DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE LONGITUDINAL AND CROSS SECTIONAL APPROACH OF DEVELOPMENT.
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cross sectional:
The term ‘cross-section’ is used in the biological sciences to refer to the process of cutting through one or more dimensions of an organism, usually by identifying layers of tissue types within such a section. The analogy transfers into psychology to apply to different groups within the same sample. These groupings might include divisions by gender or social class, but usually involve comparisons between different age periods. In such designs, individuals within different age groups are studied just once, and any difference on a dependent measure is attributed to the hypothesized process of change between them.
It is not difficult to criticize the cross-sectional approach . Differences between age groups reveal just that – differences – and not the process of developmental change within the child. However, there is also much to commend in the cross-sectional approach.
longitudinal :
Two broad traditions of longitudinal research are subsumed within one methodology. Firstly, longitudinal investigations chart the dynamics of change. There are a number of possible patterns. The most simple is a linear function in which change in an individual is constant (i.e., the individual maintains her/his rank relative to others over age). More complex are functions in which there are dramatic or step-like progressions, as typified in stage models, or exponential patterns in which there is an accelerated period of change that continually slows toward an asymptote. Even more complex are U-shaped developmental trajectories in which the development of a particular function seems to disappear and then to reappear. Researchers who explore the dynamics of change in this way tend to examine the developmental function (Wohlwill, 1973), defined as the average change of a group of individuals over time. Secondly, the longitudinal approach has been used to examine individual differences and their stability over time (McCall, 1977). Such research designs are used mainly to examine issues related to personality or intelligence, but which have developmental implications in terms of whether individuals with different abilities (e.g., children with autism versus typically developing children, or preterm versus fullterm infants) develop in the same way and at equivalent rates.
cross sectional:
The term ‘cross-section’ is used in the biological sciences to refer to the process of cutting through one or more dimensions of an organism, usually by identifying layers of tissue types within such a section. The analogy transfers into psychology to apply to different groups within the same sample. These groupings might include divisions by gender or social class, but usually involve comparisons between different age periods. In such designs, individuals within different age groups are studied just once, and any difference on a dependent measure is attributed to the hypothesized process of change between them.
It is not difficult to criticize the cross-sectional approach . Differences between age groups reveal just that – differences – and not the process of developmental change within the child. However, there is also much to commend in the cross-sectional approach.
longitudinal :
Two broad traditions of longitudinal research are subsumed within one methodology. Firstly, longitudinal investigations chart the dynamics of change. There are a number of possible patterns. The most simple is a linear function in which change in an individual is constant (i.e., the individual maintains her/his rank relative to others over age). More complex are functions in which there are dramatic or step-like progressions, as typified in stage models, or exponential patterns in which there is an accelerated period of change that continually slows toward an asymptote. Even more complex are U-shaped developmental trajectories in which the development of a particular function seems to disappear and then to reappear. Researchers who explore the dynamics of change in this way tend to examine the developmental function (Wohlwill, 1973), defined as the average change of a group of individuals over time. Secondly, the longitudinal approach has been used to examine individual differences and their stability over time (McCall, 1977). Such research designs are used mainly to examine issues related to personality or intelligence, but which have developmental implications in terms of whether individuals with different abilities (e.g., children with autism versus typically developing children, or preterm versus fullterm infants) develop in the same way and at equivalent rates.
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