longitudinal studies

• What is a longitudinal study?

  A longitudinal study is research that takes place at regular intervals over a long period of time.
• What type of data do longitudinal studies primarily use?

  They often use large scale quantitative surveys.
• Which research approach is commonly associated with longitudinal studies?

  Longitudinal studies are often used by positivists.
• Can you give an example of a qualitative longitudinal study?

  The T.V programme ‘Seven Up’ is an example of a qualitative longitudinal study.
• What are the strengths of longitudinal studies?

  • Analyze changes and make comparisons over time
  • Study how the attitudes of the sample change over time
• What are the weaknesses of longitudinal studies?

  • Hard to recruit a committed sample
  • Requires long-term funding
  • Need to keep the research team together
  • Reliance on interviews and questionnaires which may lack reliability or validity