“Cross-sectional study” is a complicated name for a simple concept.
Think of it as a snapshot.
Cross-sectional studies capture a single moment in time, collecting information from a study group at just one point. This is usually in the form of a single survey, questionnaire, or observation.
In short, a cross-sectional study makes comparisons between respondents at a single point in time. This type of survey offers researchers a quick and easy way to gather necessary information. It’s affordable and simplifies analysis, making it an efficient choice for timely insights.
In contrast, a longitudinal study follows the same group or demographic across multiple touchpoints. In this study type, researchers use multiple data sets to draw comparisons and conclusions over time.
Choosing the right type of study is essential for achieving your research goals. This keeps your survey efforts focused on the most effective areas and prevents wasted resources. A cross-sectional study may be just what you need.
What are the Benefits of Cross-Sectional Studies?
All too often, decision makers will make changes based on a hunch. An educated guess based on observable trends can be helpful, but it’s not enough. The best way to make the right choice is by acting on real data from your actual audience.
For busy teams or researchers, cross-sectional studies offer a practical way to gather valuable insights on a smaller scope. They often provide an effective solution for obtaining the data needed to make informed decisions.
While the exact benefits vary by project, there are three main reasons why you may choose to run a cross-sectional study. They are:
- Faster: Because a cross-sectional study only happens once, you’ll be able to analyze and act on your data immediately.
- Less Expensive: Again, the strength of cross-sectional studies is that they happen once. You won’t need to go through the time and expense of administering multiple surveys over a long period of time. With this method, it’s one and done.
- Easier to Manage: Are you noticing a theme yet? Managing a single survey is far easier than handling multiple ones. It streamlines everything from design and response collection to data analysis and implementing the results.
Challenges You May Face with Cross-Sectional Studies
While there are lots of reasons to go cross-sectional, there are reasons why researchers choose longitudinal studies. Some data types and trends are easier to track and analyze over several weeks or months. A one-off survey simply won’t provide that depth of insight.
These are the limitations:
- Observational: With a cross-sectional study, you are only looking at a group once. You are not able to influence survey-taker behavior or monitor changes in behavior over time.
- One Time Only: Sometimes, a strength can be a weakness. Because you are only polling your audience once, you will not be able to track changes over time.
- Correlation, Not Causation: You’ve heard that correlation does not imply causation. In a cross-sectional study, it’s easy to identify answers that correlate with one another. However, you won’t be able to accurately determine why those answers seem to go together.
Exploring Market Research Demographics with Cross-Sectional Studies
Don’t be daunted by the challenges. Cross-sectional studies can be hugely valuable, especially for market research.
One of the most common and useful scenarios is to find out more about target demographics.
How to Identify Target Demographics
A mobile game company knows that the most valuable customers are those who regularly use their game for at least two months.
The marketing director for this company wants to know which age group is the most likely to download the game and, most importantly, to keep playing.
To find out, she created a survey to poll 300 individuals from three categories: 15-24 years old, 25-34, and 35-44. All individuals are current players.
The questionnaire collected data on how long a player had been using the game and how often they played.
The information collected gave preliminary data suggesting that while more 15-24 year olds were downloading the game, 25-34 year olds were actually the most likely to still be playing after two months.
Acting on the Results
The marketing director notices this trend and takes action. They make short-term adjustments to existing promotions to better appeal to the 25-34 age bracket.
To explore the findings more deeply, the team may put together two new surveys: one for 15-24 year olds to see why the game is not keeping their attention, and one for the 25-34 year olds to explore how best to get more people to download the game in the first place.
This example highlights the strength of these studies in collecting data that can immediately influence business decisions. It also shows how researchers can use the findings of one study to inform future surveys that will explore causation in more depth.
Key Takeaways with Cross-Sectional Studies
Cross-sectional studies have many possible uses. One of the most valuable is their ability to highlight trends or correlations that you might be missing in the data you are already collecting about your business, product, or audience. This is especially true if you are planning on launching a larger scale survey project or longitudinal study and need preliminary data to get you started.
They can even make the difference for small, busy, bootstrapped teams that have to react quickly to ensure their product’s success.
A little bit of data can help companies pivot toward a better audience with greater ROI.
