Small Sample Watch No. 1

After complaining about pathetically-small samples recently, I'm starting a new feature: Every time I see a news report of a social-“science” study with a pathetically-small sample that mainly serves to confirm standard prejudices, I'll post a link and sometimes a quote. The first example:

According to a new study at the University of St. Gallen seen by SPIEGEL, one contributing factor may be that stockbrokers' behavior is more reckless and manipulative than that of psychopaths. Researchers at the Swiss research university measured the readiness to cooperate and the egotism of 28 professional traders who took part in computer simulations and intelligence tests. The results, compared with the behavior of psychopaths, exceeded the expectations of the study's co-authors, forensic expert Pascal Scherrer, and Thomas Noll, a lead administrator at the Pöschwies prison north of Zürich.

28???

Addendum: I have decided that Small Sample Watch is worthy of its own blog.