Research and Design Methodology
Elizabeth Dressel
Excelsior College

Abstract
The study of lifespan and development requires research to understand what makes people who they are. There are different types of research, which assist with gathering data and measuring outcomes. The three I will be describing are the longitudinal, cross sectional and sequential design. There are also different formats of collecting data such as systemic observation, self reports, the clinical method and ethnograpy, which I will explain my understanding of the similarities and differences. Keywords: longitudinal design, cross sectional design, sequential design, systemic observation, self-reports, clinical method and ethnograpy

Research and Design Methodology In the longitudinal design the participants are monitored frequently for a short or long period of time and data is analyzed as the participant ages. By monitoring the participants in this way it unfolds patterns and allows the researcher to more easily see relationships over a period of time. For example our textbook used an example of behavior types and then added male and female to further see relationships. The limitation to this study is the possibility of drop out of the participants due to the length of study. The cross sectional seems to be a more convenient type of research due to the time frame. It does study different age groups but at one period of time not over a period of time as in the longitudinal research. The strengths are there are fewer participants who drop out because participants are asked to participate only one time. The limitations may include something called cohort effects, which is the way of thinking of a certain age group based on cultural or historical conditions during the time period they grew up. The final research style appears to be the newest style, which took the strengths and weaknesses from each former type to create a better style. The sequential design alleviates cohort effects. It studies participants over a period of time and also studies differences within age groups. These styles of research are using observation and have strengths and weakness noted. There must be a collection method for a research study and there are four major types: systematic observation, self-reports, clinical or case study and ethnograpy. The observational method can be in a natural setting or a laboratory. This method allows the participant to be comfortable and act in a more natural manner. In the observational method both the natural and laboratory settings allow the participant to be more natural but the setting can’t always be controlled. The self-report method is like an interview asking questions and allowing the participant to answer. Self-report includes clinical interview, participants are asked questions, and structured interviews, tests are taken asking a set of similar questions. Structure interviews seem to be less informative as the questions are always the same where the clinical interview has more flexibility. The clinical interviews limitations are people may false report or have difficulty putting thoughts together skewing the data. The clinical or case study method is a collection of data on one person creating a picture of how this person became who they are. The limitation in this style is there are few comparisons. And finally, ethnography is a way of researching and understanding a group such as a cultural group. (Berk, 2014) From my reading and understanding of research and research methods it appears there are several diverse ways of collecting data and analyzing it. These diversities are important to be able to analyze different types of data effectively. Scientists or researches are able to gain the most knowledge and report more clear findings to the public by having choices on collecting data.

References
Berk, Laura E. (2014) Development Through the Lifespan 6th edition. Pearson Education, Inc, 28-39.