Ergodicity and integral range

When attempting to estimate stereological parameters starting from measurements in a limited domain, the question has to be addressed of how large the domain size must be in order to ensure representative measurements. To answer that question, the concept of ‘integral range’ is introduced. It allows a comparison between the scale of the phenomenon under study and the scale of observation. The integral range can be assessed using curves of dispersion variance, which can also yield empirical laws of change of scale.