Cross Sectional And Longitudinal Studies

Question 1

What is meant by cross sectional study

Answer 1

• a type of research design which is collected at a single point in time
• it can allow researchers to observe numerous factors e.g age, gender
• an example is snapshot study

Question 2

What is meant by longitudinal study

Answer 2

• a research conducted over a long period of time in order to observe long term e.g the difference between people of different ages
• often observational in nature
• for example, Bowlby’s forty four Juvenile thieves study was conducted over a period of many years

Question 3

Why is cross sectional studies more appropriate than longitudinal studies

Answer 3

One reason is because sample attrition is more likely to occur in longitudinal than cross sectional.
- pts are more likely to drop out over the course of a study.
- the one who drop out are the ones to more likely have particular characteristics which leaves a biased sample or a small sample
Another reason is because cross sectional studies are cheaper to conduct as they’re relatively quick and can be conducted in less than a year.
Another reason why is because of cohort effect.. In longitudinal studies, findings that consider only one cohort may not be generalisable because of the unique characteristics of the cohort e.g kohlberg’s study.