To get this number in a sample this small is really unusual, and the findings are so far out of the norm.

NEWYORKER: Offensive Play

Despite a small shrinkage in the number of free checking accounts in the sample, this kind of deal is far from gone.

FORBES: Free Checking Options Fewer, But Not Gone

Because the sample of households is small relative to the total number of households, the series is notoriously volatile.

FORBES: Why Jack Welch Has A Point About Unemployment Numbers

If the sample is too small or is not random, then estimates regarding the number of responsive documents contained within the population could be wildly inaccurate.

FORBES: Guest Post by Matthew Nelson

Statistically, 33 is a relatively small sample (though it is the best that could be obtained by a small number of investigators in a country at war).

ECONOMIST: The Iraqi war

Other factors that contribute to false results are small sample sizes, studies that show weak effects (such as a drug which works only on a small number of patients) and poorly designed studies that allow the researchers to fish among their data until they find some kind of effect, regardless of what they started out trying to prove.

ECONOMIST: Just how reliable are scientific papers?