Cross Sectional Research

Cross-Sectional Research Design

Cross-sectional research is a type of research often used in psychology.

Cross-sectional research in psychology is a non-experimental, observational research design. It is usually used to describe, for example, the characteristics of a population or subgroup of people at a particular point in time. Or for descriptive purposes.

Cross-sectional research is not usually used when the researcher wants to draw analytical or causal conclusions from the research.

A typical cross-sectional study examines individuals who have or have not been exposed to a factor. The research seeks to determine the differences between those exposed to an element and those who have not.

In psychology, cross-sectional research is usually conducted to:

1. Measure the current prevalence rates of mental illness in specific populations.
2. Describe the characteristics of a target population.

Fig. 1 - Twins are the target population for several cross-sectional research studies .

Cross-Sectional Research Method

When conducting cross-sectional studies, the typical methodology commonly used involves:

1. Formulating a research question and hypothesis - at this stage, the researcher must identify the target population.
2. Designing the research - cross-sectional research tends to use observation rather than experimental techniques to collect data. However, other non-experimental methods, such as questionnaires, may be used. Therefore, cross-sectional research methods can collect both qualitative and quantitative data.
3. Conducting the research - the researcher collects data from participants.
4. Analysing the data - how the data is analysed depends on what data collection methods the researcher used.

Types of Cross-Sectional Study

It is important to note that the cross-sectional study is a non-experimental research method. It relies on observations. Rather than manipulating variables, experimenters observe naturally occurring phenomena.There are three types of cross-sectional studies used in research.

The first type of cross-sectional study we will discuss is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Descriptive cross-sectional research measures characteristics or describes disease prevalence in the target population.

The second is analytical cross-sectional studies. In analytical cross-sectional research, researchers examine whether there is a relationship between two factors at a given time within the target population.

And finally, there is serial cross-sectional research. Serial cross-sectional research is when multiple cross-sectional studies are conducted on different populations/participants at different time points. Each time data are collected, different participants are included in the study.

Serial cross-sectional research is useful because it reveals there may be an increase in risk factors in today’s society that increase the incidence of mental illness or that awareness of mental health has now increased. Researchers can determine whether this trend exists but cannot conclude the cause.

Cross-Sectional Research Study Example

The following research scenarios show cross-sectional research study examples that can be conducted in psychology.

Cross-Sectional Research Advantages and Disadvantages

The cross-sectional research advantages are:

• The nature of cross-sectional studies allows researchers to compare different populations or factors at a given point in time.

• Cross-sectional studies can be conducted relatively quickly and are relatively inexpensive.

• Cross-sectional studies are often used as a preliminary part of an investigation to determine what should be studied later. Follow-up studies may include longitudinal studies or other experimental designs. The purpose is to decide which direction future empirical research might take.

• Cross-sectional research has many practical applications in psychology. For example, it can be used to estimate the prevalence of certain mental illnesses. This is important because it raises the awareness of public health services that changes, such as the support offered, need to be improved.

On the other hand, the disadvantages of cross-sectional research are:

• Cross-sectional research is not conducted in a controlled setting with a standardised procedure (due to the nature of the experimental research method). Therefore, it is difficult for researchers to prevent confounding variables from influencing the factors studied. This reduces the validity of the study.

• Because of the cross-sectional research design, researchers cannot draw causal conclusions. Researchers cannot infer cause and effect from this research design because it does not consider how changes over time affect the data (it focuses on the present).

• According to Wang and Cheng (2020), cross-sectional research requires a large, heterogeneous sample. This increases the risk of sampling bias. If the sample does not meet these requirements, it is unlikely that the results will be generalisable. According to the researchers, sample bias can occur in clinical research when a larger number of individuals come from backgrounds that are more susceptible to developing the disease.

• The period and population the researchers selected for the study may not be truly representative.