THE CROSS SECTIONAL STUDYThe cross sectional study looks at a different aspect than the standard longitudinal study.The longitudinal study uses time as the main variable, and tries to make an in depth study of how a small sample changes and fluctuates over time. A cross sectional study, on the other hand, takes a snapshot of a population at a certain time, allowing conclusions about phenomena across a wide population to be drawn. An example of a cross-sectional study would be a medical study looking at the incidence of breast cancer in a population. The researcher can look at a wide range of ages, ethnicities and social backgrounds. If a significant number of women from a certain social background are found to have the disease, then the researcher can investigate further. This is a relatively easy way to perform a preliminary experiment, allowing the researcher to focus on certain population groups and understand the wider picture. Of course, researchers often use both methods, using a cross section to take the snapshot and isolate potential areas of interest, and then conducting a longitudinal study to find the reason behind the trend. This is called panel data, or time series cross-sectional data, but is generally a complicated and expensive type of research, notoriously difficult to analyze. Such programs are rare, but can give excellent data, allowing a long-term picture of phenomena to be ascertained.
Shuttleworth, Martyn (2009). Cross Sectional Study. Retrieved [Date of Retrieval] from Experiment Resources: http://www.experiment-resources.com/cross-sectional-study.html |
