gave rise to this Special Section.

A training intervention for home care nurses in cross‐cultural communication: An evaluation study of changes in attitudes, knowledge and behaviour

“…Firstly and probably most importantly, the sample that filled in all questionnaires was rather small. There is a general difficulty of conducting interventions in health care with large sample sizes (Fok, Henry, & Allen, ) which also becomes apparent in this study. Unlike other studies assessing cultural competency immediately after training interventions, we intended to evaluate the changes after a longer time period which impeded an assessment of the same nurses at t 1 and t 2, which, among other reasons, is influenced by large fluctuations of home care nurses in Germany (Neumann & Klewer, ).…”

Recommendations for Cancer Epidemiologic Research in Understudied Populations and Implications for Future Needs

“…Many of the current statistical methods only provide correct estimates for large sample sizes and may not be applicable to smaller sample sizes (31). Development of novel methods to address these challenges is needed in conjunction to alternative statistical techniques and factors previously recommended by others (32–39).…”

Effect of a tailored leaflet to promote diabetic retinopathy screening among young adults with type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled trial

“…Instead, emerging literature on non-conventional evaluation designs for small samples offer alternatives which aim to maintain rigor while maximising statistical power for populations of limited sample size [43]. Dependent upon a variety of factors (e.g.…”