Sample Size Directed Questions

Title of article (APA format): Preventing smoking relapse in postpartum women Was the population identified? Were eligibility criteria specified? Yes, the target population was defined as women who quit smoking during pregnancy and gave birth in a participating hospital. What type of sampling design was used? Was the sampling plan one that could be expected to yield a representative sample? A convenience sampling design was used. The sampling used would not be expected to give a representative sample because the participants available in these 5 hospitals included in the study in the 7 months, may not be reflective of all pregnant and postpartum mothers. How many participants were in the sample? Was the sample size affected by high rates of attrition or refusals? Was the sample size justified on the basis of a power analysis or other rationale? There were only 251 participants. 547 additional women were not screened for the study because of their refusal to participate or their prompt hospital discharge. The sample size was justified on the basis of a power analysis of .11. Were key characteristics of the sample described (e.g., mean age, percentage of gender)? Key characteristics of the sample were described, including marital status, age, socioeconomic status, and the status of first-time mothers. To whom can the study results be reasonably generalized? Results can be generalized to urban North American women who quit smoking during pregnancy and gave birth in a hospital (as opposed to a birth center or home birth).