Longitudinal Research: A Methods Study

Longitudinal research is conducted with the purpose of studying a group over time to understand the change phenomena that occurs within a given context. While these types of studies are common in health and medical fields, a brief review of literature has shown that they are less common in the field of Human Resource Development (HRD). The goal of this research project is to inform scholars and practitioners in HRD on the concepts of longitudinal research and the benefits of using these methods in their own studies. Todd Little (2013) states that most of the design and measurement problems that plague longitudinal studies are due to a lack of proper planning. Through this methods analysis we hope to aid researchers in their preparation for longitudinal studies by providing key background information, discussing benefits and challenges found within literature, and providing examples utilizing statistical analyses to interpret results which will offer a practical application to research. The results of this methods analysis showed that longitudinal research can offer advantages over other research methods based on its potential to enhance the effectiveness of determining patterns over time, to study developmental trends, and in some cases can provide flexibility dependent on the context and content of the study (Lerner et al., 2009; Avey et al., 2008). While there are many challenges to the method, with proper planning, there are statistical and theoretical tools that can aid researchers in conducting these studies. Through our research we have found that being an informed scholar and understanding the methods available is vital to the design of a valid and reliable study.