Human Growth and Development / Unit 1 HGD 0062 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Three Designs Compared
The idea
Developmental research brings in time in three ways. A longitudinal design follows the same people for years and shows individual change, at the cost of time, attrition and practice effects. A cross-sectional design compares different ages at once, quickly, but cannot follow anyone and mixes age with cohort. A cross-sequential design, also called sequential, follows several age groups for a shorter time, combining both, as when five-, seven- and nine-year-olds were each retested a year later.
In practice
Three ways to ask one question: one group over many years, several ages at once, or several ages followed for a year.
Where people slip
Any of the three can be combined with any method, from observation to experiment. Choose by the question: longitudinal for individual change and tracking early to late, cross-sectional for comparing cohorts quickly. On the exam, a study that tests different ages once is cross-sectional, and cohort effects are its classic weakness.
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