[pkAbstract]

Agreed, small sample size; but in defense of the researchers, I don't think the general public appreciates how difficult it is to find research participants - nevermind a lot of them. And, ones that remain adherent to study protocol throughout it's entirety, so their data points can be included.

It's also extremely expensive, and unless you're a god at writing grant proposals, most uni research labs are cash poor.

There's a reason most studies don't have lots of participants, and in most cases it's not laziness on the part of the researchers.

[solveit]

Yes. It's asinine to run a large N study before having run a small one. So small N doesn't mean bad, it means preliminary.

Internet comment sections however are not great at nuance, and the difference between a bad study and a study leaving unresolved uncertainty is often beyond them.