Suppose you wish to study the development of personality in children, but you are worried that you might accidentally select different kinds of people at different ages. Which experimental design should you use?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A longitudinal design is best suited for studying the development of personality in children because it involves following a single group of individuals over time, allowing for the examination of changes that occur within individuals as they mature. This helps to ensure that any differences found in personality are due to age-related development rather than differences in the groups chosen for each age level, which could occur in a cross-sectional design. Psychoanalytic and anecdotal designs are not experimental designs and do not provide the necessary control to study personality development.

Suppose You Wish to Study the Development of Personality in Children