Methdological issues in life-span developmental psychology from a dialectical perspective

In the last few years there have been several studies reported in the literature using bifactorial ANOVA designs for the description and/or explanation of developmental phenomena. As formulated by Schaie and Baltes, these bifactorial ANOVA designs consist of taking any two of age, cohort, or time of measurement as the independent variables. The logic of these designs is carefully considered with respect to answering descriptive and/or explanatory developmental questions. It is concluded that the employment of ANOVA in the manner recommended by Schaie and Baltes has led us down a blind alley with respect to addressing developmental phenomena. Much more reasonable data analysis designs are available for getting at the description and/or explanation of development, namely, regression techniques. The advantages of regression models as compared to ANOVA are discussed in the context of developmental data analysis. Disenagement theory is singled out for special attention in the context of the dialectic between the individual and the environment.