Cross-Sectional Survey Design

A cross-sectional survey collects data to make inferences about a population of interest (universe) at one point in time. Cross-sectional surveys have been described as snapshots of the populations about which they gather data. Cross-sectional surveys may be repeated periodically; however, in a repeated cross-sectional survey, respondents to the survey at one point in time are not intentionally sampled again, although a respondent to one administration of the survey could be randomly selected for a subsequent one. Cross-sectional surveys can thus be contrasted with panel surveys, for which the individual respondents are followed over time. Panel surveys usually are conducted to measure change in the population being studied.