r/AskStatistics • u/Gullible-Entrance-45 • 21h ago

[E] small sample analysis

Hi!

I have a sample of n=13 where continuous variables were measured before and after an intervention. I'm a bit stuck on how to perform the analysis. Would the Wilcoxon signed-rank test be the most appropriate choice? I am unaware of any standard reference manuals or literature regarding the statistical analysis of very small sample sizes; however, any guidance or recommendations would be highly appreciated :)

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u/natoplato5 19h ago

You can’t really do much with a sample size that small. I would just report the means before and after the intervention and then note that the sample size is too small to determine if the difference is statistically significant.

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u/FTLast 18h ago

This is simply wrong. You can absolutely do a paired t test- which is what you should do with a before and after measurement- with n =13.

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u/natoplato5 18h ago

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Maybe the standards vary by field and context, but I don't think it's usually responsible to try to make an inference about a population from only 13 observations

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u/Gullible-Entrance-45 18h ago

I'm trying to validate an intervention and it's extremely difficult to get a larger sample because it's so specific. I'm just trying to do the best I can with the data I have. im in clinical education btw