The power and pitfalls of underpowered studies

Abstract

This article reflects on the potential value and many pitfalls of underpowered studies to help authors and readers consider whether and how they contribute meaningfully to the published literature. A basic introduction to power and sample size calculations is provided. Several problems that can arise in analysis and publication of underpowered studies are described. In addition, features of underpowered studies that may provide value are proposed, including when the hypothesis test of interest is a limited part of the story, the data is rich enough to showcase interesting features of the population of interest, when the rarity or ubiquity of events is an important finding, and when the study is preregistered to reduce the impact of publication bias. Several reporting guidelines for underpowered studies are also suggested.

Keywords: biostatistics; data interpretation; sample size; statistical; statistical bias.