Longitudinal Research

• AO1 1 and 2

  • Follows same participants suffering from a clin disorder over a long period of time, often to study how symptoms develop over time or the success a therapeutic intervention will have on reducing the symptoms
  • Detailed data on Ps symptoms, progress, feelings at onset of study, then at diff intervals so progress can be recorded. Often use triangulation, so range of methods such as observations, interviews and experiments to study change over time.
• AO1 3 + 4

  • Cohorts can also be researched - group with similar experiences such as year born, school year, or patients from same clin institution
  • Specific time period not determined to be classed as longitudinal study. Same individual followed over a time period, gathering data more than once and comparing changes over time
• :) Study individual with clinical disorder over time

  Track same patient over time so not just a snapshot of their CD at one particular time, allowing long term effects to be examined e.g. effect of therapy. T/f produces detailed indepth data on patients CD, increasing val of data
• :) Control over participant variables

  Factors such as personality and backgrounds are minimised as the same patients are used to participant variables such as the type of compulsions someone has, or the delusions someone believes, are minimised from affecting outcomes. T/f reducing confounding variables and increasing the internal validity of the data on CD
• :) Only age changes

  Use the same patient but studying them at different ages/stages over time, allowing direct comparisons to be made on the data at diff times, and accounts for individual differences in their CD. T/f increasing the internal val as teh patients remain the same so can establish cause and effect
• :( Time consuming

  As patients tracked over long period of time, takes a lot of time and resources. Also can reveal methodological flaws such as leading questions. T/f not economical or practical method to used, so less likely to be replicated to establish similar findings, so low reliability
• :( Drop out rate

  Takes place over long time so patients in original sample may remove themselves from the research due to boredom, not having time, or distress caused by questions about their disorder. T/f causing much of the data to be unusable, making an unrepresentative sample that cannot be generalised to a wider pop
• :( Ethics

  Following same patients over long period of time can be intrusive compared to studying them once. Questions may be intrusive and distressing. T/f breaching ethics as invading patients privacy and subjecting them to psychological harm