Proposal

Going over the proposals in class was really helpful to me. I have been a little bit confused as to exactly what it is supposed to entail- I think that is partly I already did the IRB protocol, and it is similar to that but encompasses a lot more of the cultural aspects of a field study. Also, its hard to propose a plan for EVERYTHING you are going to do in a three month time span in a place you've never been before doing something that you've never really done before. So, while I have more clarity on what I am supposed to put into my proposal, I still feel like I am just giving my best guess as to exactly what I am going to be doing out in the middle-of-nowhere Mexico :)
But I thought that I would share some thoughts that I have about my proposal- mostly this is just for my benefit in being able to write it down just after discussing it in class today.
First- I think that because we had to write the IRB proposal in sections without the more formal format of a regular paper, I have been writing the proposal in a similar way. It's been kind of hard. And now that I understand that it should have introductory paragraphs and conclusions etc, I think it will be a lot easier for me to organize my thoughts and help my reader better understand what I am talking about.
Also, I think that in order to incorporate the cultural immersion aspects of the field study, I have just been tagging those parts in a paragraph at the end of an explanation of my project. That is actually a very easy way to do it. Now I understand a little better that I need to include those things throughout my proposal and they shouldn't feel so separated from my project. I think this part will take a little more effort on my part. Especially with the nature of my project (I am not really using interviews or observations to collect data) it is a little less obvious how immersing myself in the culture is going to help in the project. But luckily, I think that it will. My professors are going to Hungary for about a week to do this project. I don't feel like that is a lot of time to really see how the differences in culture change the results from area to area. And I think that a lot of scientists (especially in the more biological and physical sciences) don't really see the need to get the whole picture when collecting data. I think that the data they collect will be good and valid. I just also think that it could be even better with more time spent there and more effort to immerse themselves in the culture. So I am excited about the different insights that I will gain as I really live among the people in the ranchos and do what they do. I think that it will personally benefit me as a researcher and a person. Still, I'm not sure exactly how I will do this or what I will find so its going to take a little bit of brainstorming on my part to figure out how to incorporate it into my proposal. I think it will come together though.
So those are the thoughts that I have right now. Have a great day :)

My biggest hang-up for the moment

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.

Methods and IRB

Honestly I have been so busy I am not sure what I have been learning. We've been going over the IRB protocols and it has been good to see the different projects that everyone is doing. It has also really helped me to see where the most important parts of the protocol are and what I need to emphasize as I am writing mine. I have several sections of my protocol that I need to work on- specifically the risks section, the literature review, and the methods section. The risks and the methods are probably the most important parts of the protocol. I have to do a lot of work with the methods because I am changing them from what Dr. Johnson is doing in Hungary. He is using an accelerometer and that is just not a realistic or a good idea for me in Mexico- they are $300 each. So I will just be using a pedometer. One of my concerns is that Amy said that she ended up having to ditch the pedometers and she just used a questionnaire. Dr. Johnson said that the questionnaires took too long to fill out. So... I'm not quite sure what will be the best way to measure physical activity but I need to figure it out soon. Needless to say, I am a little bit stressed out about this stuff. :)

New Insights

Okay so this is going to be an exciting post because I have some new insights that I can share. First, I was thinking about that thing that Amy said about making the assessments more functional. Well I can't really change the tests because then it wouldn't match the other studies making the idea kind of obsolete. However, I was thinking that while I am in Mexico for the first little while, I will try to observe different activities that the people do (either the kids or the adults) that are similar to or use the same movements as the the things that I will be testing. Then when I test the kids I can compare it to that activity and they can maybe see the value in me doing the tests instead of telling me that I'm torturing them, like Amy said the kids in Ghana told her. I don't know about you but I think this is a good idea. So for instance, for the hurdle step, maybe there is a fence that the kids have to climb over everyday and I could say that with this test we can see how good they are at climbing over a fence without wobbling over or using support. I just have to figure out how to say wobbling in Spanish.
Another piece of advice that Amy mentioned was understanding the culture to know how to influence them to let me do this study. It sounds somewhat manipulative but Amy is so sweet I don't think she manipulated them at all. She just used it to her advantage. She said the the Ghanaian people are somewhat proud of their physical strength so when she would present them the project they were eager to demonstrate how they were, "of course" stronger than the fat Americans. That was kind of her hypothesis so it wasn't a terrible assumption on their part. Anyway, she said that made it easier for her. So she would emphasize that it was a comparative study regarding strength and the Ghanaians were very eager to help her. So, when I'm in Mexico I will be looking for indications of which part of the study the Mexican people will relate to and when I present the study I'll be sure to explain that part- and I wouldn't leave out other things of course. I wish I could think of some things now that I could prepare for. All I can really think of is that I just feel like all Latinos, Mexicans included, are so nice and so they will probably be willing to help me. This come from my interaction with them here in the States- but they might just be nice here because I am a little white girl who is willing to speak my cute Spanish with them. Anyway, this will be something that I think about.
In addition, in the IRB protocol whatnot that we had today I was told to try and think of more risks that might be involved in the study- just to be thorough. One risk I will emphasize earlier is the risk of working with children. I also thought of the risk of competition among the children. What will some children think if they don't get picked for the study or if their parents don't allow it? Also, there may be competition within the kids that get picked. I don't want to have any of the other subjects present while I am assessing another child. I wouldn't want that child to be embarrassed. There also may be some more obese children that feel uncomfortable doing these exercises because they get made fun of or for other reasons. And there is also my gender- some kids may be shy doing this in front of a girl. So I may need to think of a way to get someone to help me with that- maybe a teacher or someone. In any case, I need to minimize these risks and try to think of any others that I can include in the protocol just to be thorough.
So these are my new insights and I think they are pretty good. They have at least gotten me thinking a little bit about how I can better prepare for the culture of Mexico.
Voila!

Finally got to talk to Amy

I was finally able to talk to Amy today. She brought up a lot of really great points for me to think about while I do the study in Mexico. I will highlight a few things. She mentioned that there were a lot of cultural differences that she didn't think of before getting there. - Kind of like we've been learning in class- :) For instance the Ghanaian perception of exercise is a lot different than the American idea. We think its no big deal to go for a run- or we even want to because we know that will help us stay fit. The Ghanaians don't need to exercise to stay fit. The things that they do everyday keep them fit. They walk everywhere and they do a lot of physical labor. So to go for a run is like torturing yourself. In addition, they don't have physical education in the schools there so they are not used to being told how to exercise or stay fit and they definitely are not used to fitness assessments.When Amy would test the kids, she would have them do side bridges etc for as long as they could and they would think it was so pointless- how can that determine if you are strong or you can work hard etc? For them it was like she was torturing them. So she said it would have been better to have them perform some sort of functional task determined by their culture- like carry a load on their heads- which they do all the time and measure that some how. I'm not sure what kinds of functional tests I could give the kids in Mexico- maybe something to do with a soccer ball. I'll have to think about that.
When I spoke to my Mexican friend for the Methods 1 interview- she said that they do have PE in Mexico and they have fitness testing in the lower levels. So I can anticipate that the kids are somewhat used to it but I am sure there will be some differences from the United States and the kids/all the people will have a difficult time understanding why I am making them do what I am will make them do. I'm not sure what these differences will be. I think I will talk to another Mexican that I know about this.
Amy also told me how she did her recruiting and I think it sounds genius and so simple that I wish I had thought of it before. She went through the teacher and sent letters home to the parents for them to sign giving kids permission to participate in the study. One thing she said she wished she'd had was to be able to meet the parents. The area she was in was fairly large and so she couldn't go meet all the parents there. But my area will be small and so it will be much easier for me to meet the parents and discuss the project with them and just in general build rapport. Also, this way I can make sure that they understand what the study is for because she said that she felt that a lot of people signed the form without really knowing what it was - especially since it wasn't in their native language.
There were several other insights that I got from Amy- mostly concerning timing and how to conduct the project. So it was a really good meeting. One sort of take home message that she said was- try to anticipate all the cultural differences that will affect your project but realize that you can't actually anticipate them all.

I have so many questions that I need answered.

Okay so starting the IRB proposal seemed like it was going to be a headache. And it kind of was but I was able to get a few things finished up. I still have a lot of holes though. I am a little frustrated because I haven't had success getting with my mentors about the project. I have just been emailing them questions but I think going to their offices will be much more effective. They have a lot of the answers that I need especially concerning the methods that we will use for the project. For now in my proposal I have made up a lot of the procedures according to what I think it will be like, but that might just change. But I'm just trying to think through the process and write it out as logically as possible. There are some places though where I know that I do not understand exactly how it will be so before wasting a lot time, I want to ask them directly.
I have been able to get a hold of Amy. We plan to have a meeting in Salt Lake this Saturday to discuss the project. I have a lot of questions to ask her as well. These questions have more to do with conducting the study in a different culture than they are about the methods. For instance, What went easier than she expected- if anything did. What was a lot harder than she anticipated? How did she find participants? How did she explain the project to the participants and the parents? How was she received? How did she handle any negative feelings that she may have encountered? What was most affective in working with the children? Was she able to effectively instruct them on the exercises? How did the pedometers work out? Did she lose any? (I want to know because my mentors want to give the kids accelerometers this time and they are a lot more expensive.) What advice can she give me for this type of a project? What would she think would differ in Mexico from her project in Ghana?
These are just a few of the questions that I have had in my mind and while I have a few ideas about the responses, it is always better to hear it from someone who has first hand experience. So in conclusion, I have a lot of questions that I need to ask a lot of people before I can move forward with my project.

IRB protocol sample 2

I will say that having that mock IRB meeting helped me understand a whole lot more what we are supposed to be looking for as far as critiquing the IRB samples that we are given. This time looking at the second sample I was able to be a lot more specific about what was needed. This also makes me realize that if I didn't have someone going through it with me I would make a lot of the same mistakes. with that said, there is one thing that I would like to comment on as far as sample 2 went- I felt like the background and literature review part was very well written. I don't know if others agree with me, but I felt that it was. I feel like, for my own literature review that I have been a little bit lost as far as what exactly I am supposed to put in it and how I am supposed to write it. Seeing this one helped me understand a little bit better. As well, I have looked over Amy's proposal several times and I am starting to figure out the logic of it and how it's supposed to flow. I honestly feel like I have enough information for it, I just don't know how to organize it. This is a good realization- because I think that I was treating it as something different than anything I have ever written before- and while it is, it doesn't have to be so foreign. I realize that I can treat it like a specialized research paper- for me this idea is a lot less daunting than a "literature review." Funny how semantics make such a big difference. Anyway- now that I have let some ideas float around in my head a little while- I guess this is kind of like that idle thinking that was discussed in the "Ophelia" article- I am ready to put them down on paper and get it going a little better. I'm excited to see how it all pans out. I'll let you know.

IRB protocol and other thoughts

First- I have to say that I read the first sample for the IRB protocol and most of the second one and I feel like they are both fairly well written. I know that we will do over their strengths and weaknesses in class, but it was hard for me to know why one would be rejected or not. So that just makes me realize that this isn't just an easy fill in the blank information sheet. For right now that is okay and I'm sure that I will get the help that I need in order to make sure that I write mine appropriately. As far as my IRB protocol goes, I know that my mentor and another professor in the Exercise Sciences department have been working on a protocol for the same project but in Austria. They are supposed to send it to me. This will be good to help me know a little bit more about the project and the methods we will use. Of course my project will not be the same because I will be in a different location and I also think that some of my methods will need to be slightly different because I will be there alone and because of the differences in location.
I also read the article for today "Choosing a site and gaining access." One thing that stuck out to me was the idea of being a "Martian" as well as an observer trying to be somewhat native. (I don't have the article in front of me so I can't remember the exact terminology that it used.) But the idea was that you had to take on both roles at different times of the study. You should be able to look around you and notice what would be normal to a native but see them as a martian would. So you notice all the little details and commonplace things that a native would not. You also have to blend in and take on a role that assumes that you are just another ordinary person in the setting you are in. That will be kind of hard for me in Mexico- I won't be able to pass as a Mexican- but I also don't need to. I will need to try and become immersed in the culture enough that the people feel comfortable with me there.

Proposal

Of course I started writing my proposal. I'm glad that we have been working a lot on finding articles to support our project and our literature review because I had somewhat of a head start for the proposal. However, I feel like I'm lacking a lot in that area. I have a lot of articles that support my project in some ways, but putting into coherent words as well as making it unified proved to be quite different. As well, I still feel like there are some holes in my research. I may need to do some more searching to find more quality articles for the literature review. I also think that I need to outline a bit of a plan for it so that I can keep my thoughts organized within the proposal. Just describing the articles isn't very helpful if they aren't linked in a somewhat organized way. In addition, I am not sure how to describe the obesity trends in Mexico. The fact that they are increasing does not really support my project- or at least my hypothesis, but in Irapuato and the more rural areas these trends would be expected to not be as high. Of course I don't know exactly what I will find there, but that is what I expect. I think that is one of the hardest things- I can't really make conclusions about what it will be like there, I can only draw assumptions based on the articles that I've read that somewhat relate to my study and to rural Mexico. I'll figure it out though.

short thoughts

I looked over Amy's proposal again for her project in 2009. I'm really impressed with it and fear that the information that I have thus far collected is not quite adequate for my proposal. Luckily, I have time to get it there. Also, I have more information regarding the procedures for the project. I still am not sure about recruitment. Especially after talking about IRB protocol on Monday I realize that I have to be sure that my recruitment techniques do not go against the IRB standards. I will be dealing with a vulnerable population- children- and I will need to be sure that I do not coerce or manipulate them in any way in order to get them to participate in my project. In addition, one comment that was made on Monday made me think a little about giving back to the people. I need to be sure that my time there is not only spent developing my project and my knowledge but also I need to be sure that I am giving back to those who help me. For Amy's project, she brought small inexpensive gifts to give to those who participated in the project. I will need to make sure that this is appropriate in Mexican culture but I think that it is a good idea. As well, I feel that appreciation needs to be expressed not only to those who agree to be subjects in the study but to all those whom I interact with. I don't necessarily plan on buying gifts for them but it is something to keep in mind while I am there so that the people enjoy having me there and then afterward still want to have more students come to their homes.

Testing Methods

One thing about doing this kind of research and preparation for a field study is that answering one question seems to bring up two or three more questions. One of the questions that I have had is what are the tests that we are specifically going to use to test the kids. I was able to get an article from Dr. Mitchell that describes the fitness testing that I will need to administer to the kids. Apparently it is slightly different from what they had Amy do in Ghana. The exercises consist of deep squats, hurdles, lunges, and push-ups. The nice thing about the article is that it describes exactly what I will be looking for when I'm testing the kids. One thing that I know will be difficult is effectively explaining to the kids how to perform the tests. I taught karate for three years and we would frequently have the kids do push-ups. Despite my best efforts and ability to clearly explain it to them in English, there were always several "saggy-bottomed" push-ups or "teepee" push-ups. So it was kind of difficult to get them to understand the placement of their bodies and how they need to hold themselves to do it right. One thing that I am hoping will help is that I will likely be working with each child individually. In karate I would usually have a class of 15-25 students and I could not give them each individual attention to know how to do the exercises. With the kids in Mexico I will have more time and I will be able to work one on one with them. I'll just need to practice a lot of patience.  
There are a lot of technical tests and procedures that I am going to need to understand and perform while I am out in the field. I'll be honest- it is starting to overwhelm me just a bit. Luckily, Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Johnson are both planning of holding several training meetings in order to teach me what I will be doing when I get out into the field.
I also wanted to briefly comment on a discussion I had with a girl who is from Mexico City. I told her about my project and she said that when she was little and going to school posture and sitting up straight in the chairs in class was very important and they were very strict about it. I have not read any articles or studies that have described this and so it was nice to get the information directly from her. I do not know if this will still be the case after the 20 years since she has been in elementary school or if the schools where I will be in Mexico will be the same as in Mexico City- but I will expect to see a lot of differences between American and Mexican schools.

Rethinking/phrasing hypothesis

Something that has recently come to my attention is the news of the obesity epidemic spreading to Mexico. I did a little bit of research on it and have found a significant amount of articles describing the increasing number of obese people in Mexico as well as the increasing number of Mexican children with type II diabetes. There are a couple of things that I think of with regard to this information. First- originally the hypothesis for this project has been that Mexican children will show an increased amount of core stability when compared to American children. This stems from the assumption that Mexican children are more active than American children because they lack the advanced technological sources of entertainment (tv, videogames, internet surfing/chatting etc) and because their culture requires more activity (walking to school or other places, engaging in manual labor at an earlier age, participation in sport- mostly soccer, which they are known for.) It seems however, that some of the same couch-potato habits may exist in Mexico at this moment. The kids and adults are getting fatter, at least in the bigger cities. The article, Bryan, L, & McLaughlin, H. J. (2005). Teaching and learning in rural mexico: a portrait of student responsibility in everyday school life. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21(1), 33-48. describes the transition from the more aboriginal lifestyle to the more American lifestyle explaining that with this transition comes the resulting poor health that has been increasing in the United States. So, some more thoughts come to my mind. First, will the rural villages outside of Irapuato be experiencing the increasing obesity trends? If so, why? What activities are they not doing and what are they doing to cause this? I feel that it is likely that the children are in a rural enough part of Mexico still with heavy traces of "aboriginal" culture and activities. But who knows- I will see when I get there. Nonetheless, I will still need to be sure to rephrase my hypothesis to emphasize more the type of physical activity that is being done and that correlates with decreased or increased stability and posture. So the hypothesis should read more like this "Higher levels of physical activity and longer durations, lead to increased core stability."

  Well, this leads me to realize that I need to rethink my thesis a little bit better. Instead of saying that Mexican children will hav

Prioritizing

This weekend I was able to look at several different studies for the annotated bibliographies. I was able to find a lot of different studies that have a little bit in common with my study, but they weren't quite the same as what I'm doing. Really I felt like while a lot of it was useful in helping come up with small questions or ideas of what my study will be like, there wasn't a lot that I could use for my actual proposal that I will be writing soon. But running through these studies has helped me see what types of information I need for my study and what I don't need so much. My thoughts are as such: I need actual obesity and activity level statistics for Mexico, I need to find out more about SOFFIT, I need to be able to describe a little better the use of pedometers and accelerometers in my study, I also want to be able to explain the negative affects of poor posture and muscle development and have specific support that goes with it. In addition, while I wanted to understand a bit more about muscle development myself, I feel that for my later proposal and post-study write ups it will suffice to give a brief explanation of the use and disuse theories of muscle development. The audience I will be writing too will either already be fairly aware of the science behind it or they will be a layman who doesn't really need a super in depth explanation of the muscle development.

More Research- Activity levels in Mexican Children

Interestingly enough I was able to find an article on a study conducted in Mexico City through the school systems. The Study tried to asses the activity levels of the children in order to determine whether they were sufficient for healthy development. This population is a kind of hybrid between the kids that I will study in Mexico and the kids in the United States- to which I will compare the results of my study. Mexico city is a more urban and well-developed area of Mexico and as such is more similar to the United States than to the rural towns surrounding Irapuato, Mexico. As well, the children that live in Mexico City will share a lot of the culture and similar activities that the kids in Irapuato engage in. As such it is interesting to find a study in which one might expect this sort of "middle ground." With that said, within the article is was stated that 26% of Mexican children are considered overweight. --- I briefly looked for the same statistic for American kids, but I didn't have a lot of time to really find what I needed.
In addition, this study used a technique called SOFIT, "System for observing fitness instruction time." This is apparently a common tool used to quantify the quality of Physical Education classes. So of course I looked up the SOFIT methods in order to understand a little more about what the scientific community requires or at least recommends in order to conduct valid and acceptable observations of physical activity. One of the main points of SOFIT, however, is to evaluate the instruction given to the students concerning physical activity.
Considering my project and the population that I am going to be studying, I don't even know if they will have a "PE" class like the ones that are used in Mexico City. In addition I am not worried about what is taught in the schools, but more- what kinds of activities the students engage in which increase of decrease their core stability. With that said, within the procedures for the SOFIT technique were several ideas and variables that I sould take care of or at least take into account before going their. For instance, they observe students for 10s intervals and describe their activity during that time- whether they are laying down, sitting, standing, walking or more acitive. I think that this could be an effective way for me to collect the data that I need.
I also, feel that this won't quite be efficient enough for the goals of the my project. However, I can certainly adopt some of the techniques. My study will require more than just obeservation of schools activity level, but levels that ocurr at any and all times. in addition, I am by no means evaluating the effective of the PE instruction in the classroom.
Another question that I need to take into consideration is how much I can vary the thechniques that I use in this project with those that amy used in the project before. I want to be able to use all of the data that she collected, but if I collect mine in a different way from hers, it could render the projects incompatible. With that said, I may not even want to use the SOFIT method. We'll see.

Thoughts from previous projects

I was able to look up Amy Nagle's research proposal for her study of the same project in Ghana. It was very helpful. First, she brought up a lot of points that I hadn't even thought about. For instance, I need to find more statistics and reports on physical activities and obesity relating to Mexico. She has some for Ghana and is able to compare them to the United States, thus giving supporting evidence that there is indeed a difference in activity and health between the two countries showing the reviewer that the project is indeed well planned and useful.
In addition, Amy talks specifically about gaining rapport with the adults in the community so that she can then ask them to allow their children to participate in the study. One very specific way in which she plans to do this is through "prayer time." From what I understood in the project, it is a social gathering held ever night where she can meet people. Is there something like this in Mexico. I imagine that there is. I went to a "fiesta" the other night that primarily consisted of Peruvians. They were dancing and eating and talking. Anyway, it was very normal for them and I imagine that in other Latin cultures like Mexico there are also activities like this.
 -Even while writing this I have been thinking that I should look up the holidays that will occur in Mexico while I am there. As well, those at the fiesta were dancing a ton and seemed to be very familiar with each of the different types of dancing etc. - Is this something that children are taught in schools or is it that they just do it a lot and so they know how? do they do it enough to affect their core stability?
Going back to y previous thoughts about how to gain rapport with the adults- I am wondering what types of things will I need to do in order to meet people to work with. Are there daily or weekly social gatherings? Do I just need to go knock on doors? I was planning to meet the kids through the schools- are there opportunities at the schools to also meet their parents?
Also, Amy talked about sharing information with the people so as to give back or develop a reciprocating relationship with them. I'm not really quite sure what she means or what she did. I think that the idea of "giving back" will help me gain more trust with the people there. What kinds of information do I have access to that the Mexican's would be interested in? Also, what could I prepare beforehand as a type of "compensation" for those that participate in the study- a small gift of some sort? Amy also did this in her project. It is common in the Ghanaian culture to give gifts as compensation. Is this the same practice in Mexico?
A lot of these questions, I feel could be answered most effectively by talking to someone who has been to Mexico or is from there. I will have to make some more friends.

I was able to spend some time searching for more information on my project yesterday but I haven't found anything too insightful right now. I have continued to research the culture a little to try and get an idea of what to expect when i get there. I have also been trying to research a little bit muscular and vertebral development of children. You wouldn't think that it would be so hard to find, but I seem to get a lot of articles about cerebral palsy which isn't really what I'm looking for. The articles that come up in the library searches are too specific, I think I just need to get a hold of a text book and that will be more helpful. So I don't really have much to report on. But my idea is that I need to understand more fully why postural development is important and the kinds of activities that could potentially affect it, so that when I get to Mexico I know what I should be looking for.

To do List:

Sometimes taking on projects like this can seem overwhelming and impossible. It's like what my biology teacher used to say "How do you eat and elephant?" . . . "One bite at a time." So I figure I better start figuring out what my "bites" are going to be for this project.
Here is a list just from the top of my head:
Read up on Mexican culture and the crazy awesome stuff they do and what life is like
How the heck am I going to find subjects/ volunteers?

• in the schools 
• in my host family
• go door to door
• put up flyers
• offer some sort of compensation- what? tamales?
• ?????

IRB approval- woah I don't even know where to begin with that yet so I won't even worry about it for the moment.
I need to figure out how to conduct the study.

• Talk to Dr. Mitchell to get a more in depth understanding of how to take the measurements.
• Email Amy- the girl that conducted the study in Ghana.
• Talk to the PTs in my internship.
• Find other articles related to my study

I need to practice conducting my study. How?

• On my nieces/nephews
• find kids- neighbors
• also figure out how to explain it to adults so they know what is going on
• what are the main points?
• How can I simplify it to explain it in spanish and also to uneducated rural mexicans?
• Start with the vocab- 2 new Spanish words a day relating to my project.
• Practice it on people- first Americans then Spanish speakers
• Get my friend from Spain to help me- and maybe those coordinators

Write the questionnaire or get it from Amy
Translate the questionnaire to Spanish

• get help with that!

Improve that Spanish

• Institute in Spanish (on going)
• Talking with Sylvia (on going)
• Cultural email from Natalie- pick an activity
• Go to a Mexican restaurant/tienda speak with the natives
• Two new Spanish vocab words a day (on going)
• Etc etc etc

immunizations
course contracts- sociology and anthropology
flights
passport whatnot
scholarship applications- ISP, grants, BYU
that's all I want to write about today but before I end I'll make a couple goals for this week

• pick a Spanish service activity to participate in
• email Amy
• research Mexico
• find other articles related to my study

Okay that's it. I'll let you know what I've done next time.

How it all Started

What college student doesn't want to go to exciting and new destinations to explore cultures and languages and people? What college student has the means or time or reasons to go do so? For me, Barbara Simmons, a senior studying Exercise Science at Brigham Young University, I have a thirst for adventure as well as a level head. I knew I wanted to go somewhere that I had never been and but I also new I needed to make it count for more than just personal satisfaction. I needed a project that would apply to my field as well as have a positive impact on others.
So with a lot of searching I discovered the Field Studies program at BYU. I won't go into detail to explain what a field study is but I will briefly introduce my project.
The purpose of my project is to study to cultural impact on activity levels and components of physical fitness- especially with regard to posture and trunk stability in children ages 10-12. It is a project that has already been done by a student at BYU in Ghana and Provo. I will be taking the project to Mexico this summer. Ideally, other students will take this project to other areas of the world. With the results we can compare the data to find out which types of activities are most beneficial for higher fitness regarding trunk stability and other physical capacities.
It is my goal to publish this project in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and present it at a physical therapy conference. That means that I have a lot of work to do. This semester I will be preparing myself and my project so that when I get to Mexico I have somewhat of an idea of what I'm supposed to do there.
It's gonna be great! - But I have tons to do before then.