Longitudinal Studies

A study that follows an individual or group over a substantial and extended period of time is considered longitudinal. Longitudinal evaluations may examine the influence of an intervention over time, as well as the interaction between maturation, context, and the intervention. Such studies often entail the creation of large data sets collected from a large sample of individuals over time. Examples of longitudinal studies are the U.S. Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, and the Finnish Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development.