Automate Longitudinal Research for Faster, More Accurate Insights

Longitudinal research is hard work. To uncover the long-term trends and meaningful insights your clients want, you need to ask the same questions day after day.

Traditionally, updating these longitudinal studies with fresh data has been an arduous and manual process. It typically involves cutting and pasting data from spreadsheets into PowerPoint, which takes forever and results in errors.

However, technological advances have enabled much of this process to be automated. By transforming this historically labor-intensive process into a streamlined and automated workflow, market researchers have more time to generate high-quality insights.

Here, we’ll look at all things longitudinal research - including designing studies and collecting data - and share some best practices on automation.

What is a Longitudinal Study?

A longitudinal study is all about tracking the same subject over an extended period of time - like a brand or a cohort of people. Where cross-sectional studies look at data at one point in time, longitudinal studies look at how specific variables change over time. This provides insight into long-term behaviors, attitudes, and trends, like consumer preferences, brand health, or customer loyalty. 

If longitudinal studies are so much work, why even bother? Well, this long-term approach provides unrivaled insight into the metrics that market researchers dream of, such as shifts in consumer behavior, cause-and-effect relationships, and emerging patterns.

This is why automating longitudinal research is such a game-changer for market researchers. They can now access this same research gold with only a fraction of the manual effort and time.

When to Choose Longitudinal Studies

Longitudinal research is a massive commitment, requiring a lot of time, money, and resources. In fact, many of the most effective tracking studies have been in service for years or even decades.

So if you are looking to start a longitudinal study in the world of market research, you should look at use cases such as:

• Monitoring how consumer attitudes toward a brand shift over time.
• Assessing how long-term campaigns influence brand loyalty and customer lifetime value.
• Identifying seasonal trends or reactions to economic factors.

By tracking these metrics over time, you can start to see what changes are 'normal' or seasonal and what changes are statistically significant.

Designing Great Longitudinal Studies

So, what makes a good longitudinal study? Like anything in market research, it needs a clear plan to allow for consistency and reliability. For best results:

1. Define what you aim to achieve, whether it's tracking customer behavior or evaluating the impact of a new product.
2. Choose a sample large enough to detect meaningful changes but also consider potential participant attrition.
3. Decide how frequently you will collect data (e.g., monthly or quarterly).
4. Select metrics that provide insights when analyzed over time, such as customer satisfaction or brand preference. (Note: It's okay to change metrics over time if needed; just be sure to collect plenty of data before you make this decision.)
5. Ensure data consistency across waves by using rigorous protocols.

Automating Reports for Longitudinal Studies

As you can see above, longitudinal studies rely heavily on data collection and updating. Enter automated reporting. By creating a direct link between the source data and the report, automated reporting solutions - such as Displayr - enable researchers to simply schedule updates.

Advantages of automated reporting include:

• Efficiency: Save time and automate routine tasks like data aggregation, analysis, and report generation.
• Consistency: Reports should be based on the same data sources and templates, reducing the chance of human error.
• Real-time updates: Generate reports on-demand, reflecting the latest data without the need to manually update.
• Customization: Tailor reports for different stakeholders by creating flexible templates that update automatically.

By setting up automated reports, researchers can ensure that they always have the most up-to-date insights without manually refreshing or formatting each report.

Setting Up Automated Reporting for Longitudinal Studies in Displayr

Displayr's report automation tool means you can easily automatically update your longitudinal studies without having to start again from scratch.

To set up automated reporting in Displayr effectively:

1. Filtering Reports
   • Global Filter: Apply filters to objects and export the document. Modify the filter and re-export to update data.
   • Control Filters: Use interactive controls (e.g., dropdowns) to filter data dynamically across all report objects. Re-export as needed.
   • View Mode Filtering: Create filters, switch to view mode, and export to PowerPoint with selected filters applied.
2. Using Rules for Automation
   • Rules modify data or appearance automatically. Common rules include highlighting cells, sorting rows, or hiding empty cells. To apply, select a table or chart, go to Object Inspector > Data > Rules, and choose the appropriate action.
3. Dynamic Text Boxes
   • Insert dynamic text boxes that auto-update with the latest data, such as top brands or changing trends. These ensure commentary stays aligned with filtered data and changing metrics.
4. PowerPoint Export Options
   • Decide whether to create a new PowerPoint (for complete automation) or update an existing one (for manual editing). The latter option allows you to retain formatting while updating data without starting from scratch.
5. Updating Data
   • To update a report, select the dataset in Data Sources, click General > Update, and refresh the report. Then, you can re-export to PowerPoint or republish a dashboard.

Maintaining and Updating Automated Longitudinal Studies

Although it is a huge time-saver, automating your reporting is not quite as simple as 'set and forget'. It's important you maintain and constantly update the report to ensure long-term accuracy and best results. Some tips to stay on top of your longitudinal studies include:

1. Constantly monitor your data changes: Just because it is automated doesn't mean errors can't sneak through. Always try to keep an eye on the data to make sure everything looks right.
2. Update metrics as needed: As mentioned before, people and behaviors change, so your metrics should change. Don't be afraid to adjust the markers as your research objectives evolve; just be sure to always do so in a way that is careful and considered.
3. Test after updates: Always test after making any changes. This is when errors commonly occur, so it's a good idea to stay vigilant.
4. Gather feedback from those who matter. Continue gathering input from stakeholders to ensure the reports remain useful and actionable.

Regular updates and maintenance help ensure that your longitudinal study reports remain relevant and useful throughout the study’s lifecycle.

Challenges in Longitudinal Research

Although longitudinal studies are great for providing rich, actionable insights, they also present unique challenges. These include the risk of participants dropping out over time, resource constraints, and challenges around data management.

By automating steps like data collection, analysis, and reporting, researchers can streamline the process, minimize errors, and ensure data integrity throughout the study.

With the right systems in place, longitudinal studies become much more manageable. This allows researchers to focus on what really matters: interpreting data and providing actionable insights that drive business decisions.

Automate Your Longitudinal Studies Today

Automating longitudinal research streamlines data collection, analysis, and reporting, saving time and minimizing errors.

With Displayr’s report automation tool, you can easily keep your studies up to date and generate actionable insights with just a few clicks—give it a try and revolutionize your research workflow

Try it free today.