Microgenetic design (a.k.a. microgenetic method) is a scientific method in which the same setting is studied repeatedly in order to observe change in detail. In contrast to

cross-sectional In statistics and econometrics, cross-sectional data is a type of data collected by observing many subjects (such as individuals, firms, countries, or regions) at a single point or period of time. Analysis of cross-sectional data usually consists ...

and

longitudinal design A longitudinal study (or longitudinal survey, or panel study) is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables (e.g., people) over long periods of time (i.e., uses longitudinal data). It is often a type of observation ...

s, which provide broad outlines of the process of change, microgenetic designs provide an in-depth analysis of the behavior of the system while it is changing. Although often associated with

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

, the method has been applied in adult settings as well, and the method is applicable to any system—human or otherwise—whose behavior changes over time, and where it may be useful or important to analyze the details of these changes. The term "microgenetic" appears to have originated with Heinz Werner, who described a "genetic method" in the early part of the 20th century, and has been employed by many prominent psychologists since that time. (It is unclear when and where the "micro" prefix was added.)

Vygotskian Theory

Information-processing psychologists, particularly Robert S. Siegler, also have adopted the microgenetic method advocated by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Psychologist

Lev Vygotsky Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (, ; ; – June 11, 1934) was a Russian and Soviet psychologist, best known for his work on psychological development in children and creating the framework known as cultural-historical activity theory. After his ear ...

. The microgenetic method is derived from Vygotsky’s developmental approach:

"…to encompass in research the process of a given thing’s development in all its phases and changes…fundamentally means to discover its nature, its essence, for ‘it is only in movement that a body shows what it is’" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 65).

References

Developmental psychology {{developmental-psych-stub

Vygotskian Theory

See also

References