It is easy to get study design wrong and waste a lot of resources on a study design that does not provide reliable results. Modern statistical methods can help increase efficiency. In the early stages of a research project, a power analysis and an efficient search for a good design can help save effort and money later on. Often, funding for the project is not available at the planning stage of a study, but the Thomas Bayes Institute can help at this stage without large investments from your side. Call us to discuss the details!
Empirical studies are often costly. When designing the study, we want to make sure that the final dataset has sufficient statistical power (e.g., applying to a funding agency for the 'right' number of participants). Sometimes the situation is the other way around, where we have limited resources and want to optimize the study so that we can reliably answer our research questions with the money we have available.
At the Tomas Bayes Institute, we specialize in working with you to find the most efficient design to convert research dollars into empirical knowledge as efficiently as possible. We don't just "guess from experience", we use power equivalence and Monte Carlo simulations to formally support the study design. This is important for many funding agencies, so a careful power assessment by a specialized institute can increase your chances of obtaining funding. In addition, thinking carefully together about possible outcomes often generates ideas about additional variables that should be collected so that nothing important is missed when data collection is completed.
Good design planning at the beginning of a research project can save a lot of effort and resources and increase the quality of the research results. In many cases, we can help at this stage at a reasonable cost, knowing that the study design often needs to be outlined before applying for funding. Give us a call to discuss what you can do at this stage to increase your chances of funding and the quality of your study results!