Definition
Longitudinal research refers to the analysis of data collected at multiple points in time.
Description
Longitudinal Design
Using this longitudinal research it is possible to examine changes over time. As shown by the yellow squares in Fig. 1, in research that uses a longitudinal design a single group of participants is followed and assessed at multiple points of time. For example, to examine the effects of poor nutrition in early life on aging, data could be collected from a group of young poorly nourished individuals who could then be followed over time. In this example, one of the advantages of using a longitudinal design would be that it would enable the researchers to identify what changes were due to aging compared to those that are due to other factors such as the habits of the individual i.e., smoking.
Shows how a longitudinal design can be used to examine the effects of aging. The participants in this design were first assessed between...
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References
McCrae, R. R., Costa, P. T., & Arenberg, D. (1980). Constancy of adult personality structure in males: Longitudinal, cross-sectional and times-of-measurement analyses. Journal of Gerontology, 35, 877–883.
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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
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McKinlay, A. (2011). Longitudinal Research. In: Goldstein, S., Naglieri, J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_1685
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_1685
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-77579-1
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