A longitudinal study is a prospective observational study that follows the same subjects repeatedly over a period of time.
The UK is home to the largest and longest-running portfolio of longitudinal studies in the world.
The UK is most well-known for its birth cohort studies, which each follow a group of people born at a particular point in time throughout their entire lives. The UK is also home to Understanding Society, one of the largest household panel studies of its kind anywhere in the world. Instead of following individuals, this study follows whole households of people through time.
There are also other kinds of longitudinal studies, such as those following a group of people with a particular disease, or a cohort of students leaving university. In this module, we will mostly draw on examples from longitudinal birth cohorts and household panels.
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