Spatially balanced sampling through the pivotal method
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Updated: May 28, 2026

An Unbiased Approach of Sampling TEM Sections in Neuroscience
Published on: April 13, 2019
Anton Grafström1, Niklas L P Lundström, Lina Schelin
1Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden. anton.grafstrom@slu.se
Abstract:
A simple method to select a spatially balanced sample using equal or unequal inclusion probabilities is presented. For populations with spatial trends in the variables of interest, the estimation can be much improved by selecting samples that are well spread over the population. The method can be used for any number of dimensions and can hence also select spatially balanced samples in a space spanned by several auxiliary variables. Analysis and examples indicate that the suggested method achieves a high degree of spatial balance and is therefore efficient for populations with trends.
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