Article Analysis Science Assignment Amanda Nunez

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Article Analysis: Sciences Assignment Amanda Nunez Department of Research, Liberty University RSCH 201-B46 Professor Mathew Towles February 20, 2024
The purpose of this study was to evaluate and test the theory as to whether physical exercise positively affects health and quality of life, specifically aimed towards college students. The research questions addressed in this study were what the associations with health-related quality of life (HRQOL), goal setting, and physical activity amongst college students were; and what special contributions of goal setting have on college students who have HRQOL, and physical activity integrated into their lives. The theory that informed this research was the achievement goal theory. This theory states that there are two types of goals individuals set for themselves: task goals and ego goals. Task goals focus on completing a goal for self-fulfillment; while ego goals focus on completing a goal to compare themselves and compete with others. The research method used in this study was most definitely qualitative, not quantitative. Quantitative data is data that consists of gathering and comparing numerical data. Quantitative data, on the other hand, focuses on the qualities of the test subjects of that specific study. For this study, the specific research design that is used is a survey design. Survey design is defined in the textbook as, "A method of asking research participants questions that provides researchers with a method of information gathering from a large number of people over a relatively short period of ti me" (Hark, 2021). The circu mstances of the study described in the article clearly match up with this definition. One data collection method used in this study was observation; the scientists observed the volunteers throughout the course of the study and noted their behaviors and mentalities throughout the duration of the study. Another method used was surveys and questionnaires, the test subjects were asked to fill out an assessment of how the experiment has affected their everyday lives. The analysis that the researchers who conducted this study used for this experiment were factor analysis. The researchers used this type so that they were able to collect a large amount of data, then break those samples down into smaller factors to better analyze the test subjects and the effects the study has had on them.
The main research findings of this study show that there is indeed a positive correlation between physical exercise and quality of life relating to health. The study showed that college students who exercised less did not feel as fulfilled and happy as those who did exercise more frequently throughout their week. In this study, there were limitations that may have affected the outcome of the data. One, for example, was that the college students reported the amount of exercise they did themselves. The results would have been more accurate if they had been collected by professionals and professional equipment. Secondly, the study should have been in longitudinal or experimental design rather than cross-sectional research design. Lastly, the data was limited because it was only collected from college students of one university. For more accurate results, the researchers should have obtained data from multiple universities. The scientists in this study gave advice for the next study of this nature and things to do differently. One suggestion mentioned was to have the instructors have more control over the amount of exercise the participants of the experiment are completing during the testing time. Another suggestion was to take more students from the regur lectures for this experiment. One more was to make the goals the students set for themselves more specific so as to obtain more accurate results. This study was a very successful one, with many takeaways to learn from, and many ways to improve the next study similar to this one. The reason behind conducting this study in the first place is extremely valuable information. As mentioned early in the article, obesity in America is an epidemic due to the lack of exercise in Americans' daily/weekly lives. The reason behind conducting this study is to stress how important exercise and health-related quality of life are for Americans to maintain. Doing so will improve one's ability to complete everyday tasks, and it will increase one's health tremendously as opposed to an individual who does not partake in physical activities at all. "The amount of physical activity in which an individual is involved can have a profound effect on her/his quality of life while in college" (Zhang, 2016). The study compared
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