Power Analysis for Experimental Research : A Practical Guide for the Biological, Medical and Social Sciences

Power analysis is an essential tool for determining whether a statistically significant result can be expected in a scientific experiment prior to the experiment being performed. Many funding agencies and institutional review boards now require power analyses to be carried out before they will approve experiments, particularly where they involve the use of human subjects. This comprehensive, yet accessible, book provides practising researchers with step-by-step instructions for conducting power/sample size analyses, assuming only basic prior knowledge of summary statistics and the normal distribution. It contains a unified approach to statistical power analysis, with numerous easy-to-use tables to guide the reader without the need for further calculations or statistical expertise. This will be an indispensable text for researchers and graduates in the medical and biological sciences needing to apply power analysis in the design of their experiments.