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
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 anal ...
and
longitudinal designs, 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, 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 Robert S. Siegler (born 12 May 1949) is an American psychologist and professor of psychology at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the American Psychological Association's 2005 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award.
He specializes in ...
, also have adopted the microgenetic method advocated by the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
Psychologist
Lev Vygotsky
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (russian: Лев Семёнович Выго́тский, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; be, Леў Сямёнавіч Выго́цкі, p=vɨˈɡotskʲɪj; – June 11, 1934) was a Soviet psychologist, known for his work on ps ...
. 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).
See also
*
Developmental psychology
References
Developmental psychology
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