In statistics and econometrics, the term panel data refers to multi-dimensional data frequently involving measurements over time. Panel data contain observations on multiple phenomena observed over multiple time periods for the same firms or individuals. In biostatistics, the term longitudinal data is often used instead, wherein a subject or cluster constitutes a panel member or individual in a longitudinal study. (Somewhat confusingly, the Stata manual entry on the "xtset" command refers to a panel member simply as a "panel".)
Time series and cross-sectional data are special cases of panel data that are in one dimension only (one panel member or individual for the former, one time point for the latter).
Read more about Panel Data: Example, Analysis of Panel Data, Data Sets Which Have A Panel Design
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“To write it, it took three months; to conceive it three minutes; to collect the data in it—all my life.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)