Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

4-25-2025

Keywords

cross-sectional, cohorts, data collection, research design, research methods

Disciplines

Developmental Psychology | Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Abstract

Cross-sectional studies are a type of research design used to understand time-related constancy and change in phenomena using data collected more or less simultaneously from different groups (called cohorts) of participants (e.g., people, animals, organizations). The cohorts vary on the basis of age or some other temporal phenomena (e.g., developmental stage, grade in school), so the combined sample is thought to represent the focal phenomena in the population at different times (i.e., a cross section). Differences among the cohorts are used to approximate developmental changes.

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