A Guide to Sample Size for Animal-based Studies
by Penny S. Reynolds
September 2023
Animal-based research is an essential part of basic and preclinical research, but poses a unique set of experimental design challenges. The most important of these are the 3Rs – Replacement, Reduction and Refinement – the principles comprising the ethical framework for humane animal-based studies. However, many researchers have difficulty navigating the design trade-offs necessary to simultaneously minimize animal use, and produce scientific information that is both rigorous and reliable.
A Guide to Sample Size for Animal-based Studies meets this need with a thorough, accessible reference work to the subject. This book provides a straightforward systematic approach to “rightsizing” animal-based experiments, with sample size estimates based on the fundamentals of statistical thinking: structured research questions, variation control and appropriate design of experiments. The result is a much-needed guide to planning animal-based experiments to ensure scientifically valid and reliable results.
This book offers:
- Step-by-step guidance in diverse methods for approximating and refining sample size
- Detailed treatment of research topics specific to animal-based research, including pilot, feasibility and proof-of-concept studies
- Sample size approximation methods for different types of data – binary, continuous, ordinal, time to event – and different study types – description, comparison, nested designs, reference interval construction and dose-response studies
- Numerous worked examples, using real data from published papers, together with SAS and R code
A Guide to Sample Size for Animal-based Studies is a must-have reference for preclinical and veterinary researchers, as well as ethical oversight committees and policymakers.
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