Die Stichprobengröße wurde mittels G*Power ermittelt

You will mostly use this sentence in the Methodenteil (Methods section) of a paper or thesis. German academic style loves the passive voice (wurde ermittelt) because it sounds more objective and scientific than saying 'I used G*Power.' The word mittels is a fancy, formal way of saying 'using' or 'by means of.' It’s the linguistic equivalent of wearing a clean lab coat. You’ll usually place this sentence right after you describe your study design. For example, if you’re doing a survey, you’d first explain the survey and then drop this line to explain why you have 150 participants. It’s like a 'trust me, I'm a scientist' badge you pin to your paragraph. Just remember to actually use the software before you claim you did!

This phrase is off-the-charts formal. On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a solid 11. You would never, ever use this in a casual conversation, unless you are making a very nerdy joke with your fellow PhD students. It belongs strictly in formal documents: Bachelor/Master theses, peer-reviewed journals, and scientific posters. Using it in an email to a friend would be like using a chainsaw to cut a piece of cake—technically possible, but totally weird. In the university setting, using this register shows that you have mastered the 'Code' of German academia. It’s about sounding authoritative and detached. If you use it correctly, you’ll sound like a native-level scholar who spends their weekends reading statistics textbooks for fun (no judgment if you do).

Imagine you are presenting your research at a university colloquium. A professor raises an eyebrow and asks about your sample. You confidently reply, Die Stichprobengröße wurde mittels G*Power ermittelt, and suddenly the room goes quiet with respect. Or, think about your LinkedIn post after your paper gets published. You might share a screenshot of your methods section where this exact sentence is highlighted. Even in the stressful world of WhatsApp groups for students, you might see someone text: 'Does anyone know the wording for the G*Power part?' and another student replies with this exact template. It’s a staple of the 'Study-Gram' and 'Academic-Twitter' (now X) communities where people share their thesis progress and celebrate the small wins of methodology.

The perfect time to use this is when you are writing the Methodik (Methodology) chapter of any empirical work. It’s also great for grant applications where you need to prove your study is feasible. If you are defending your thesis (the Verteidigung), having this phrase ready is a lifesaver. It shows you understand the importance of 'Alpha' and 'Beta' errors without having to go into a 20-minute lecture on probability. Use it whenever you need to provide a rock-solid justification for your N-number. It’s also useful in research reports for internships at institutes like Max Planck or Fraunhofer. Basically, if there’s a German professor involved and you’re talking about data, this phrase is your best friend.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t use this at a bar. If someone asks how many people you invited to your birthday party, saying Die Stichprobengröße wurde mittels G*Power ermittelt will get you some very confused stares (unless your friends are all statistics nerds, in which case, go for it!). Also, avoid using it if you didn’t actually use G*Power. If you used R, SPSS, or just guessed, use a different phrase. German academia values honesty as much as precision. Don’t use it in creative writing or blog posts about travel—it’s too stiff and will kill the vibe faster than a lecture on tax law. It’s a specialized tool for a specialized setting.

The most common error is forgetting the passive construction. Don't say ✗ Ich ermittelte die Stichprobengröße mit G*Power. While grammatically okay, it’s too informal for a thesis. Another mistake is mixing up the gender of Größe—it's always die Größe. Some learners also struggle with mittels. They might try to use durch or über, but mittels is the professional choice here. ✗ Die Stichprobengröße war mit G*Power gefunden is another one—it sounds like you found the sample size hiding behind the sofa! Stick to the standard: wurde ... ermittelt. Also, make sure you spell Stichprobengröße with the ß (Eszett) and not a double s, unless you are in Switzerland where the ß is as rare as a cheap cup of coffee.

If you want to sound slightly different but stay formal, you can use berechnet instead of ermittelt. Die Stichprobengröße wurde mittels G*Power berechnet is perfectly fine. If you want to use a different preposition, anhand von works too: Die Stichprobengröße wurde anhand von G*Power-Analysen festgelegt. Festgelegt means 'determined' or 'fixed'. For those who prefer a more active (but still formal) style, you could write: Zur Ermittlung der Stichprobengröße wurde die Software G*Power herangezogen. Herangezogen sounds very sophisticated—like you called upon the software as an expert witness. In more modern papers, you might see erfolgte mittels, as in: Die Bestimmung der Stichprobengröße erfolgte mittels G*Power.

Is G*Power the only way? No, but it’s the most common free tool in German universities. Why mittels? Because it’s shorter than mit Hilfe von and sounds more 'elite' in writing. Can I use this for qualitative research? No, qualitative research doesn't usually use power analysis—it’s for quantitative folks who love their p-values. What if I used a different program? Just swap G*Power for R or Python. Does this phrase guarantee an A? No, but it definitely makes your methodology look more professional. Is it hard to learn the software? A bit, but there are thousands of YouTube tutorials—it’s easier than learning the German adjective endings, trust me!