Professor Christene Leiper of Onorach identifies why it is crucial from the outset when planning a clinical trial to have an adequate sample size. Recruiting to target will mean that the trial will have a high probability of completing within timelines. Low rates of recruitment and retention have a number of negative implications, such as longer durations of the clinical trial, which may lower staff and participant morale; a costlier clinical trial, since extra resources may need to be dedicated to the recruitment effort; and less statistical power for both the study and the validity of the results.