longitudinal survey design

Definition
Longitudinal survey design: A descriptive non-intervention research in which data are collected from the same group of respondents over a period of time. Such designs often focus on the process of change.

Learning about developmental changes is best accomplished by longitudinal surveys. However, they are time-consuming, lasting as long as the period being studied. cross-sectional survey design can be conducted at one point in time (e.g., with respondents who are currently age 20, 40, and 60), but they confound age differences with life experiences (e.g., those who are now 20 will not have the same experiences had by those who are now 60).

Notes
Surveys, and data collections of all sorts, may be administered at a single point in time, or they may be administered many times over a longer period of time. The longitudinal survey design, for example, is well suited to describing the process of change, or trends over time. (Suter, Ch.11, pg. 24)

With this design, the same participants provide data at specific intervals across time.

The major drawback here, of course, is the length of time required to completely describe changes (20 years! ) An alternative, the cross-sectional survey design, can be completed at one point in time by surveying different teachers, say those with one year, five years, 10 years, 15 years, and 20 years of experience in the classroom. For studying change, however, this cross-sectional approach has its shortcomings.

Studies involving the influence of time are among the most difficult to interpret. (pg. 26)

One problem is a common error termed the base rate fallacy, or failure to recognize prior probabilities (often in the general population) and being swayed by irrelevant information.