# Matching of sample for template creation

**URL:** https://community.mrtrix.org/t/matching-of-sample-for-template-creation/8736
**Category:** Uncategorized
**Created:** [April 10, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.mrtrix.org/t/matching-of-sample-for-template-creation/8736 "2026-04-10T13:36:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![iqraalimirza16](https://community.mrtrix.org/user_avatar/community.mrtrix.org/iqraalimirza16/32/5447_2.png) [@iqraalimirza16](https://community.mrtrix.org/u/iqraalimirza16)
#### Post date: [April 10, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.mrtrix.org/t/matching-of-sample-for-template-creation/8736/1 "2026-04-10T13:36:34Z")

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Hi all! For my Master’s thesis I am doing a fixel-based analysis and I am at the template creation step. My population includes people with and without evidence of coronary artery calcification (CAC) so high vs absent CAC so I am including both the groups for the template based on the guidance so that it is representative of my sample. However, I am struggling with matching them on gender and handedness specifically. For gender, since CAC is more common in males I always end up having more males in the matched samples I create via R. Similarly, only 26/285 people in my sample are left handed so matching them on all variables overall is challenging. I wanted to ask- is it alright if the groups are matched as closely as possible but not exactly? How do you go about this generally? Should I not include non-right handed individuals in the template at all (I fear then the template will not be representative of my sample).