Handbook of Research Methods in Developmental Science

I had already ordered this book for the Institute of Psychiatry library, even before the review copy turned up. Closer inspection confirms my belief that it will not spend very much time just sitting around on my shelves. Studying the way in which humans develop is a difficult task. Broadly speaking there are two methods – “cross‐sectional” in which a sample is taken, simultaneously, of, say three‐year olds, five‐year olds, and seven‐year olds who are given the same test; and “longitudinal”, in which a sample of three‐year olds is taken and then tested at biannual intervals. Both of these present...