Okay so I have been working really hard on getting my IRB protocol worked out. So far it is looking pretty good, but I have a kink in my methods. The whole purpose of doing this project is to relate type of physical activity to degree of musculo-skeletal fitness. Amy collected data about physical fitness through a Previous Day Physical Activity Recall, PDPAR. She was also planning to use pedometers but she said that didn't work out. (I sent her an email asking her why and hope to get some better insight.) Dr. Johnson said that the questionnaires took too long and so I should just use a pedometer. But I don't want to get to Mexico and find out that I have the same difficulty with the pedometers that Amy did and therefore have no way of generating data about physical activity type.
I have been thinking about a method that I found in my research called SOFIT in which I observe the physical activities and score them based on a system developed my scientific researchers in physical education. But this method is used to evaluate physical education lessons more than it is used to see what kinds of activities children engage in on their own. I will look over this and see if I can adapt it to my study. The problem is that I need it to be comparable to the data collected in other studies. These studies will be using an accelerometer, which is by far the best method to measure activity level- it just won't work in Mexico because they are too expensive to distribute to the kids. But I need to be able to compare the two studies.
My other idea is to modify the questionnaire so that it does not take too much time to fill out. I'm not sure if this ill generate reliable data either.
This brings me to another thought- this is the whole point of cultural immersion. If all I do is go to Mexico and measure how long they can stay in a plank position etc. and I don't take note of any of the cultural influences of physical fitness and health, then I feel that I will really lose a lot of the knowledge and understanding that I could gain from them. I'm sure that I will observe and take notes of a lot of these things but I feel that it should be emphasized somehow within my project.
Barbara, I wonder if the questionnaires, while taking a little longer to fill out, could yield some of the more interactive types of experiences you are hoping for. For example, such a method may help you learn more about the children's every day lives and activities, possibly putting the activity into a context and spending time participating in these activities. What do you think?
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