A key issue in quantitative methods is ‘How many participants is enough…” Debates on validity and reliability often hang on concepts such as ‘effect size’ and ‘power’. Linked to this is the issue of participant numbers. This can be perplexing and confusing, but there are handy online calculators which can be helpful. They also give you Standard deviation and helps you understand Confidence Levels.
What is a sample size?
The number of completed responses your survey receives is your sample size. It’s called a sample because it only represents part of the group of people (or population) whose opinions or behavior you care about. As an example, one way of sampling is to use a so-called “Random Sample,” where respondents are chosen entirely by chance from the population at large.