Data from a panel study of the impact of a low-income cooperative on its members are
employed to compare the relative advantages of three different methods of measuring
change. Although analysis confirmed the often reported unreliability of retrospective
compared to true panel measurements, it also showed that "pseudo panel" retrospective
approximations of panel measurements are greatly superior to change assessments made
by respondents themselves. Finally, the three different types of change measures are
compared in actual estimations of the impact of project participation on members.
Results of this comparison confirm that, although true longitudinal designs arepreferable,
pseudo panel measures of change may sometimes be acceptable and should definitely be
preferred to the third, more subjective assessments of change.
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