It is a correlation research study that involves repeated

observations of the same items over long periods of time.

This Research Design can be used in Psychology and
Medicine.
 Developmental Researches studies the growth
characteristics of a human being. (Awoniyi
2011)
 The growth include intellectual, emotional
and physical.
 It aims at measuring growth of all these over
time.
 It involves a number of specific tasks of study
namely:
 Longitudinal studies
 Cross-sectional studies
 Trend/predictive studies
 It is a type of study conducted over a period
of time which could be long or short.
 Data concerning the subject to be studied are
gathered over a period of time.
 A short longitudinal study may take a week,
while a long one might take years even up to
fifty years.
 The sample is constant throughout the study.
1. Prospective longitudinal studies
2. Retrospective longitudinal studies
 Here the emphasis is beginning from a point
and following the sample into the future.
 The measurement is done into an established
date in the future.
 Here the emphasis is to establish a point and
then go into the past of the particular sample
to see what happened to the sample in the
past.
 This type is common in the area of
psychology and guidance and counselling.
 It involves looking into the past to know what
contributed to their present state.
 It is less reliable as one needs to collect data
from those associated with the sample.
 It is able to identify typical patterns of
development and find out factors that
determine development in an individual.
 It enables one to establish general relation in
various characteristics or traits and produce
growth curves for development of the
individual and rate growth.
 It has more time
 They are time-consuming and resource –
consuming and as a result only reach
researchers can carry out longitudinal
studies, as samples have to be transferred
wherever there is a cause for movement.
 There is probability of death of some of the
subjects no matter how short the time might
be and depending on the size of the sample.
 The choice of a new sample will affect the
result of the research.
 Is one in which different respondents are
studied at different points in time.
 One will be able to determine developments
at different ages or times.
 While longitudinal studies will study over
several years, a cross-sectional study might
be concluded within a year.
 The samples are not constant and it is not
concerned about an individual.
 It can be affected by circumstances as when
different samples are used.
 Attempt to examine recorded data to
establish pattern changes.
 With past trend this type of study can predict
the future.
 They are not limited to individuals or samples
alone but can be used even for the
development of a population.
 More economical in terms of time.
 Bring quick results.
 Reasonable sample needed.
 Not easy to draw conclusion as circumstances
might change.
 Cross sequential studies combine both
longitudinal and cross sectional methods in
an attempt to both shorten the length of the
research and minimize developmental
assumptions. For this method, groups of
different age children (three, six, and nine for
example) may be studied for a period of three
years to both assess developmental changes
and assure that the typical three year old is
similar to the typical 6 year old after three
years of development.
 1.Mitigated Cultural Variations
 By consistently studying the same group of people, researchers are able to eliminate
 cultural or demographic factors from their findings. While variations may exist within
 the study group, these variations will persist from one measurement to the next. This is
 in contrast to a cross-sectional study done multiple times, where the researcher
 measures the same variable but takes a different sample each time.
 2. Observing Changes
 Controlling for the cultural differences and time allow sequential studies to more
 accurately measure changes than other types of studies. For example, asking the same
 group to rate, on a scale from one to 10, how much they trust the local news anchor can
 demonstrate how this trust changes from youth to old age. When you apply the
 previous example to a diverse range of ages, this may accurately show how different
 times of the year or environmental factors, such as economic changes, might have a
 broad-reaching impact on the response. If researchers construct the study properly,
 environmental factors should affect the group evenly, mitigating individual or cultural
 variations.
 1. Participant “Mortality”
 One weakness that plagues longitudinal studies is the steady
 decrease in participation over time, referred to as “participant
 mortality.” The number of subjects able to participate decreases with
 each survey, particularly when studies occur over years or decades.
 As a result, many critics contend that the survey results toward the
 end of a sequential study may be measurably different than the
 overall group that began the study.
 2. Poor Causational Analysis
 To find the cause behind a phenomenon, studies will manipulate a
 factor and record the results; however, most sequential studies
 merely observe the subjects without manipulating environmental
 factors. Therefore, the cause behind a trend -- for instance, the
 previous example demonstrating a growing distrust of media -- can
 be difficult to ascertain.
 The purpose of Developmental Research
Design is to assess changes over an extended
period of time e.g assessing the differences
in academic and social development in low-
income versus high income neighbourhoods.
 It is most common when working with
children as subjects.
Presented by:
Nomazulu Ncube
and
Nokuthula Moyo