title: Statistical power in testing a hypothesis.
abstract: In comparing or assessing methods of treatment it is vital that the appropriate number of patients is selected in order to ensure that the conclusions drawn are statistically viable. This annotation describes the relevance of a statistical power analysis in the context of hypothesis testing to the determination of the optimal sample size of a study. The power of the test indicates how likely it is that the test will correctly produce a statistically significant result.
authors.affiliation: Head of Biostatistics Unit, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, 256 Grays Inn Road, London, UK. a.petrie@eastman.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrie
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D018401:Sample Size; D013223:Statistics as Topic