Somehow the hivemind decided a few years ago (it would be interesting to trace how and when) that every study with a small sample size is worthless and merely mentioning sample size is enough to cancel it, and whoever is first to bring this up in a thread wins. It's a gotcha response.
Obviously there are statistical concerns with small samples. Equally obviously, not every such study is worthless and the authors are not all idiots who knows less than any internet commenter. So to get substantive discussion, we need to engage with the specifics of a particular study, not post a generic dismissal. "n = 11?" looks specific but it isn't. It's a template instantiation, as stock as "Correlation is not causation".
I don't mean to pick on the GP commenter. Maybe they had something else in mind. The issue is how such a comment plugs into a known shallow-discussion dynamic. The problem is at the group level, not the individual, and we all suffer from this reflexiveness, so none of us gets to feel smug.
Obviously there are statistical concerns with small samples. Equally obviously, not every such study is worthless and the authors are not all idiots who knows less than any internet commenter. So to get substantive discussion, we need to engage with the specifics of a particular study, not post a generic dismissal. "n = 11?" looks specific but it isn't. It's a template instantiation, as stock as "Correlation is not causation".
The answer to "the rush to headlines about studies" is not the opposite reflex, it's to slow down and reflect, and then maybe post if one has something thoughtful to say. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
I don't mean to pick on the GP commenter. Maybe they had something else in mind. The issue is how such a comment plugs into a known shallow-discussion dynamic. The problem is at the group level, not the individual, and we all suffer from this reflexiveness, so none of us gets to feel smug.