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Optimizing sampling efficiency of stereological studies in biology: or ‘Do more less well!‘
Author(s) -
Gundersen H. J. G.,
ØSterby R.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1981.tb01199.x
Subject(s) - stereology , sampling (signal processing) , variation (astronomy) , statistics , biology , biological system , computer science , econometrics , mathematics , physics , filter (signal processing) , astrophysics , computer vision , endocrinology
SUMMARY The aim of the sampling design for stereology is to obtain the maximal amount of quantitative structural information at a given total cost or effort. Principles of such optimal designs are discussed and methods for generating them are illustrated by a biological example. In general, the variation between different individuals—the biological variation—is the major determinant of overall efficiency, whereas the variation between single microscopic features is unimportant. It follows that the expenditure of time and/or money in order to increase the precision of the individual measurements is irrational in almost all studies where the emphasis is on the biological results.