AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Cross-sectional studies can be done more quickly than longitudinal studies. That’s why researchers might start with a cross-sectional study to first establish whether there are links or associations between certain variables. Then they would set up a longitudinal study to study cause and effect.

Detailed explanation-2: -Longitudinal studies differ from one-off, or cross-sectional, studies. The main difference is that cross-sectional studies interview a fresh sample of people each time they are carried out, whereas longitudinal studies follow the same sample of people over time.

Detailed explanation-3: -Because you only collect data at a single point in time, cross-sectional studies are relatively cheap and less time-consuming than other types of research. Cross-sectional studies allow you to collect data from a large pool of subjects and compare differences between groups.

Detailed explanation-4: -The benefit of a cross-sectional study design is that it allows researchers to compare many different variables at the same time. In a longitudinal study, researchers conduct several observations of the same test subjects over a period of time that could last many years.

Detailed explanation-5: -Longitudinal studies and cross-sectional studies are two different types of research design. In a cross-sectional study you collect data from a population at a specific point in time; in a longitudinal study you repeatedly collect data from the same sample over an extended period of time.