ABSTRACT
As has been made clear in the previous chapters of this book, there are many good reasons to use longitudinal designs in EER, and these have been used much more frequently during the last two decades. However, there are many different types of longitudinal designs and these are not always easily implemented. It is therefore necessary to have a firm grasp of the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of design. The main aim of the current chapter is to provide a basis for understanding the benefits and disadvantages of longitudinal studies. However, the field is enormously large and of great complexity so no claims of completeness are made. Rather, this chapter is a conceptually oriented introduction to the use of longitudinal designs in EER, with references for further reading.
