The researchers assumed that older adults are different from younger adults in their suicidal ideation and in their reasons for thinking about committing suicide because of differences in life experiences and coping competence. Hence, they used cross-sectional research and recruited 150 older adults (60–95 years) who were matched with 150 younger adults (17–34 years) on gender, ethnicity, religion and self-reported health status. Beck's scale for suicidal ideation was used to measure suicidal ideation. They used a 't' test for comparison of variables and found no significant difference. According to Siegler, neither cross-sectional nor longitudinal studies provide much information about how those changes occur over time. He discussed a method that involves carefully observing behaviour during periods when rapid change is occurring and collecting both quantitative and qualitative information.