Submited on: 13 May 2012 06:33:16 AM GMT
Published on: 14 May 2012 12:25:30 PM GMT
 

  • What are the main claims of the paper and how important are they?

    The main claim is that sample size is important in medical research in developing countries. This is an important claim.


  • Are these claims novel? If not, please specify papers that weaken the claims to the originality of this one.

    It is generally well known and accepted that sample size should be sufficient for drawing conclusions from the data and to prevent false negative publications.


  • Are the claims properly placed in the context of the previous literature?

    References are provided, but not placed correctly in the document.


  • Do the results support the claims? If not, what other evidence is required?

    As this is more of an opinion paper, no real results are presented.


  • If a protocol is provided, for example for a randomized controlled trial, are there any important deviations from it? If so, have the authors explained adequately why the deviations occurred?

    Not applicable


  • Is the methodology valid? Does the paper offer enough details of its methodology that its experiments or its analyses could be reproduced?

    Not applicable


  • Would any other experiments or additional information improve the paper? How much better would the paper be if this extra work was done, and how difficult would such work be to do, or to provide?

    Some examples are provided, but they are hard to interpreted. It would have been better to provide some examples of underpowered studies and the implications. It would take some time, but this would not be particularly difficult.


  • Is this paper outstanding in its discipline? (For example, would you like to see this work presented in a seminar at your hospital or university? Do you feel these results need to be incorporated in your next general lecture on the subject?) If yes, what makes it outstanding? If not, why not?

    No, no new information is presented and the main message is well known. The message might be usefull at third world conferences where the audience might need to be educated about sample size, but additional data and information would need to be added.


  • Other Comments:

    No

  • Competing interests:
    No
  • Invited by the author to review this article? :
    No
  • Have you previously published on this or a similar topic?:
    No
  • References:
  • Experience and credentials in the specific area of science:

    Epidemiologist. 10 years clinical research, execution and supervision. Several methodological papers published. Finalizing a PhD in research methodology.

  • How to cite:  Jacobs W C.Comment on: Importance of Sample Size Calculation in the Original Medical Research Articles from Developing Countries [Review of the article 'Importance of Sample Size Calculation in the Original Medical Research Articles from Developing Countries ' by Mittal A].WebmedCentral 2012;3(7):WMCRW002101
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