Number of children needed to evaluate products made in cooking workshops

• Published in: Food quality and preference 2021-12, Vol.94, p.104301, Article 104301
• Main Authors: Novello, Daiana, Anjos, Adilson dos, Soares, Jaqueline Machado, Castagnoli, Juliana de Lara, Oliveira, Mayra Lopes de, Machado, Kerulyn Maria Chanivski, Santos, Elisvânia Freitas dos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bootstrap; Children; Cooking activities; Sample size; Sensory evaluation
• ISSN: 0950-3293; 1873-6343
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104301

•Sample size in a children's sensory study.•Sample size to evaluate food preparations from cooking workshops.•Influences gender and nutritional status on sample size.•Determining the sample size by bootstrap. This study investigated the necessary sample size of children for the sensory evaluation of products made in cooking workshops containing low acceptance ingredients. The study included 315 children aged 7 to 10 years. Five products were submitted to sensory evaluation in the cooking workshops: eggplant cookie, chard muffin, watercress bread, radish pancake, and chayote sfiha. Three evaluation conditions were considered to investigate the sample size: general (all children), gender (male and female) and nutritional status (low weight, eutrophy and excess weight). A methodology based on the bootstrap method was used to determine the sample size. In the general evaluation, the minimum sample size needed was 39 children, while in the evaluation by gender and nutritional status, the minimum was 41. Three products required a greater number of children: watercress bread, radish pancake and eggplant cookie. On the other hand, chard muffin and chayote sfiha required the smallest sample sizes. In general, the study showed that a small number of children is suitable to evaluate products made in cooking workshops containing ingredients less accepted by this audience. It also showed that both gender and nutritional status have little influence on the sample size. However, it is important to mention that the context the products are eaten must be taken into account, as this can directly affect the required number of evaluators.