Premium
Calculating Sample Sizes in the Presence of Confounding Variables
Author(s) -
Wilson S. R.,
Gordon I.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of the royal statistical society: series c (applied statistics)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.205
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9876
pISSN - 0035-9254
DOI - 10.2307/2347271
Subject(s) - confounding , statistics , sample size determination , econometrics , mathematics
SUMMARY A major issue in the design of many studies is to determine the “required” number of observations. Much of the statistical literature on sample size estimation, particularly for medical studies, is devoted to considering a very simple design, involving the testing of the difference between proportions in two groups. Accommodation of potential confounding variables at the design stage is more difficult. This paper outlines a general theory based on generalized linear models for accommodating such variables. The theory is applied to three examples from medical research.