Choosing a Sample Size Flashcards

1️⃣ Familiarise yourself with the flashcards:

Look through all the flashcards to see what's on both sides.
Make sure you understand the information on each card. If something's unclear, click the link to the revision notes at the bottom of the page for more details.

2️⃣ Test yourself:

Look at the question or prompt on each card and try to remember the answer before flipping it over.
Check the answer and make a note of any cards you find challenging and need to go over more.

3️⃣ Consistently Review and Practice:

Use spaced repetition: spend more time on the cards you struggle with and go over them more often.
Regularly review all the flashcards to help you better understand and retain the information over time.

Note: We may include questions that have multiple correct answers. It's useful to remember specific examples to understand these concepts better.

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In a science investigation, what is meant by a 'sample'?

A sample is a smaller group taken from a larger population to study.

Sample size is the number of individuals or items in the sample that you test or measure.

A suitable sample size makes your results more reliable and helps you draw better conclusions.

A larger sample size reduces the effect of chance, so one odd result is less likely to change the mean.

A very small sample might not represent the whole population and can be strongly affected by unusual results.

You may be limited by time, money, equipment, or how many organisms or people are available.

Scientists must avoid harm and not test on more humans or animals than needed to answer the question.

Use a larger sample size so you can still see the overall pattern despite the variation.

It may be acceptable in a quick, first test or when differences are very large and results are very similar.

A representative sample is similar to the whole population, so the results can be applied to that population.