longitudinal study longitudinal study
Research that collects data from the same participants over a long time.
Example of longitudinal study in a sentence
A longitudinal study collects information from a group of participants over a given period of time.
More Info
Longitudinal studies help researchers see how specific factors about participants change over time.
Longitudinal studies can be many weeks, months or years, depending on the topic being studied.
For example, enrolling 3-year-old children to see whether a specific early childhood education program affects later learning is a longitudinal study. Another example is finding out whether a study treatment prevents a disease from getting worse over time.
Other info to think about when joining a study
If you are considering joining a longitudinal study you should ask questions about how long the commitment is and what will be expected. A research study may have the term “longitudinal” in its title or used to describe follow-up study visits.
If you have questions about how this term is used, ask the study team before deciding to join this study.
