Exam 1 Flashcards
obesity prevelance
more than 1/3
34.9% or 78.6 million adults are obese
Body Mass Index Levels
below 18.5 is underweight
18.5-24.9 is normal
25-29.9 is overweight
30.0 and above is obese
limits of BMI
- may overestimate body fat in athletes and others with a muscular build
- may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle
other indicator of health risk
diet physical activity waist circumference blood pressure blood sugar level cholesterol level family history of disease
newest reports from the national center for health statistics shows that
2007-2008
- 68 % of U.S. adults and 32 % of school aged US children and adolescents are overweight or obese
- good news: may be leveling off
- bad news: numbers are alarmingly high
according to the two reports :
1/3 of adults are obese
-17% children were above the 95th percentile of BMI for age
Adult Physical Activity guidelines
150 minutes or 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic activity every week
2 or more days a week of muscle strengthening
or
1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous intensity aerobic activity
-an equivalent mix of vigorous and moderate intensity aerobic activity
kinesiology
the study of human movement, all research in this department relates back to human movement
-what happens when we move, how we move, why we move
research
the systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to increase our understanding of the phenomenon under study
measurement
a reference sample or standard used for the quantitative comparison of properties
research design
the method and structure of an investigation chosen by the researcher to conduct data collection and analysis
types of research
experimental research, observational research, basic research, applied research
experimental research
research that examines cause and effect relationship between variables
observational research
gather information or data about the world as it is
basic research
a type of research that may have limited direct application but in which the researcher has careful control over the conditions
applied research
a type of research that has direct value to practitioners but in which the researcher has limited control over the research setting
applied research characteristics
answers immediate problems
- human subjects
- real world settings
- lacks control
- results directly useful
basic research characteristics
- deals with theoretical issues
- animal subjects
- lab setting
- carefully controlled
- results lack application
5 characteristics of research
systemic logical empirical reductive replicable
systemic
identify and label variables and design ways to test variables
logical
examination of procedures used in process allows evaluation of conclusions
empirical
data is collected to base decisions on
reductive
take individual events and use them to establish relations
replicable
process is recorded so research can be repeated
criteria for high quality research
based on work of others
- can be replicated
- can be generalized to other settings
- based on some logical rationale and tied to theory
- doable
- generates new questions or is cyclical in nature
- incremental
- an apolitical activity that should be undertaken for the betterment of society
law
general relation proved (or assumed) to hold between mathematical and logical expressions
purposes of research
describe
predict
control
explain
black swans
unpredictable even that defies prediction
-an outlier
hindsight bias
- knew it all along effect
- creeping determinism
- the inclination after an event has occurred, to see the event as having been predictable, despite there having been little or no objective basis for predicting it
theory
- an explanation of some aspect of practice that permits the researcher to draw inferences about future happenings
- a belief or assumption about the causal relationship between variables that serves to explain phenomena
evolution of theories
precision, simplicity, testability
precision
how accurately does a theory explain a phenomena
simplicity
how many special conditions and quantifiers must be met
testability
how many observational methods can be employed to test the theory
concept of science
a process of careful and systematic inquiry
sources of evidence we use
- tenacity(superstition)
- intuition (ex:the earth is flat)
- authority
- personal experience
- deductive reasoning (rationalistic)
- scientific method (empirical)
deductive reasoning
thinking proceeds from a generalized assumption (theory) to a specific application
-move from a theoretical explanation of events to specific hypotheses that are tested against reality
value of deductive reasoning
- organizes information
- a way to test theories
- a hypothesis generator
inductive reasoning
thinking proceeds from specific to general
-individual observations are tied together into specific hypotheses which are grouped into a more general explanation, which are united into theory
perfect induction
where observe every member of group to make conclusions
imperfect induction
observe small sample and generate conclusions from sample to population
primary objective of Framingham heart study
to identify the common factors or characteristics that contribute to CVD by following its development over a long period of time in a large group of participants who had not yet developed overt symptoms of CVD or suffered a heart attack
scientific method
a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge
scientific
a method of inquiry is commonly based on empirical or measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning
empirical evidence
information acquired by observation or experimentation
-this data is recorded and analyzed by scientists and is a central process as part of the scientific method
steps of scientific method
- developing the problem
- formulating the hypothesis
- gathering the data
- analyzing and interpreting results
research process
-selecting a problem, asking the question
-formulating the hypotheses
review relevant literature on the topic
-listing the measures to be used
-describing the subjects
-constructing a research design
-constructing measurement devices
-analysis of the data
-generating conclusions
-writing the research report
normal science
an objective manner of study grounded in the natural sciences that is systematic, logical, empirical, reductive, and replicable
reductionism
a characteristic of normal science that assumes that complex behavior can be reduced, analyzed, explained as parts that can then be put back together to understand the whole
paradigm
the worldview underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject
paradigm crisis
development of discrepancies in a paradigm leading to proposals of a new paradigm that better explains the data
4 ways paradigm influences the scientific process
- what is studied and researched
- the type of questions that are asked
- the exact structure and nature of the questions
- how the results of any research are interpreted
hypothesis
a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation
- an anticipated a outcome
- an educated guess
research hypothesis
hypothesis deduced from theory or induced form empirical studies that is based upon logical reasoning and predicts the outcome of the study
null hypothesis
hypothesis used primarily in the statistical test for the reliability of the results that says there is no difference in treatment
-no difference between comparison groups or association among tested variables
alternative hypotheses
hypothesis predicts either a simple difference or a difference in a particular direction
two tailed
there is an association between saturated fat intake and coronary heart disease
one tailed
there is a positive association between saturated fat intake and coronary heart disease
directional hypothesis
one tailed test
ex: children with high IQ are more easily motivated than children with low IQ
non directional hypothesis
two tailed test
ex: there is a difference in the motivational level of children with a high IQ and those children with a low IQ
power
the increasing likelihood of rejecting a false null hypothesis for a sample
independent variable
the part of the experiment that the researcher is manipulating
- a variable that is intentionally changed to observe its effect on the dependent variable
- forms or defines groups
dependent variable
- the effect of the independent variable, also called the yield.
- the event studied and expected to change when the independent variable is changed
- typically measured to see what happened in experiment, or differences in groups
control variable
a factor that could possibly influence the results and that is kept out of the study or experiment
- the control variable limits the variability in your sample by defining the population
ex: fitness level, sex, age
ways to control a variable (control variable)
- match subjects based on some criterion
- randomly select
- limit group based on certain variables (gender, age, weight, fitness level,)
why do we have control variables?
to reduce variability
extraneous/ confounding variables
a factor that could affect the relationship between the ind. and dep. variables but that is not included or controlled
ex: diet, prior fitness level, genetics
categorical/moderator variable
a variable that effects the direction and or strength of the relation between the independent and dependent variable
operational definition
- observable phenomenon that enables the researcher to test whether or not the predicted outcomes can be supported
- frequency, time, exercise used etc.
- must be valid and reliable
validity
do they measure what they are supposed to measure?
reliability
the results should be the same when done by different people or by one person at different times
-repeatable
limitation
a possible shortcoming or influence that cannot be controlled or is the result of the delimitations imposed by the researcher
- well designed studies have fewer limitations
ex: sample size too small, malfunctioning equipment, participants dropping out
delimitation
a limitation imposed by the researcher in the scope of the study; a choice that the researcher makes to define a workable research problem
validity
accuracy
internal validity
the ability to conclude that only the independent variables affected any differences in measures of the dependent variables across groups or across tests on the same group
external validity
-ability to generalize the results of a study to a sample population in a real world setting
