In the business sciences, cross-sectional observations are the form of data most commonly used for assessing the determinates of behavior (Coleman 1981; Davies 1994; Blossfeld and Rohwer 1995). However, the cross-sectional survey, because it is conducted at just one point in time, is not suited for the study of business change. It is therefore common for cross-sectional data to be recorded in a succession of surveys at two or more points in time, with a new sample on each occasion.
