Dr. Swartzman wants to know if children who are raised in lower socioeconomic environments have more difficulty succeeding in school as they grow up. He enlists a group of four-year-old children and their parents, and he observes the children in school twice a year until they turn 18. Dr. Swartzman's study would be best described as
A) cross-sectional.
B) longitudinal.
C) sequential.
D) correlational

Question

Dr. Swartzman wants to know if children who are raised in lower socioeconomic environments have more difficulty succeeding in school as they grow up. He enlists a group of four-year-old children and their parents, and he observes the children in school twice a year until they turn 18. Dr. Swartzman's study would be best described as
A) ​cross-sectional.
B) ​longitudinal.
C) ​sequential.
D) ​correlational

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Dr. Swartzman's study follows the same group of children over a long period, from age 4 to 18. This is a classic example of a longitudinal study, which allows researchers to examine changes over time and to establish causal relationships between variables. Cross-sectional studies, in contrast, compare different groups of participants at a single point in time, while sequential studies combine elements of both longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. Correlational studies examine the relationship between variables, but do not manipulate them, unlike experimental studies.

Dr Swartzman Wants to Know If Children Who Are Raised