Cross-sequential study

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A cross-sequential design is a research method that combines both a longitudinal design and a cross-sectional design. It aims to correct for some of the problems inherent in the cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. [1]

A research design is the set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analyzing measures of the variables specified in the research problem research. The design of a study defines the study type and sub-type, research problem, hypotheses, independent and dependent variables, experimental design, and, if applicable, data collection methods and a statistical analysis plan. A research design is a framework that has been created to find answers to research questions.

A longitudinal study is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables over short or long periods of time. It is often a type of observational study, although they can also be structured as longitudinal randomized experiments.

In medical research and social science, a cross-sectional study is a type of observational study that analyzes data from a population, or a representative subset, at a specific point in time—that is, cross-sectional data.

In a cross-sequential design (also called an "accelerated longitudinal" or "convergence" design), a researcher wants to study development over some large period of time within the lifespan. Rather than studying particular individuals across that whole period of time (e.g. 20–60 years) as in a longitudinal design, or multiple individuals of different ages at one time (e.g. 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60 years) as in a cross-sectional design, the researcher chooses a smaller time window (e.g. 20 years) to study multiple individuals of different starting ages. An example of a cross-sequential design is shown in the table below.

cohort age
A 20 25 30
B 25 30 35
C 30 35 40
D 35 40 45
E 40 45 50
F 45 50 55
G 50 55 60
year of measurement: 2000 2005 2010

In this table, over a span of 10 years, from 1990 to 2000, 7 overlapping cohorts with different starting ages could be studied to provide information on the whole span of development from ages 20 to 60.

This design has been used in studies to investigate career trajectories in academia [2] and other phenomena.

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References

  1. Woolf, Linda M., "Developmental Research Methods" (undated), Webster.edu Archived 2012-11-29 at the Wayback Machine .
  2. [Beck, Karen, and Carlene Wilson. "Development of affective organizational commitment: A cross-sequential examination of change with tenure." Journal of Vocational Behavior 56.1 (2000): 114-136.]