Two teams study vocabulary growth. Team X gives a vocabulary test to 200 children aged 4, 6, 8, and 10 in 2025 and compares scores. Team Y gives the same test to 200 four-year-olds in 2025 and retests the same children every two years until 2031. Both teams report age-related vocabulary gains.
Team X is using which research design?
- Acheck_circle
Cross-sectional
- B
Longitudinal
- C
Case study
- D
Naturalistic observation
Explanation
Cross-sectional designs compare participants of different ages at the same point in time, allowing quick estimates of age-related differences but conflating age effects with cohort differences.