A statistical study that’s not refined enough to detect a phenomenon of the expected size is called underpowered—the equivalent of looking at the planets with binoculars. Moons or no moons, you get the same result, so you might as well not have bothered. You don’t send binoculars to do a telescope’s job. The problem of low power is the flip side to the problem of the British birth control scare. A high-powered study, like the birth control trial, may lead you to burst a vein about a small effect that isn’t actually important. An underpowered one may lead you to wrongly dismiss a small effect
...more
