Research Assignment: Exemplars of Writing in Kinesiology

Martin Ginis, K. A., & Leary, M. R. (2006). Single, physically active, female: The effects of information about exercise participation and body weight on perceptions of young women. Social Behaviour & Personality: An International Journal, 34, 8, 979-990.

This article is an example of exemplary writing in the discipline of Kinesiology because it talks about an issue that is considered important to kinesiologists. In this field, we often look at how impressions are formed about people who exercise and those who do not participate in physical activity. This particular study focused on how attractive women were viewed based on their weight and if they exercised. Participants in the study were asked to rate how important they thought it was to be physically active, to be attractive, etc. Then they read descriptions of the different cases and rate the women based on personality and physical attractiveness. Surveys and rating scales are commonly used and accepted in the field of kinesiology. The researchers also used graphs and tables to display their data. The language used in this article is quite advanced. Since it is primarily people in the discipline of kinesiology that read these articles the researchers used words that are common to this discipline, but people who are not familiar with this topic wouldn't understand as well. It can take a couple read-throughs to grasp the concept.

Annesi, J. J., & Whitaker, A. C. (2010). Psychological factors associated with weight loss in obese and severely obese women in a behavioural physical activity intervention. Health Education & Behaviour, 37, 4, 593-606. doi: 10.1177/1090198109331671

Obesity is a growing concern among our population. As more and more people are engaging in a sedentary lifestyle it has fallen to people in the field on kinesiology to get people up and moving. Therefore, research that focuses on weight loss and the effects it has on the body are very important to kinesiologists. The self-efficacy, mood, and body satisfaction of all the participants were measures using surveys and they all had their initial body mass index (BMI) calculated. This is an example of exemplary writing in kinesiology because not only are kinesiologists interested in getting people to lose weight, but they also want to examine how that affects the person on a physiological and social scale. The writing in this article was advanced and targeted towards other researchers in the kinesiology discipline. There were many terms that the reader was expected to understand because they are commonly used in this field. There were also a lot of calculations and numbers throughout to explain their findings, but this can become confusing.

Plotnikoff, R. C., Karunamuni, N., & Brunet, S. (2009). A comparison of physical activity-related social-cognitive factors between those with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and diabetes free adults. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 14, 5, 536-544. doi: 10.1080/13548500903012863

Diabetes is quickly becoming one of the most prevalent diseases as our population becomes more sedentary and consumes more fatty and processed foods. Articles such as this one are important because they look at how weight loss can prevent people from getting diabetes. This article was different from the other two in the way that it was not research, but a summary of 20 different studies done on diabetes to demonstrate that regular physical activity does in fact reduce the chance of diabetes. This is a legitimate methodology even if it's not original research; they compared 20 different studies and showed that they unanimously agreed physical activity is beneficial for people at risk for diabetes. The language was still at an academic level because it is targeted for professional in the field to read. While there were fewer calculations throughout the writing, it still used more complex language than that you would find in a newspaper.