Assignment 3: Developmental Psychology Research Designs

In developmental psychology, the focus of research is often to examine change over time. Developmental psychologists have some special research designs that allow them to accomplish this. Two such research designs are the cross-sectional design and the longitudinal design. A cross-sectional design measures different groups of people of different ages at the same time. A longitudinal design measures the same group of people at different ages and also, therefore, at different times.

Use your textbook and the Argosy University online library resources to identify and research a topic in adult development (e.g., memory, muscle strength, etc.) that you wish to examine across various age agroups. Develop an outline for either a cross-sectional or longitudinal research design. Write a paper consisting of the following information:

• An introduction to the topic you selected, including a summary of at least one peer-reviewed journal article describing recent research (post 2005) on the topic;

• A description of how you will measure the topic of study (e.g., the dependent variable).

• A description of which type of design will be used and why that would be most appropriate. Also identify what age groups will be studied.

• On the basis of your readings and research, provide a prediction of what you expect to find upon completion of your study.

Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Your paper should be double-spaced with one-inch margins, written in APA style, and free of typographical and grammatical errors. It should include a title page with a running head and a reference page. The body of the paper should be 3-5 pages in length.