The big problem of small data: A new approach

"Dealing with small datasets is a fundamental part of doing science," CSHL Assistant Professor Justin Kinney explained. The challenge is that, with very little data, it's not only hard to come to a conclusion; it's also hard to determine how certain your conclusions are. "It's important to not only produce the best guess for what's going on, but also to say, 'This guess is probably correct,'" said Kinney. A good example is clinical drug trials. "When each data point is a patient, you will always be dealing with small datasets, and for very good reasons," he said.