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Bmd313 Tutorial

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10 views10 pages

Bmd313 Tutorial

Uploaded by

Kusi Agyemang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BMD314 Tutorial

1
Sample size determination

Refer to your reading material(Leon Gordis


Epidemiology textbook and Bluman) for detailed
explanations and interpretations

2
Strategies to determine sample size

●
Using a census for small populations
●
Imitating a sample size of similar studies
●
Using published tables
●
Applying formulas to calculate a sample size
●
Use computer soft ware e.g EPI-info series, StatCalc
3
●
Application of mathematical formulae

●
For example:
●
For large populations, the Cochran equation yields a
representative sample for proportions
●
Fisher equation 4
In determining the sample size, the size of the population is irrelevant. Only th
degree of confidence and the maximum error are necessary to make the determin

ASSUMPTION:
●

The population size (N) is known


●

95% confidence level


●

●
P = 0.5
Where
●

n is the sample size,


●

N is the population size,


●

e is the level of precision


● 5
Cochran’s formula
Where n0 is the sample size,
●

Z2 is the abscissa of the normal curve that cuts off an area α at the tails;
●

1 –α) equals the desired confidence level,


●

e.g., 95%);
●

●
e is the desired level of precision,
●
p is the estimated proportion of an attribute
that is present in the population, and q is 1-p.
●

●
The value for Z is found in statistical tables
which contain the area under the normal
●

curve. e.g Z = 1.96 for 95 % level of confidence


● 6
Sample size for interval estimate of
population mean

where E is the maximum error of the estimate


Example
●

A level 300 BMD student wants to estimate the average depth of


●

a river. He wants to be 99% confident that the estimate is


●

accurate within 2 feet. From a previous study, the standard


●

deviation of the depths measured was 4.38 feet.


● 7
Sample size estimation

Influenced by factors, including:


●
the purpose of the study,
●
population size,
●
the risk of selecting a “bad” sample and the allowable
sampling error
●
Data analysis plan e.g number of cells one will have in cross
tabulation
●
Type of study: experimental or observational study
●
The power of the study
8
1.Assuming the heights of students in a college campus are normally distributed with a standard deviation =
5 in, find the minimum size required to construct a 95% confidence interval for mean with a
maximum error = 0.5 in.

2.If you increase the sample size and confidence level at the same time,

what will happen to the length of your confidence interval?


a) make it bigger b) make it smaller c) it will stay the same
d) cannot be determined from the given information

3. A researcher wants to estimate the true average number of children a woman at Kwapro will have within
5 years with 95% confidence. The margin of error we are willing to accept is 0.5. Suppose
we also know that SD is 10, What sample size should we use?
a) 1536
b) 1537
c) 2653
d) 2650

9
4.You want to estimate the height of all Biomedical science
students in UCC with a 99% confidence and a margin
of error of 0.5. From a small pilot, you estimate the
standard deviation to be 3 inches. How large should
your sample size be to achieve the set level of accuracy?

5. A researcher wishes to estimate, with 95% confidence,


the proportion of people who own a backyard garden.
A previous study shows that 40% of those interviewed
had a backyard garden at home. The researcher wishes
to be accurate within 2% of the trueproportion. Find
the minimum sample size necessary.

6.The same researcher wishes to estimate the proportion


of lecturers who own a farm. She wants to be 90%
confident and be accurate within 5% of the true proportion.
Find the minimum sample size necessary.

10

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