In this week’s episode Greg and Patrick talk, for the third time, about power analysis, drawing on a recent paper by Greg and Yi Feng at UCLA, that reminds us how little we actually know when sample size planning, and then offers a concrete, cautious strategy for planning in the face of that uncertainty. Along the way they also mention Punxsutawney Phil, acknowledgments, bold ass titles, dark matter, driving angry, crystal balls, Ned Ryerson, shock absorbers, King Henry IV, yard sales and haggling, hurricane insurance in Denver, and perineums and pessimums.
Related Episodes
- S4E13: Model-Based Power Analysis: The Power of *What*
- S2E25: Options for Small Samples
- S2E11: The Replication…Dilemma with Samantha Anderson
- S1E02: (Statistical) Power Struggles
Recommended Readings
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.
Cole, D. A., Abitante, G., Kan, H., Liu, Q., Preacher, K. J., & Maxwell, S. E. (2025). Practical problems estimating and reporting power when hypotheses are embedded in complex statistical models. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 8.
Feng, Y., & Hancock, G. R. (2023). SEM as a framework for power analysis. In R. Hoyle (Ed.), Handbook of structural equation modeling (2nd ed., pp. 163–183). Guilford Press.
Feng, Y., & Hancock, G. R. (2021). Oh no! They cut my funding! Using “post hoc” planned missing data designs to salvage longitudinal research. Child Development, 92, 1199–1216.
Hancock, G. R. (2001). Effect size, power, and sample size determination for structured means modeling and mimic approaches to between-groups hypothesis testing of means on a single latent construct. Psychometrika, 66, 373–388.
Hancock, G.R., & Feng, Y. (in press). n_max and the Quest to Restore Caution, Integrity, and Practicality to the Sample Size Planning Process. Psychological Methods.
Lakens, D. (2022). Sample size justification. Collabra: Psychology, 8, 33267.
MacCallum, R.C., Browne, M.W., & Sugawara, H.M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modeling. Psychological Methods, 1, 130-149.
Maxwell, S. E. (2004). The persistence of underpowered studies in psychological research: Causes, consequences, and remedies. Psychological Methods, 9, 147–163.
Satorra, A., & Saris, W. E. (1985). Power of the likelihood ratio test in covariance structure analysis. Psychometrika, 50(1), 83-90.