Using the Student's t-Test With Small Sample Sizes

What makes this paper effective

• Grounds the discussion in a specific, cited example from a published academic article, giving the analysis concrete data to work from.
• Clearly explains each component of the t-test output — t-value, degrees of freedom, and p-value — in accessible language appropriate for introductory statistics students.
• Connects the statistical example back to the broader argument of the source article, linking methodology to research conclusions.

Key academic technique demonstrated

The paper demonstrates source-anchored analysis: it extracts a specific statistical result from a peer-reviewed article, explains what each element means, and then situates that example within the article's larger research question. This technique shows how to move from a narrow quantitative output to a broader interpretive claim.

Structure breakdown

The paper opens by presenting the t-test example verbatim from de Winter (2013), then unpacks the numerical components of the result, explains the author's methodological choices, and closes with the article's overarching conclusions about the validity and limitations of small-sample t-tests. The structure moves from specific to general throughout.