Question

what type of research study design should I use if I'm conducting an analysis on level of education completed and if the level of education has an impact on choice of career? I was thinking a cross sectional study but isn't sure.

I'm only using those two variables.

Answer 1

Research Study Design depends on the research question.

Here the research question is :

What is the level of education completed and what impact it has on the choice of career of an individual?

As you have opted for cross-sectional study,the benefit of this kind of study is that we can compare different groups of people at the same point of time.Also the disadvantage with this type of study design is that  such studies offer a view of a single moment in time.They do not consider what happens before or after the research has been conducted.

I would prefer a Longitudinal Research Design as here researchers are able to obtain several observations of the level of education and the impact it has over a period of time, sometimes lasting many years.

Since longitudinal studies extend beyond a single moment in time,they can establish sequences of events.

But researchers are the best judge on how too conduct their research.