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Unit 5 Assignment 1. Understanding the Importance of Research in Sporting Environments.
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Understanding the Importance of Research in Sporting EnvironmentsThis essay will focus on the importance of research in sporting environments and looking
into applied research methods in sport and exercise science and how research methods
have affected sports today. This essay will also focus on key issues that impact on the
effectiveness and quality of research in the sport and exercise science. Research is the
systematic study of and study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new
conclusions (Kabir, 2016).
What is the scientific method/process for research?
The scientific method for research must start with an observation of some kind that leads to
the development of a question. Ideally the question that is being asked should relate
directly to the individual and the sport that he/she participates in. For example, an
observation as to the necessity to create high impact mouthguards for sport would not be
applicable for swimming but it would for boxing. Therefore, there is a strong argument that
the needs analysis for each sport and even in many cases positional play within the sport
should be taken into consideration at the observation stage prior to the development of the
question. Observations can take many forms, for example, biomechanical observations may
show where the athlete is most at risk for injury, based on the demands of the sport
(Kraemer, Comstock, Clark & Dunn-Lewis, 2011).
A question needs to be developed which will pinpoint what the observer/researcher wants
to find out and provide a clear focus and purpose for all research projects. A good research
question should ideally be focused on a single problem or issue e.g., does thermoregulatory
training improve the cardiovascular performance of combat athletes. This would allow for
the question to be researchable using primary and secondary research to answer the
question. The question should also be feasible enough to answer with practical constraints
and timeframes to ensure that any participants in research experiments are as safe as
possible. The constraints put in place will often involve technological devices such as heart
rate monitors, calorimeters, and heat sensors, so it is vitally important that the technology
used has been previously tested and shown to be valid and accurate to prevent risks to
participants during research experiments such as overheating and overtraining syndrome.
The question should be simple enough to answer thoroughly whilst being complex enough
to develop the answer over the space of a paper (UPSC, n.d.).
Finally, the question should be relevant to the field of the researcher’s field of study to
ensure the conclusion from the research is valid, reliable, and accurate without being biased
based upon opinions or beliefs over scientific research.
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,The first stage to finding the answer to a researchable question is to investigate existing
sources to collect the data that will formulate a hypothesis to help answer the question.
Research enables us to keep up to date with the latest developments and to create new
ideas and further questions relating to the subject area. This then promotes advancement
and further development within sports training, injury prevention and treatment,
equipment, technology, and rules to become more adapted and aligned with the ever-
evolving needs of the sport. The aim of research in this area is to create fitter, healthier and
better performing athletes by scientific design, not by chance.
Initially, you could perform a self-conducted project to gather data to support the
development of a hypothesis to help answer the question by providing primary research
e.g., recording measurements of rugby players hamstring flexibility on sit and reach tests
pre and post sports massage. You could then perform background and literature research
on past journals, textbooks, theses, and papers.
Researchers investigate previous authors work to find out if there are existing answers,
solutions or methods relating to their question and to ensure that the area of research has
not already been done by previous researchers. If there is a substantial base of similar
previous research, you could then choose to investigate the results of the previous research
whilst suggesting an alternative hypothesis. The previous research could be used to form
rationales for your own research to support or counter-argue your findings. To develop a
sport and exercise science-based project, appropriate sources of information must be
researched prior to undergoing the project. It is important to consider differences in
opinions and findings within the subject area, and to thoroughly investigate popular/critical
areas within the subject to ensure that the researcher develops a broad and non-bias
knowledge and understanding within the area of study. This new knowledge will help to
refine and develop subject understanding which is important when attempting to clearly
define or develop a specific area of research designed to help benefit the sports people you
are working with.
With this newly discovered knowledge and understanding, a hypothesis can now be
formulated. For example, thermoregulatory training improves the cardiovascular
performance of combat athletes. A hypothesis needs to be formulated to ensure that the
further research and experiments is directed to a single focal point. This prevents the
researcher going off track and ensures that all experiments and further research is intact
with the main objective which is set for the hypothesis.
The hypothesis should have two or more variables where the relationship/correlation
between the variables can be tested to see if changing one variable affects the other
variables as predicted by the hypothesis. An example of this could be “Sports massage
therapy will always improve the flexibility of sprinters’ gastrocnemius muscles before they
perform on the track.” With this hypothesis set, the independent variable (in this case the
sports massage therapy) should positively influence the dependant variable (in this case the
gastrocnemius flexibility) to support the hypothesis.
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, This then brings us to another component of research as whilst the above demonstrates a
very hypothesis, one could seriously question the validity of the question as there is now a
huge band of research which demonstrates that muscle stiffness via the stretch shortening
cycle makes a valuable contribution to both sprinting speed and improved metabolic
efficiency (Heise & Martin, 1998; Kyrolainen, Komi & Kim, 1991).
Therefore, we could question why anyone would wish to potentially negate the elastic recoil
properties of the Gastrocnemius and the tendons by performing sports massage prior to
performing on track.
A hypothesis allows for a theory to be tested to provide an answer to the question and
enable appropriate and focused planning for the experiment that is required to be
conducted to test the theory/hypothesis and see whether the hypothesis can be accepted
or rejected. This helps the researcher get one step closer to getting a conclusion which
would answer the question. Once a hypothesis has been formulated, the researcher can
now start their experiment to further investigate the answer for the question and discover if
the hypothesis can be accepted or rejected.
The following stage after formulating a hypothesis is to plan/develop a testing method that
can be carried out in relation to the hypothesis to see whether it is true or not. A plan needs
to be developed to ensure that the testing method is valid. Validity, in terms of collecting
data, is whether you are measuring what you intended to measure. A potential mistake
could easily be made and the results from tests can be reliable as there is consistency, but
the results may not be valid as they are not relevant to the subject you intended to
investigate. With a good plan in place, the method used for testing is more likely to produce
valid results as a planned method can tailor the testing method to be focused on the subject
area of the hypothesis. Good planning ensures that the correlation between variables is
strong which will support your hypothesis and removes any possibility of your results from
your experiment being by chance or error.
Once the testing method has been thoroughly planned, experiments can now begin so that
data can be collected to either support the hypothesis or counter argue the hypothesis.
Hypothesis testing is used to evaluate the quality of evidence from a sample of people and
gives the researcher a framework for making determinations related to the population of
people tested on to see if the hypothesis should be accepted or rejected. It is important to
test with an experiment because it will determine if changing the independent variable
positively affects the dependant variable. Good experiments should always provide the
evidence necessary to support your hypothesis. With sufficient evidence, people may accept
your research, meaning that your research could impact the world in some way. Without
this evidence, people will question your hypothesis as there is nothing to justify your
conclusions, hence it is vital to gain evidence from experiments to support hypothesis.
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