The local health department of a small town has hired a research firm to study the development of cancer in residents in the town due to a suspected cancer-causing agent and environmental pollution. The researcher will compare data on participants every 10 years (e.g., at ages 10, 20, 30, etc.) to see if there are increasing rates of cancer in the town. This type of research study is called a ________ design.

Cross-sectional design: In psychological research, the term "cross-sectional design" is described as one of the different study designs and is considered as a type of "observational study design". A researcher while conducting a cross-sectional design tries to measure or analyze the exposures and the outcome in the given study or research participants or subjects simultaneously. The cross-sectional study is being conducted only at a specific point in time.

In the question above, the given type of research study is called a cross-sectional study design.