Types of Study

Types of Study	Aim	Pros	Cons
Exploratory study	Helps familiarize a researcher with a topic, common in new areas of new interest or fields that are relatively new. Also appropriate for more persistent phenomena.	Can offer a breadth and depth of information.	Seldom provide satisfactory answers to research questions.
Descriptive study	To describe situations and events.	Helpful in qualitative analysis.	Limiting. Generally part of a larger study as to why a phenomena occurs.
Cross-sectional studies	A snap-shot in time. Exploratory and descriptive studies are often cross-sectional.	Gives an accurate analysis of a phenomena at one given time.	Phenomena are organic and always changing.
Longitudinal studies	Designed to permit observations of the same phenomenon over an extended period.	Best way to study changes over time.	Can be difficult for quantitative studies such as large scale surveys.
Types of Longitudinal studies
Trend study	Studies within a population over time.	Can provide an in-depth analysis of a population over a period of time.	Sampling could result in candidates with similar background and characteristics. Resulting in a less than simple random sample.
Cohort study	A researcher examines specific sub-populations as they change over time.	Unique cross-section of a population with true random sampling.	Limited to the cohort you have chosen to study.
Panel study	Examines the same set of people each time.	Most comprehensive data on changes over time.	Panel attrition