Underrepresentation of female subjects in animal research has gained attention in recent years, and new NIH guidelines aim to address this problem early, at the grant proposal stage. Many researchers believe that requirements regarding use of females will hamper research because of a need for increased sample sizes, and increased costs. Empirical research across multiple rodent species and traits demonstrates that females are not more variable than males, and that for most traits, female estrous cyclicity need not be considered. Statistical simulations, presented here, illustrate how factorial designs can reduce the need for additional research subjects, and cultural issues around the inclusion of male and female subjects in research are discussed.

近年来，动物研究中女性受试者代表性不足的问题引起了人们的关注，新的 NIH 指南旨在尽早在拨款提案阶段解决这个问题。许多研究人员认为，由于需要增加样本量和增加成本，有关使用女性的要求将阻碍研究。对多种啮齿动物物种和性状的实证研究表明，雌性并不比雄性更具变异性，而且对于大多数性状，无需考虑雌性发情周期。这里介绍的统计模拟说明了因子设计如何减少对额外研究对象的需求，并讨论了有关将男性和女性受试者纳入研究的文化问题。