The suggestion of Wall and Wood (2005) that "authentic longitudinal" survey should be used as a better option in establishing causality and related issues in HRM research has been reechoed many times by many researchers (e.g., Choi and Yoon, 2015). However, I fail to locate any material that treats how this type of longitudinal survey could be carried out, especially with regards to the sequence of data collection in a sequential mediation study, which variable/s to start with, which one/s follow, and how to determine the time lag.

Further, while I readily appreciate the differences between cross-sectional survey and longitudinal survey, I'm really confused about the other terminologies: quasi-longitudinal, authentic longitudinal, etc.

Thank you for the anticipated help.

Bala Salisu

References

Wall, T. D. and Wood, S. J. (2005). The Romance of Human Resource Management and Business Performance, and the Case for Big Science. Human Relations, 58(4): 429-462. doi:10.1177/0018726705055032

Choi, M. and Yoon, H. J. (2015). Training Investment and Organizational Outcomes: A Moderated Mediation Model of Employee Outcomes and Strategic Orientation of the HR Function. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(20): 2632-2651. doi:10.1080/09585192.2014.1003084