developmental research design

• Cross-Sectional


  • Children of different ages are assessed at ONE point of time
  • More economical
  • No cases of attrition (dropping out of the study) or repeated testing (practice effect)
  • Individual differences and trajectories may be obscured
  • Results can be affected by differing experiences of people born at different times
• Longitudinal


  • Study the SAME GROUP or PERSON more than once, or even years apart
  • Can track individual patterns of continuity and change
  • Time-consuming and expensive
  • Repeated testing could result to practice effect
  • Attrition could be a problem
  • Turnover of research personnel, loss of funding, or the development of new measures or methodologies
• Sequential


  • Data are collected on successive cross-sectional or longitudinal samples
  • Track people of different ages over time
  • Allows researchers to separate age-related change from cohort effects and provides more complete picture of development
  • Drawbacks: time, effort and complexity
  • Requires large number of participants and collection and analysis of huge amounts of data over a period of years
• Developmental Research Designs
• Cross-Sectional


  Children of different ages are assessed at ONE point of time
• Cross-Sectional


  • More economical
  • No cases of attrition (dropping out of the study) or repeated testing (practice effect)
  • Individual differences and trajectories may be obscured
  • Results can be affected by differing experiences of people born at different times
• Longitudinal


  Study the SAME GROUP or PERSON more than once, or even years apart
• Longitudinal


  • Can track individual patterns of continuity and change
  • Time-consuming and expensive
  • Repeated testing could result to practice effect
  • Attrition could be a problem
  • Turnover of research personnel, loss of funding, or the development of new measures or methodologies
• Sequential


  Data are collected on successive cross-sectional or longitudinal samples
• Sequential


  • Track people of different ages over time
  • Allows researchers to separate age-related change from cohort effects and provides more complete picture of development
  • Drawbacks: time, effort and complexity
  • Requires large number of participants and collection and analysis of huge amounts of data over a period of years
• Cohort Effects


  Important because they can powerfully affect the dependent measures in a study ostensibly concerned with age