A researcher argues as follows: “I performed a correlational study with a very large sample. Because my sample was so large, I obtained a correlation of r = .07 that was statistically significant. But this correlation is too small to be of any practical value, as there is very little (linear) relationship between the two variables that I studied. I therefore warn other researchers not to use large samples so as to avoid getting such misleading results.”
(a) Use the concept of statistical power to explain why the last sentence in the preceding quotation is not entirely true.
(b) What is the advantage of obtaining the largest sample that a researcher can afford?
