Principles and Methods in Social Analysis - Case Study Example

Critique of a Research Paper Name Institution Critique of a Research Paper Research Questions, Hypothesis, and Title One of the most striking features about Roach et al’s (2000) article is the title given to the research under study. The common practice is usually to leave the title is a manner that implies that a there are variables under consideration. Instead, their title simply states their findings without having used a study design approach. Perhaps a more suitable title would have been “Relation between exercise and acute mountain sickness at simulated high altitude.” Certainly, the relevant research questions are not stated explicitly in the research study. It is, however, apparent that the research was probably began with the question “is exercising at high altitude linked to AMS?’ The effectiveness of such a research questions depends on the manner in which the researchers state their dependent and independent variables (Page, 2012). The hypothesis presented by the researcher was justifiable, as the results indicated the hypothesis was accepted. However, the hypothesis linking exercise to severity of AMS was rather limited since it did not factor in the possible relation between the severity of AMS and the particular time of the day. Despite this limitation of scope, the hypothesis was found to be both testable and appropriately related to the topic under consideration(Crano, Brewer, & Lac, 2015). It is notable, however, that the comparative aspects between the scores when the participants were in exercise and sedentary modes should have been incorporated into the research. Therefore, an additional hypothesis should have been included perhaps stating “Symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness are the same in both exercise and sedentary.” This could allow for a more investigative research to be carried out and the results presented could show how these two factors influence the conditions explained in the research – arterial hypoxemia (Major et al, 2012). Research Design and Elements For this research, a quasi-experimental design was used which basically involved performing a set of independent tests aimed at investigating the probable differences in outcomes between being in sedentary mode and exercising. The research relied on checking the extent to which the time of the exercise affected the wellbeing of the individual, severity of AMS, and oxygenation/ventilation levels (Roach, 2001). The independent variables include the main components in the research that are under evaluation. The independent variables refer to the characteristics that keep changing depending on exposure to different conditions. As such, the key independent variables that were considered in the research were Time (in terms of hours) andState (sedentary and exercise). On the other hand, the dependent variables included oxygenation/ventilation levels, the wellbeing or health of the individual, and the severity of the AMS. The use of the cross over design is an effective approach when investigating the AMS particularly in the high regions. Similarly, the parallel design provides a reliable assessment design when evaluating AMS at sea levels (Zwetsloot, Fahey, & Swanson, 2003). However, the research does not recognize the fact that, for instance, in the case of the cross over design, the accuracy of the trials used depend mainly on the severity of the AMS as well as the frequency of such incidences. Consequently, the range of possibilities provided for each research design do not cover all the possible scenarios that can be considered (Boultron et al., 2008). For instance, the researchers argue that the likelihood of AMS depends on the frequency of exposure to high altitude areas. The introduction of the parallel design acts a control experiment in order to ascertain that besides frequency, exercise was the key cause of AMS. However, some other critical pathophysiological factors such as demographic characteristics may as well influence the severity of AMS. Therefore, the research design should have included at least two or more controlexperiments in order to rule out the possibility of having biased conditions. There were observable differences in arterial oxygen saturation levels between individuals who were in exercise and those who were in the sedentary mode. Another key measurement was on the ventilation (VE) where a Torr limit was set as 429 after every three hours. Measurement of VE was done through a digital flowmeter. Further, measurement and monitoring of end-tidal gases was done through the use of an oxygen analyzer. A vitalograph was used to monitor the pulmonary function and a pulse oxiometry was used to check on Sensormedics (arterial oxygen saturation). Research Design: Strengths and Weaknesses One of the key strengths of this research design is that it used a parallel control group. In research, a control experiment is important in eliminating the possibility of other factors influencing the results. Moreover, the use of a crossover design provided a sufficient sample since the design works bests with relatively smaller samples (Zwetsloot et al., 2003). Additionally, the incorporation of unique tests for each variable as explained above enabled the research to have more conclusive findings on the role played by each factor in influencing AMS. Despite this, there were several weaknesses in the research design that proved to be negative in checking the validity of the data. For example, the criteria used in selecting the participants for the research appears to have been less randomized. From the information provided in the research it is clear that the group selected for the mainexperiment were selected in a somewhat biased manner. The bias was in terms of the demography and the history of the participants. Moreover, since the expected application of the research was targeted on individuals who engage in exercises at high altitude, the research did not completely capture the targeted group in the research (Wang et al., 2014). This presented a major challenge in proving for the validity of the data. However, the researchers provided a set of criteria to increase the internal validity of their data. This involved putting in consideration several factors that eventually limited the number of people who would participate. For instance, the researchers required that the participants were to be non-smokers, non-users of self-prescribed drugs, had to meet certain physical attributes (weight, height, body surface area), and recreationally activeness. However, internal validity could have been made better had the researchers also included other factors that were likely to affect the outcome of the research (Schneider et al., 2002) For instance, vulnerability of the participant to AMS, the records of the participants on headaches and the history of the VE of the participants in the study. The external validity refers to the suitability of the external conditions for the research(Wang, Clayton &Bakhai, 2006). In this case, the research had a rather positive external validity and managed to simulate appropriate temperature and pressure conditions for carrying out the study. However, a more improved criteria to increase external validity would have involved using altitudes that were closely like those of climbing. This would have involved an increase in altitude with a reduction of pressure as happens in ordinary circumstances. Sampling The sample used in the research involved young men described as between 20-40 years. They were physically active and participated in the research voluntarily. However the researchers do not go into details on how the grouping of the participants was done. It can, therefore, be concluded that a convenience sampling technique was used in the research. For groups, the researcher divided them into two, with six participants forming part of the parallel control group while seven participants were in the cross over group that resided in a high altitude area (1600-1800 meters above sea level). Certainly, the researchers do not go into details regarding how the selected number of participants was arrived at. There was no required minimum number of participants in the sample size, although Hopkins (2008) suggests that a minimum of 10 individuals should be used in conducting crossover studies. Further, using a sample of 9, the Wilcoxon signed-ranked test showed the LSS to be 2.90. Considering that AMS diagnosis requires to have an LSS of 3, the sensitivity of the study could be concluded to be low. From the results provided in the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, this means that for the researchers to have achieved a higher sensitivity score, it would have required to use a larger sample size. Dissemination The CONSORT dissemination guideline outlines the importance of following these rules in conducting a research study (Moher et al. 2010). Therefore, for this critique, the major requirements have been addressed as is required. Conclusion From their research, Roach et al. (2000) are able to come to the conclusion that the severity and incidence of AMS increases significantly when individuals exercise in early morning hours at high altitudes. This is stated in comparison with the controlled sedentary experiment which showed a low (14%) severity of AMS while those in the high altitude conditions recorded a higher incidence rate of 50%. Inasmuch as these results were reflective of previous studies such as those by Major et al. (2012), there were certain aspects that led to inaccuracies. For instance, the fact that three participants had already experienced AMS was a limitation to the experiment as this made them highly vulnerable to AMS. Thus, to counter these challenges, participants should have been checked for susceptibility to AMS and a more random approach used in selecting the groups for each participant. This would have provided a more accurate reflection in terms of the influence of other factors in affecting incidence of AMS. References Boutron, I., Moher, D., Altman, D. G., Schulz, K. F., &Ravaud, P. (2008). Extending the CONSORT statement to randomized trials of nonpharmacologic treatment: Explanation and elaboration for the CONSORT group*. Annals of Internal Medicine, 148(1), 295-309 Crano, W. D., Brewer, M. B., & Lac, A. (2015). Principles and methods in social research (3rded.). New York (NY): Routledge. Hackett, P. H., Rennie, I. D., & Levine, H. D. (1976). The incidence, importance, and prophylaxis of acute mountain sickness. Lancet, 2(1), 1149-1154 Hopkins, W. G. (2008). Research designs: choosing and fine-tuning a design for your study. SportScience, 12(1), 12-21 Major, S., Hogan, R., Yeates, E., &Imray, C. (2012). Peripheral arterial desaturation is further exacerbated by exercise in adolescents with acute mountain sickness. Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, 23(1), 15-23. Moher, D., Hopewell, S., Schulz, K. F., Montori, V., Gøtzsche, P. C., Devereaux, P. J., Elbourne, D., Eggerh, M., & Altman, D. G. (2010). CONSORT 2010 Explanation and elaboration: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 63, e1e-e37. Page, P. (2012). Research designs in sport physical therapy. The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 7(5), 482-492 Roach, C. R. & Hackett, P. H. (2001). Frontiers of hypoxia research: acute mountain sickness. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 204(1), 3161-3170 Schneider, M., Bernasch, D., Weymann, J., Holle, R., &Btsch, P. (2002). Acute mountain sickness: Influence of susceptibility, preexposure, and ascent rate. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 34(12), 1886-1891. Wang, D., Clayton, T., &Bakhai, A. (2006). Crossover Trials. In: D. Wang & A. Bakhai, (ed.s). Clinical trials: A practical guide to design, analysis and reporting.London: Remedica. 1(1), 295-304. Zwetsloot, K., Fahey, T., & Swanson, G. (2003). Exercise magnifies acute mountain sickness during hypoxic conditions. Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise, 35(Supplement 1), S163. Read More