Thesis on "Physical Fitness"

Thesis 8 pages (3101 words) Sources: 12 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Physical Fitness Research

Proposal for Research Concerning a Fitness-Based Intervention With Childhood Obesity

Personal Meaningfulness:

The problem of obesity has worsened in recent years as Americans have tended culturally to engage in less physical activity, to eat less nutritionally and to lead generally sedentary lifestyles. The result is a set of negative health indicators that become evident early in life such as juvenile diabetes, increased risk of heart disease and diminishing physical dexterity. Therefore, the research conducted here makes as its primary focus the positive implications of regular physical activity and exercise, drawing a connection between physical activity and reduced tendencies toward obesity. As one who has witnessed first hand in family members and loved ones the myriad negative health realities connected to obesity, I do believe that there is a significant social imperative to find empirical ways to reduce its presence as a public health problem.

Considering the anatomical implications of regular healthy exercise, the research here proposed will reveal an array of benefits to immediate and long-term health maintenance that may serve as a positive intervention. The physiological indicators produced by the exercise science discipline illustrate that there are causes in terms of both shaping emphasis and preempting risks in promoting physical activity where possible. The discussion will define physical activity in a broad way so as to accommodate multiple lifestyle types. Accordingly, "physical activity in daily life can be categorized into occupational, sports, conditioning, household, or other activities. Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has as a final or an intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness." (Caspersen et al., 126)

Ultimately, the research will pursue the thesis that making physical activity a regular part of one's everyday life can significantly reduce one's vulnerability to obesity. The study here will apply this argument to a youth population based on the premise that early intervention is the most effective way to promote longstanding and positive lifestyle tendencies with respect to physical activity.

These imperatives are driven by the primary research question, which asks which strategies are best suited to reducing the dangers of long-term obesity such as diabetes and the formulation of negative long-term health behaviors. The primary importance of this research question is informed by the wide array of health hazards associated with obesity and the positive benefits of exercise based intervention. Chief among them is the evidence demonstrating that exercise and physical activity are directly related to cardiovascular indicators. Heart health is positively correlated with exercise and, according to the research, physical activity can be a good way to diagnosis, detect or treat emerging heart conditions in youth. Connections are also made in the research between exercise and both aerobic and anaerobic gains for the child. The child's unique heart rate patterns and energy production mechanisms are discussed in this context. The relationship between bone density and exercise, also distinct in the child, is examined in the discussion as well. The reference to these different systems reveals the encompassing benefits of exercise to the pre-adolescent youth and informs the Mixed Methods approach that will drive further research on the subject.

Methods Chapter:

Issues involving human subjects

Human subjects will inherently present a research process with a number of considerations that pertain to the achievement of validity and the retention of scientific integrity. First and foremost of issues is imposing some degree of experimental control over subjects, whether through the use of a laboratory setting or the proper consideration of all variables and outliers in a field context. This points to a second consideration which is also relevant to our studies. Namely, this control must not come at the cost of natural responsiveness on the part of participants, who in the case of such methods of self report for instance, may provide data which is distorted by a desire to present a certain impression to researchers. Researchers must account for this accordingly in the nature of the research design.

Another crucial issue concerning human subjects is the manner in which researchers insert themselves into or remain apart from the study subject. The researcher has the capacity to intervene unintentionally with the behavior of human subjects if he or she does not take the proper precautions to avoid doing so.

Ethical issues

The ethical realities of working with human subjects are also of crucial importance, primarily with respect to the matter of scientific integrity. The undue intervention of the researcher to the end of attempting to influence certain behaviors or responses among subjects may threaten the value of the proposed data. Additionally, there is an ethical concern any time human subjects are used -- but most especially where health subjects and youth samples are relevant -- that improper research orientation may verge on the exploitation of its subjects. For instance, historically, many ethnographic approaches which have placed the researcher into direct interaction with subjects often of distinct cultural difference, have had negative effects on study subjects due to failures where the prevention of exploitation is concerned.

Steps to address issues

In the research subject considered here, the use of traditional public school avenues of education and activity can help to substantially reduce the threat of exploitation.

Expedited Review Rationale

Amongst the various considerations that are approached by the Institutional Review Board with respect to the research process when assigned its category, the inclusion of human participants is significant. This is particularly so where young participants are concerned. In one regard, the exempt category appears to initially apply given the intention to conduct the study through an educational medium. This comports with the Review Board's own policy, which denotes that "research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings, involving normal educational practices, such as:

(i) research on regular and special education instructional strategies, or (ii) research on the effectiveness of or the comparison among instructional techniques, curricula, or classroom management methods." (IRB, 1)

That said, there are several categories of human subject which are inherently not granted exemption, even where minimal risk is presented through the nature of the study as is argued to be present here. Among these, any subjects under the age of 18 will qualify as minors and will therefore present what is viewed as an inherent minimal risk. Also in this case, the nature of the health information being used, which may be sensitive, combined with the theoretical vulnerability of the young study subjects means that it is an Expedited Review. It is even of some consideration that the research could be deemed a Full Review based on the fact that the study does invoke various health realities for consideration. However, given that the study intends to use interventions relating to physical fitness and with exclusions applying to sample subjects with other notable health factors that impose some level of risk, it seems likelier that the risk will be viewed as minimal. Indeed, positive health gains are expected for most participants in the study based on the available research consensus of both activity and nutrition-based health benefits. It is thus that the researchers here project that this study will ultimately be identified by the IRB as an Expedited review.

Research Design and Methods:

Research methodology is crucial to the proper execution of empirical investigation or experiment with the approach selected playing a central role in defining the value and purpose of the resultant findings. Therefore, in selecting a framework which is either qualitative or quantitative in nature, researchers must approach the subject matter with consideration of that which is desired as a data outcome. While both forms are valid on their own terms, a qualitative study is distinctly an experimental framework which demands strict control in light of its comparatively liberal nature.

This contrasts the quantitative study, which is usually defined so as a result of a clearly delineated range of numerical scales, sets or representations designed to concretely define the findings of the resultant research. By its hypothesis and its methodology, this study will be required to employ a process which is geared toward empirically defensible findings. The determinism of numerical evaluation is widely considered less vulnerable to individual biases unless it can be deduced that such bias informed the composition of the equation methodology.

Short of such a scenario however, it is apparent that the simple objectiveness of numbers is a condition which helps to guard against human prejudice or error. However, quantification may not always be possible. In such instances, it is often the case that the variance of possible findings is infinitely wide and must be evaluated according to qualitative analysis.

Qualitative analysis essentially places a heavier demand upon the involvement of the researcher in designing the frame for data analysis and the manner in which this analysis is carried out. This means that the qualitative research must plumb through a considerable amount of research and data in order to whittle down observational findings to a set of relevant and useful resolutions. And indeed, after the processes of observation and… READ MORE

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