Cross-Sectional Studies
What are cross-sectional studies and why are they important?
Key Points
- Cross-sectional studies take place at a single point in time; researchers assess exposure and health outcomes at the same time.
- Cross-sectional studies are conducted to determine the prevalence of diseases in the given time.
- Cross-sectional studies are comparatively cheaper and less time-consuming.
Helpful Links, Videos and Online Courses
Overview
- What is a Cross-sectional Study?
- Introduces an overview of cross-sectional study design and its uses.
- Study Design: Cross-sectional Studies
- Describes the importance, uses, and limitation of cross-sectional study design with examples.
- Cross-sectional Studies
- This University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health ‘ERIC Notebook’ introduces a statistical analysis of cross-sectional studies with various examples.
Videos
- Cross-sectional Studies
- This Harvard School of Public Health’s video series explains an overview of cross-sectional studies with examples.
- Cross-Sectional Studies in 5 minutes
- Explains the process of conducting cross-sectional studies with various examples.
Online Courses
- Cross-sectional Studies
- In this Coursera course, presented by faculty from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, the Week 3 content reviews study designs, and compares cross-sectional study design with other observational study designs, and includes examples.
- As with other Coursera courses, an account is required, but the content is free. If you would like to have a certificate of completion, there may be a small fee.
- Cross-sectional Studies
- A series of videos are available (free access) through this program on different types of research methods and statistics.
Relevant Publications
- Kesmodel, U. S. (2018). Cross-sectional studies: What are they good for? Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 97(4), 388–393.
- Setia, M. S. (2016). Methodology Series Module 3: Cross-sectional Studies. Indian Journal of Dermatology, 61(3): 261–264.
- Wang, X. & Cheng, Z. (2020). Cross-sectional studies: Strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations. Chest, 158(1S), S65-S71.
