adjective · academic
longitudinal
UK/ˌlɒŋɡɪˈtjuːdɪnəl/US/ˌlɔːŋɡɪˈtuːdɪnəl/lon·gi·TU·di·nal
describing a study that follows the same people or units over a long period
Examples
“Longitudinal research can reveal development patterns that cross-sectional studies miss.”
“They conducted a longitudinal survey of adolescent behaviour.”
“A longitudinal approach is essential to study ageing processes.”
Band 8 sentence
“Unlike cross-sectional designs, longitudinal studies track changes within individuals, offering stronger causal insights.”
Collocations
- longitudinal study
- longitudinal data
- longitudinal analysis
Word family
Common mistakes
We did a long-term study, it was longitudinally.→We did a longitudinal study.
This is a longitudinally research.→This is longitudinal research.
Say it for a higher band
5long-term→6over time→7+longitudinal
Synonyms
over time
Easily confused
cross-sectional
“A cross-sectional study surveys different age groups at the same time.”
long-term
“Long-term effects may appear after several years.”
Related words
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In Science & Research
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