A sample size that is too small reduces the power of the study and increases the margin of error, which can render the study meaningless. Researchers may be compelled to limit the sampling size for economic and other reasons.

Why is a small sample size a limitation in research?

Sample size limitations

A small sample size may make it difficult to determine if a particular outcome is a true finding and in some cases a type II error may occur, i.e., the null hypothesis is incorrectly accepted and no difference between the study groups is reported.

What are the problems with a small sample size?

This is a real problem because small sample size is associated with: low statistical power. inflated false discovery rate. inflated effect size estimation.