Topic: longitudinal study - Essay Example

Longitudinal Study Longitudinal Study Longitudinal studies are renowned by many researchers because of the longer time that they require. These types of studies usually focus on understanding relationships between identified variables and the researchers observe participants for a long period. This type of research is beneficial because it presents an opportunity for researchers to recognize the changes that occur during the period of study. In psychology, this type of study is preferred when researchers are analyzing issues related to development and life span (Lerner, 2003).

However, this type of study presents unique challenges and issues that are not present in other study designs. One of the outstanding challenges is the long period required to study the participants before conclusions of the study are made. Notably, researchers require resources and sufficient funding for them to be successful. This is a fact that limits the efficiency of longitudinal studies because the logistics required to sustain the study over a long period of time are far much beyond the budget of many researchers.

In a bid to address this issue, researchers adopting this design prefer to rely on a few participants. This translates to a small sample which makes it impractical to apply the findings to the large target population. A greater fear concerns the loss of participants over the years. For example, some participants may choose to drop out of the study while others move from the region of study ( Robins & Fraley, 2009). The convenience of longitudinal studies is not assured because different events, unforeseen at the time of designing the study may occur.

Such events may prove to disrupt the entire study compelling the researchers to redesign it. ReferencesLerner, R. M. (2003). Handbook of psychology. New York: Wiley. Robins, R., & Fraley, R. C. (2009). Handbook of Research Methods in Personality Psychology. New York: Guilford Publications.