Science for Exercise and Sport

David James, Craig Williams

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781136748929
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This handbook is written for undergraduate sport studies and sport and exercise students. It introduces students to the basic scientific principles that will underpin their learning and is aimed primarily at those who have little or no background in science.

Craig Williams and David James apply key scientific concepts to real situations to better understand the principles at work. Clearly divided into three sections, the text covers:

* the three physical states of gas, liquid and solid
* explanations of forces, energy and electricity - including pressure, torque and joint velocity
* data analysis, ICT and report writing - important areas for the scientist.

Science for Exercise and Sport provides the student with all the basic scientific background information they need and demonstrates how the theory can be used to map and monitor the human body in the sport and exercise discipline.

Part 1

PHYSICAL STATES

1

INTRODUCTION

AIMS OF THE CHAPTER

This chapter aims to introduce science as applied to sport and exercise. After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• understand the basis for a scientific approach;

• recognise the Système International for units of measurement;

• understand the importance of accuracy of measurement;

• recognise scientific notation;

• be aware of issues surrounding measurements on human participants.

Introduction

The study of sport and exercise draws upon many disciplines, including biomechanics, physiology, psychology, medicine, nutrition, philosophy and sociology to name a few. In the sport performance area, biomechanists, physiologists, psychologists, medics and nutritionists often work alongside athletes and coaches with the aim of improving performance. In the exercise and health area, these scientists work alongside patients/healthy clients and exercise and health practitioners with the aim of improving health. In the continuum shown in Figure 1.1, the exercise or sport scientist is portrayed as remote from the other partners in the exercise or sport team.

The perception of the sport or exercise scientist role as a remote one is not useful. It is more useful to see each member of the sport or exercise team as a fully integrated partner with the same common goal (see Figure 1.2). For the sport performers, the goal may be an optimal performance. For a patient or healthy client, the goal may be improved health.

Much of the work of the sport or exercise team should have a scientific basis. If this is the case, members of the team will apply strategies that have proved to be useful. It is the responsibility of the sport or exercise scientist to ensure that the approach has a scientific basis. It has been said that ‘There is no such thing as applied science only the application of science’ (Huxley). This quotation applies to the area of exercise and sport science, in that to investigate an exercise or sport problem scientific principles are often applied to the problem. In this respect, appreciating what a scientific approach may bring to a situation may be of benefit to all members of an exercise or sport team.

Figure 1.1 A continuum of members of a sport or exercise team

Figure 1.2 An integrated perspective on members of a sport or exercise team

The nature of science

A scientific approach to the study of sport and exercise is often thought of as a useful approach, particularly when the benefits of sport or exercise must be maximised. A scientific approach involves posing a problem, often in the form of a question, which can then be investigated. Once the question has been investigated, the results may be used to develop a theory. The theory may then be applied to similar problems in the future. However, theories evolve as they are challenged. If it is found that the theory does not apply to a certain situation, the theory must be modified to account for that situation. It is the responsibility of scientists to continually challenge theories so that they can be either modified or discarded.

A scientific approach is one that seeks to challenge existing knowledge through the collection of factual information. Prior to the collection of such information, it is necessary to formulate a precise question. The question is normally posed in the form of hypotheses that can be tested through the collection of information. Two hypotheses are normally formulated, based on two possible outcomes. One hypothesis is known as the null hypothesis, and relates to a theory remaining unchanged. The other hypothesis is known as the alternative hypothesis, and relates to a need for modification of a theory.

The information that is collected in order to test the hypotheses is normally referred to as data. In Chapter 8 the close relationship between data collection, data analysis and hypothesis testing is examined in detail.

Measurement

The collection of data often involves the measurement of some related phenomenon. Measurement might appear an easy task, but on closer inspection it is considered to be an involved process. Data collection depends largely on the quality of measurements made, so the remainder of this chapter will examine measurement issues. Measurement issues will underpin many of the following chapters, hence their inclusion at this early stage of the book.

A student of sport and exercise should have a good understanding of measurement issues. A common problem related to the understanding of measurement is described by Paulos (1988). In an attempt to familiarise students with numbers and just what their quantity means, Paulos asked a student how fast (in miles per hour) human hair grows, to which the student replied, human hair doesn’t grow in miles per hour! The answer is actually 10⁻⁸ miles per hour or 0.00000001 miles per hour. In this example, the student failed to realise that miles per hour was a unit of speed.

To understand measurement units, it is necessary to learn about Système International (SI) units. The SI units are an abbreviation of the le Système International d’Unités. These standardised units have been developed to promote international cooperation to provide a universally accepted system of measurement. The system not only allows information to be exchanged from different countries but also offers a standardised form for presentation of measurement details. The seven base units of the SI are shown in Table 1.1. It is important that the fundamental units are learnt because other units are subsequently derived from these seven.

The symbols are a mixture of lowercase and uppercase letters which can be confusing. All symbols are written in lowercase roman letters except when the name of a unit is derived from the name of a person, e.g. W to symbolise power in watts. When the unit has a proper name and is written in full the whole word is in lowercase. For example, the unit of measure for pressure is Pa, named after the scientist Blaise Pascal (1623–1662); when written out in full, it should be written as pascal. A common mistake made by students is the writing of the symbol representing kilogramme (for mass) as Kg; this is incorrect as it should appear kg. Recall from Table 1.1 that the uppercase K is the symbol for temperature, named after Lord Kelvin (1824–1907). This is another example of the rule that all symbols should be lowercase except where the unit is derived from a proper name. An exception to this rule is the litre, where it is now common practice to accept it as L. This exception is partly to avoid confusion between the lowercase 1 and the numeral 1.

A further convention is never to follow a symbol with a period, unless at the end of a sentence, nor to pluralise symbols. Another common mistake is to mix names and symbols together, e.g. newton·metre·s⁻¹. The correct style should be N·m·s⁻¹. Students are also sometimes confused as to when to use the solidus symbol (/). With computers it should be possible to learn how to use the symbol period instead, i.e. · raised above the line when there is a product of two units. The solidus can be used but is not considered to be as precise for scientific work as the dot raised above the text line. If the solidus symbol is used then only one per expression should be included, e.g. kg·m/s². The reason for this is because the division is not associative. When two or more units are formed by multiplication or division in text, a multiplication of two units is indicated by a space between two words and never by a hyphen, e.g. newton-metre would be incorrect, with newton metre being the correct style. To indicate in text a division of several units we would write per, rather than use the solidus, e.g. litres per minute rather than litres/minute. When units are reported, it is preferable to use symbols rather than writing out the full name. Whenever numbers are reported with symbols a space between the two should be left, e.g. 400 W not 400...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part 1 Physical states
• Part 2 Force, pressure, energy and electricity
• Part 3 Scientific transferable skills
• Glossary
• Appendix 1: Health questionnaire
• Appendix 2: Examples of consent forms
• Appendix 3: Thermal equivalents of oxygen
• Appendix 4: Scientific journals in sport and exercise
• Appendix 5: Measurement concepts
• Index