The phrase "a fairly small sample" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing a limited number of observations or data points in research or analysis.
Example: "In our study, we collected a fairly small sample of participants, which may affect the reliability of our results."
Alternatives: "a relatively small sample" or "a modest sample size".
I posed a question on Twitter: "Have you ever felt unsafe or uncomfortable, as a woman, at a music festival?" Of the 146 people who responded (a fairly small sample size, but enough to paint a picture), 127 answered yes.
However, the volatility of the poll — coupled with the fact that the post-debate interviews consisted of a fairly small sample of about 500 people — means that relatively little should be read into it.
TC: This is a fairly small sample size.
In a survey of 5,005 Americans – a fairly small sample, to be sure – found that college educated Americans earning $75K+ are most likely to have broadband while the lowest penetration is in folks over 65+ and Hispanics.
In addition, the extremely different venom compositions of our two species resulted in a fairly small sample size for toxins.
Our study was limited to a fairly small sample size, making it difficult to perform detailed correlations among disease phenotype, disease progression, and immune responses to CI.
A third demerit is concerned with the fairly small sample size of the present study (N = 45), which may have resulted in limited statistical power.
Much of the research on the effects of martial arts has involved convenience samples, a single martial arts intervention tailored for the study, and fairly small sample sizes.
Lithuania, Russia and Finland all have fairly small sample sizes (n = 12, 13, 7), though Poland's sample size is larger with 44 people reporting Polish ancestry.
Except for the study by Cupul-Uicab et al. [ 10], all reported fairly small sample sizes.
Limitations include fairly small sample and lack of no-treatment control.
