# Is it possible to calculate/impute the sample size “N” from a given mean and standard deviation?

Can anyone provide with some advice? - thank you

I am required to calculate the sample size for two groups, given the following data:

Total sample N (group1+group2)=583

group 1: mean=8.35, SD1.07, N1=?

group 2: mean=8.11, SD1.32, N2=?

In case this extra infomation is useful: The total of N=583 subjects answered a 12-item questionnaire. Each item was scored on a scale of 1-10: 1=very poor, 10=excellent. The p-value between the two groups: p=0.02

• Then N = 583... :-) More seriously, I suggest you explain more carefully what your setting is, at present what the question is is quite unclear. – Did Nov 24 '12 at 10:58
• Thank you for reading my post, I have edited my question and I hope it makes more sense now. – user50505 Dec 1 '12 at 0:19

$\sigma^2 \propto \frac{1}{N} \Rightarrow N \propto \frac{1}{\sigma^2} \Rightarrow N_1=\frac{\frac{1}{1.07^2}}{\frac{1}{1.07^2} + \frac{1}{1.32^2}} * 583 \approx 352$