Preliminary Research and Summation #1

1.  Sport, Gender, and Power

Topic: How does rollerskating connect to gender identity and self-confidence?  

Hypothesis: Rollerskating encourages self-confidence, physically and mentally.

Method: Using Sara Ahmed's theories and feminist poststructural theory, the article focuses on the lives of three women involved with roller skating and roller derby communities and how they changed their life. One of the women simply known as Debby wrote in a personal research journal about how her first sessions of rollerskating were going. As an unemployed single mother of two, Debby wrote how skating "gave her a physical and emotional venue to talk back to the stigmatization she experienced as an out-of-work mother"(Pavlidis & Fullgar, 2014).

Result: The study concluded in all of the participants felt a sense of physical strength, power, and a sense of belonging after their rollerskating sessions. 

Summary: This journal was definitely an interesting read when talking about how gender and self-confidence in roller skating. I feel that the information regarding how rollerskating can help with finding a community and yourself could be a topic when focusing on my thesis. I think it could be interesting to explore how to find that community in roller skating if you don't live near a derby or a skate park. 

Pavlidis, A., & Fullagar, S. (2014). Sport, Gender and Power: The Rise of Roller Derby (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9781315610429   

    2. Exercise-based transportation reduces oil dependence, carbon emissions, and obesity

Research Question: How can exercise-based transportation help the environment and obesity? 

Hypothesis: At least one hour of exercise for travel can help reduce oil dependence, carbon emissions, and obesity

Method: Using math, the article presents a formula on how much gasoline could be saved in one were to substitute driving with biking or walking. The other formulas showcase the rate of exercise multiplied by the number of days in the year and the United States's population to show how much carbon emissions could be reduced with exercise-based transportation. As well as a graph on how much potential oil could be saved. 

Results: After using the formulas, the article concludes that annually 26kg of fat could be burnt per person and 35% of CO₂ emissions could be reduced (Higgins, 2005). This would not just help reduce carbon emissions and weight, but help with climate change as well. 

Summary: When discussing exercise-based transportation the article mostly talked about walking and cycling, but I do still think I can implement that information with rollerskating regarding exercise. I also think that use of graphs and formulas with the scientific side of weight loss, exercise, and transportation with help with my thesis. 

HIGGINS, P. A. T. (2005). Exercise-based transportation reduces oil dependence, carbon emissions, and obesity. Environmental Conservation, 32(3), 197–202. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44521867 

    

    3. Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sedentary Behavior in College Students

Topic: Finding out the core factors of college students and exercising. 

Hypothesis: Too much computer and television use results in a lack of exercise. 

Method: Analyzing a class of 288 college students between the ages of 18-24 was enrolled in a class that would analyze their health behaviors and exercise habits. 

• The first part asked questions about the student's exercise behavior and for them to record any form of vigorous exercise they do in the next seven days. 
• The next part of the study was analyzing any sedentary behaviors they may perform like watching television or using the computer.

Results: The article concludes that students reported that spent about thirty hours in a typical week engaging in sedentary behaviors and that male students reported spending more on time-consuming technology than their female counterparts. The article creates a graph as well to show the number of sedentary behaviors over-vigorous exercise. 

Summary: For the results of this article, I feel that I could use it for the problem-solving aspect of my thesis. The article insinuates that the overuse of technology plays a role in why college students are not getting more exercise, creating something that combines the two could help with my project. 

Buckworth J, Nigg C. Physical activity, exercise, and sedentary behavior in college students. J Am Coll Health. 2004 Jul-Aug;53(1):28-34. DOI: 10.3200/JACH.53.1.28-34. P

    4. Roller Skating and Interdisciplinary Physical Education

Topic: How can rollerskating create lifelong habits in children?

Method: The article cites different ways how skating can teach children different lifelong skills.

• The first aspect was using the FITT principle, "FITT is an acronym for a successful aerobic workout, which includes frequency, intensity, time and type"(Shaughnessy & Sluder). Students would skate slow and fast, and figure out where their heart rate would be and whether they should skate faster or slower. 
• The next few activities list similar ideas where students would skate to solve a math problem or skate to different parts of the area. The article concludes that children would still be retaining knowledge on other subjects, all while increasing their aerobic activity. 

Summary: The article was definitely an interesting read, but I am not sure how much I could use due to it being more about the activities children could do with rollerskating than detailed information on what rollerskating does for the body. 

Candice Howard-Shaughnessy & J. Brandon Sluder (2015) Roller Skating and Interdisciplinary Physical Education, Strategies, 28:4, 26-32, DOI: 10.1080/08924562.2015.1044146 

   5. Importance of enjoyment when promoting physical exercise

Topic: Making exercise more enjoyable

Hypothesis: The more you enjoy an exercise, the more likely you are to do it. 

Method: Using group intervention, the article follows the group over the course of three months and measures the correlation between their enjoyment of exercise and their health. Each subject was at least nineteen years old and had illnesses where exercise could positively affect their health.

Each participant participated in three weekly exercise sessions and then led a discussion on life situations and overall health. During the study, they were also given advice on staying consistent with their health. 

Results: The results of the study showed that there was indeed a correlation between the amount of exercise the participants were doing and their enjoyment. Later on, they revisited the same group after six months and noticed a heavy decline in the participants' enjoyment of exercise. The article concluded that the lack of consistent meetings/interventions is what could have caused the decline. 

Summary: This article doesn't just address the correlation between exercise and enjoyment, but also how not having a solid community can discourage exercise. Many in the study were doing well and staying consistent in their routines before they left the group. This article showcase makes a point to acknowledge the weaknesses of the study and what could be done better if done again. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2008.00844.x

      6. Active Living and Social Justice: Planning for Physical Activity in Low-income, Black, and Latino Communities

Research Question: How are lower-income communities more affected by obesity?

Topic: Factors that cause obesity and health problems in lower-income communities? 

There are a few factors listed on what could be the cause of health problems in low incomes areas: 

• Societal standards on what is considered the "ideal" body in differing cultures.
• Food insecurity and easier access to fast food than in a farmer's market for example. As well as the high cost of healthier foods. 
• Physical inactivity in areas with less education on health resources. 

As well as individual factors such as travel and work. The article does address that implementing physical activities into their daily routines could help with the rise of obesity. "Rather than addressing obesity as an individual health problem, this new, transdisciplinary field of active living is focusing on how the built environment—including neighborhoods, transportation systems, buildings, parks, and open space—can promote more active lives"(Day, 2007). This also takes into account how communities would need to work together to make a more active living space.

Summary: Generally, the article raised many good points on the factors that come into play when looking at obesity in low-income communities. I will say, however, that some parts of the article are a bit outdated and would most likely need double-checking to see if it is still accurate. 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944360608976726   

    7. Fitness computer game with a bodily user interface

Research question: How can a bodily user interface increase physical fitness?

Hypothesis: Fitness games can increase physical fitness.

Method: Using an exercise bicycle, the game introduced a 3D environment where the users would need to bike through an environment before the time runs out. Nine people took the test and were between around 22-41 years old and didn't play games often. 

Results: At the end of the study, users felt that they were exercising not playing a game. But did enjoy people being able to explore the area and not be in any competition with anyone else. Participants had to actually steer and move in order to explore the environment and many started to get immersed in the game.

Summary: The article gave useful information on what helps make a gaming environment immersive and what elements can be implemented to get users to want to keep playing. 

https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.5555/958720.958729

    8. The relationship between fitness app use and physical activity behavior is mediated by exercise identity

Topic: The relationship between fitness app use and physical activity behavior is mediated by exercise identity

Through collecting data from college students with fitness apps versus those without, the article believed that those with apps would have better physical activity. The study concluded that there was a positive correlation between consistent exercise and the use of fitness applications.

Summary: This article had a lot of good information on the correlation between apps and physical activity, this could be helpful for the problem-solving aspect of the thesis.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563220300674 

    9. Rebranding Exercise: There's an App for That

Topic: How can smartphone applications increase exercise?

This article talks about how apps have a "branding problem" nowadays and focus too much on the traditional form of exercise branding such as weight management. The article switches to saying the focus should be on having a better quality of life instead. A solution they bring up for this problem is to create applications that don't just focus on weight loss but on how their quality of life has changed as well. 

Summary: The article is fairly short, but does bring in good points on how changing the narrative around exercise apps could increase their use. I'm not sure about how much of the article I could use, outside of the mantra that the article presents for possible ideas when thinking for my thesis.

    10. Make Fitness Fun: Could Novelty Be the Key Determinant for Physical Activity Adherence?

This article tackles how there is a lack of novelty in exercise which contributes to the lack of interest. One of the examples the article uses is how CrossFit has consistent engagement due to the number of varied movements one has to do. Flow experience is also mentioned as a way to keep fitness fun, 

"Flow experience is described as a sense of concentration and absorption, with suppression of irrelevant feelings and thoughts, resulting in a deep engagement in that activity"(Csikszentmihaly, 2020). This can help with reducing boredom and giving participants more aspects to explore. I really enjoyed how the article mentioned the importance of giving users something to explore. That natural curiosity that users have could be definitely be something to explore in my thesis. 

Lakicevic N, Gentile A, Mehrabi S, Cassar S, Parker K, Roklicer R, Bianco A, Drid P. Make Fitness Fun: Could Novelty Be the Key Determinant for Physical Activity Adherence? Front Psychol. 2020 Oct 15;11:577522. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577522. PMID: 33178079; PMCID: PMC7593334. 

References:

Active Living and Social Justice: Planning for Physical Activity in Low-income, Black, and Latino Communities: Journal of the American Planning Association: Vol 72, No 1. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944360608976726

ERIC - EJ1067865—Roller Skating and Interdisciplinary Physical Education, Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators, 2015. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1067865

Exercise-based transportation reduces oil dependence, carbon emissions and obesity on JSTOR. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/44521867#metadata_info_tab_contents

Fitness computer game with a bodily user interface | Proceedings of the second international conference on Entertainment computing. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.5555/958720.958729

Frontiers | Make Fitness Fun: Could Novelty Be the Key Determinant for Physical Activity Adherence? (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577522/full#h1

Importance of enjoyment when promoting physical exercise—Hagberg—2009—Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports—Wiley Online Library. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2008.00844.x

(PDF) Pavlidis, A & Fullagar, S (2014) Sport, Gender and Power: The Rise of Roller Derby, Farnham and Burlington: Ashgate. ISBN: 978-1-4724-1771-8. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264713746_Pavlidis_A_Fullagar_S_2014_Sport_Gender_and_Power_The_Rise_of_Roller_Derby_Farnham_and_Burlington_Ashgate_ISBN_978-1-4724-1771-8

Physical activity, exercise, and sedentary behavior in college students—PubMed. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15266727/

Rebranding Exercise: There’s an App for That—Courtney J. Stevens, Angela D. Bryan, 2012. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.4278/ajhp.120711-CIT-338

The relationship between fitness app use and physical activity behavior is mediated by exercise identity | Elsevier Enhanced Reader. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0747563220300674?token=B129A3EFA847C944165133D9E7264DF12A7030ABEA19DDE1DB84C62B5219E0D308929020390A8A7AB2586A6834629C48&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20220915030223