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18 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Types of Longitudinal Studies
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Trend Studies
Cohort Analysis Panel Studies |
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Trend Studies
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Most common
Samples different groups of people at different times from the same population Provide for net changes at an aggregate level: tells us trends in attitudes and behaviors Examples: Polling Media credibility trend studies Violence Index demographic trends in television viewing habits of adults |
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Advantages of Trend Studies
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Describe long-term changes, including patterns, in a population
Can be based upon a comparison of survey data originally done for other purposes, or secondary data, which saves $, time and personnel |
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Disadvantages of Trend Studies
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Only as good as the underlying data, so if data is unreliable, false trends will show up in the results
Changes in the way indexes are constructed or the way questions are asked produce results that are not comparable over time |
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Cohort Analysis
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Any group of individuals who are linked in some way or who have experienced the same significant life event within a given period
Example: Birth cohorts, marriage cohorts, divorce cohorts, etc. Any study in which some characteristic of one or more cohorts is measured at two or more points in time is a cohort analysis Examples: Consumption of soft drinks Public opinion |
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How to interpret cohort analysis tables
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Reading down a single column presents comparisons among different age cohorts at one point in time
Inter-cohort differences Trends at each age level that occur when cohorts replace one another can be seen by reading across the rows Reading diagonally toward the right reveals changes in a single cohort from one time to another Intra-cohort study |
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Advantages of cohort analysis
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Highly flexible
Provides insights into the effects of maturation and social, cultural, and political change Can be used with original data or secondary data Can be less expensive than surveys or experiments |
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Disadvantages of cohort analysis
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No statistical tests of significance to account for changes due to chance – can use various techniques to try to account for effects
Sample mortality – people dropping out of the survey |
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Panel Studies
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Measure the same sample of respondents at different points in time.
Reveal information about both net change and gross change in the dependent variable Continuous Interval |
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Continuous Panel Study
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consisting of members who report specific attitudes or behavior patterns on a regular basis
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Interval Panel Study
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consisting of members who agree to complete a certain number of measurement instruments only when the information is requested
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Advantages of Panel Study
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Useful in examining questions about the dynamics of change
Repeated contacts with respondents may help reduce their suspicions, so that later interviews yield more information Help solve problems normally encountered when defining a theory on the basis of a one-shot case study |
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Disadvantages of Panel Study
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Difficult to recruit
Mortality Respondent sensitization to questions Can be expensive and can take years to complete |
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Techniques to decrease mortality
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Compensation
Establish credibility Gather detailed info about panel member’s friends, coworkers, and family who might know where the respondent has gone Contact panel member between data collection waves Give panel members a card with a phone number to call if they change addresses |
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Retrospective Panel
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Respondent asked to recall facts or attitudes about education, occupations, events, situations, and so on, from the past
These recalled factors are then compared to a later survey asking the same questions |
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Problems with Retrospective Panel
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Some people can’t remember what they wore the day before, much less what they did in 5th grade
Some people don’t tell the truth Others try to give “socially acceptable” responses. |
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Data Collection Methods
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Mail questionnaires
Telephone interviews Personal interviews Internet |
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Analyzing Causation
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Panels permit researcher to make statements about the casual ordering among different variables
Causation is present only if the cause precedes the effect (Time Order) Causation can occur only if some tendency for change in A results in change in B -There is an association between the two variables Before effects are attributed to causes, all other alternative causes must be ruled-out How can this be? -Surveys conducted only once are cross-sectional and can only meet 2 of these 3 criteria & can only say “association” -Only the “time order” allows for “causation” as long as other variables are accounted for. |
