A cross-sequential
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
is a
research
Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
method that combines both a
longitudinal
Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
* Longitude
** Line of longitude, also called a meridian
* Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, ...
design and a
cross-sectional
Cross-sectional data, or a cross section of a study population, in statistics and econometrics, is a type of data collected by observing many subjects (such as individuals, firms, countries, or regions) at the one point or period of time. The analy ...
design. It aims to correct for some of the problems inherent in the cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.
In a cross-sequential design (also called an "accelerated longitudinal" or "convergence" design), a researcher wants to study development over some large period of time within the lifespan. Rather than studying particular individuals across that whole period of time (e.g. 20–60 years) as in a longitudinal design, or multiple individuals of different ages at one time (e.g. 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60 years) as in a cross-sectional design, the researcher chooses a smaller time window (e.g. 20 years) to study multiple individuals of different starting ages. An example of a cross-sequential design is shown in the table below.
In this table, over a span of 10 years, from 2000 to 2010, 7 overlapping cohorts with different starting ages could be studied to provide information on the whole span of development from ages 20 to 60.
This design has been used in studies to investigate career trajectories in academia
[ eck, Karen, and Carlene Wilson. "Development of affective organizational commitment: A cross-sequential examination of change with tenure." Journal of Vocational Behavior 56.1 (2000): 114-136./ref> and other phenomena.
]
References
Research methods
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