Distinguish the major research methods used by developmental psychologists. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

What will be an ideal response?

* Participants in a longitudinal study are repeatedly tested or observed across time.
* Longitudinal studies call for a large time investment but can describe how the same individuals change at different ages.
* Participants (often of different ages) in a cross-sectional study are tested or observed during a limited time span or only once.
* Cross-sectional studies cannot determine whether the same individuals will behave similarly at different ages, but they are time efficient.
* Sequential studies combine the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches in one study. Because of this, sequential studies have the advantages, while reducing some of the disadvantages, of the longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches.