Young Lives: A Case Study of Sample Design for Longitudinal Research

Abstract: This paper presents a case study to illustrate the range of decisions involved in designing a sampling strategy for a complex, long-term research study. It is based on experience from the Young Lives project and identifies the approaches used to sample children for long-term follow-up in four countries. The rationale for decisions made and the resulting benefits, and limitations, of the approaches adopted are discussed. It is particularly important to choose samples which will yield data to enable useful analysis. Examples are presented of how this informed the design of the Young Lives sampling strategy.

Keywords: Research, survey methodology, sampling, survey design