Abstract:

Longitudinal study is a research method that introduces time-lag to explore changing trends of variables and causality between variables. In organizational behavior (OB) research, scholars have become increasingly interested in longitudinal study. While the number of OB research adopting this method is rising, a comprehensive and correct understanding is not available so far in China. Longitudinal study can be categorized according to the time-lag, different types correspond to different sample size, survey and statistical analysis methods. Further research could be extended on the team and leadership, organizational culture and change, and employee motivation. Future research should pay more attention to the achievement of cross-culture design.

Key words: longitudinal study, empirical sampling method, latent growth curve model, latent change score model, cross-lagged model