Objectives

After completing this module, you will be able to:

• Formulate research questions that are appropriate for cross-sectional designs;
• Decide when to use a cross-sectional design, including designs with repeated measures over time, and when to use a longitudinal design;
• Take steps to reduce the threats to internal and external avlidity in cross-sectional designs, particularly the threats that result from limited ability to anticipate non-experimental differences among groups;
• Develop sampling strategies to help ensure that samples are both representative of the population of interest and that the samples for comparison groups are reasonably matched;
• Create cross-sectional designs, including designs to assess group (not individual) change over time.

Assigned Readings
deVaus, Ch. 10, 11 & 12

Some Clarifications about Cross-Sectional Designs

Rubin, D.B. (2006). William G. Cochran's Contributions to the Design, Analysis & Evaluation of Observational Studies. Pp. 7-29 in Rubin, D.B. (ed.), Matched Sampling for Causal Effects. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA. e-reserve

Recommended Readings
Duncan, G.J. & Magnuson, K.A. (2003) The promise of random assignment social experiments for understanding well-being and behavior. Current Sociology 51(5), 529-541.

Wheaton, B. (2003) When methods make a difference. Current Sociology 51(5), 543-571.

Learning Guide: Cross-Sectional Designs

Other Advance Preparation
Design Exercise - Bring this to class, but you do not need to read it ahead of time