Understanding Longitudinal Data

Emily is a Principal Research Officer at the London Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime. She designs and manages surveys of residents and victims of crime, focused on attitudes towards, and experiences of, policing in London. She obtained an MA in Longitudinal Social Research, followed by a PhD in Survey Methodology from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, writing her thesis on the sources of measurement error in panel surveys. She has previously worked as a Survey Manager at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London, on the design and implementation of the British birth cohort studies housed there. Her research interests centre on issues around attitude measurement, data quality, longitudinal data collection, and the use of new technology and innovative methods for data collection.

This is an excellent methodological book for students and researchers looking to understand the art of large-scale longitudinal data collection. Gilbert manages to convey complex concepts in a simple and succinct manner whilst providing a wide range of examples that further facilitate understanding, resulting in an exemplar teaching resource.

• Chapter 1: What is longitudinal research?Chapter 2: Types of longitudinal study designsChapter 3: Understanding the sampleChapter 4: Attrition and missing dataChapter 5: Panel conditioningChapter 6: Respondent recall and reportingChapter 7: Question types, features and comparabilityChapter 8: Mode of data collection – verbal modesChapter 9: Mode of data collection – visual modesChapter 10: The implications of design choices for longitudinal studiesChapter 11: Analysing longitudinal dataChapter 12: Talking about longitudinal data