A researcher is going to do a longitudinal study of cognitive development in elementary school-age children. What problems is this researcher going to have that could be avoided if she were to do a cross-sectional study instead?
What will be an ideal response?
While the question does not call for a specific description of a longitudinal or cross-sectional study, the student may begin by giving brief definitions of the two. The focus should emphasize that the former involves repeated observations of the same groups of participants over an extended period of time in order to determine developmental factors associated with change, while the latter should emphasize observation of groups of different aged participants at a single point in time in order to avoid several of the problems associated with longitudinal research. It should also not make the mistake of confusing cross-sectional studies with sequential studies, which involve repeated observations of different aged groups of participants over time.
Primary difficulties of longitudinal studies include repeat testing effects, attrition of participants (through death, relocation, or loss of interest in participation), expense and time involved in conducting a longitudinal study, and the practical difficulties of such a model. The cross-sectional model helps to allay some of those problems, but does bring into the research the fact that single observations do not allow for conclusions about developmental changes as well as cohort effects that can complicate the accurate interpretation of research findings.
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