longitudinal study

noun
UK /ˌlɒŋ.ɡɪˈtjuː.dɪ.nəl ˈstʌd.i/
US /ˌlɑːn.dʒəˈtuː.dɪ.nəl ˈstʌd.i/

A longitudinal study is a research project that follows the same people for a long time to see how they change.

The scientists started a longitudinal study to watch how the children grew up over twenty years.

SYNONYMS

long-term studyfollow-up studycohort studypanel studytracking study

RELATED WORDS

researchobservationparticipantsdatadevelopment

OTHER MEANINGS

2. A study in which data is collected from the same subjects repeatedly over a period of years or decades.

The longitudinal study revealed how diet affected health across the participants' lifetimes.

3. A research design used in psychology and medicine to observe changes over time rather than at a single moment.

Unlike a one-time survey, the longitudinal study tracked the patients' symptoms every year.

4. An investigation that follows a group from a starting point forward into the future.

The longitudinal study began with newborns and continued until they finished school.