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Multiple Choice

If you want to assess how opinions change over time in response to a new policy, which type of survey is appropriate?

To see how opinions change after a policy, you need to measure the same people at multiple points in time. This longitudinal design lets you track within-person changes and connect shifts in attitudes to the policy timeline, improving your ability to observe trends and causally relate them to the policy. A cross-sectional survey only captures opinions at one moment, so it cannot show how attitudes evolve. A case study approach focuses on in-depth analysis of a few cases rather than measuring changes across a broader population over time. A random sample survey describes how you select participants, but by itself it doesn’t specify following the same individuals over time. So the appropriate approach is a longitudinal survey.

To see how opinions change after a policy, you need to measure the same people at multiple points in time. This longitudinal design lets you track within-person changes and connect shifts in attitudes to the policy timeline, improving your ability to observe trends and causally relate them to the policy. A cross-sectional survey only captures opinions at one moment, so it cannot show how attitudes evolve. A case study approach focuses on in-depth analysis of a few cases rather than measuring changes across a broader population over time. A random sample survey describes how you select participants, but by itself it doesn’t specify following the same individuals over time. So the appropriate approach is a longitudinal survey.