Marilyn A. Looney

The Reliability and Validity of the 20-Meter Shuttle Test in American Students 12 to 15 Years Old

The purpose of this study was threefold: to determine (a) the test-retest reliability of the 20-m shuttle test (20 MST) (number of laps), (b) the concurrent validity of the 20 MST (number of laps), and (c) the validity of the prediction equation for VO2max developed by Léger, Mercier, Gadoury, and Lambert (1988) on Canadian children for use with American children 12-15 years old. An intraclass coefficient of .93 was obtained on 20 students (12 males; R = .91 and 8 females; R = .87) who completed the test twice, 1 week apart (MT1 = 47.80 +/- 20.29 vs. MT2 = 50.55 +/- 22.39 laps; p > or = .13). VO2peak was obtained by a treadmill test to volitional fatigue on 48 subjects. The number of laps run correlated significantly with VO2peak in males (n = 22; r = .65; F [1, 20] = 14.30 p < or = .001), females (n = 26; r = .51; F [1, 24] = 8.34; p < or = .01), and males and females = (r = .69; F [1, 46] = 42.54, p < or = .001). When the measured VO2peak (M = 49.97 +/- 7.59 ml.kg-1.min-1) was compared with the estimated VO2max (M = 48.72 +/- 5.72 ml.kg-1.min-1) predicted from age and maximal speed of the 20 MST (Léger et al., 1988) no significant difference was found, t (47) = -1.631; p > or = .11, between the means; the r was .72 and SEE was 5.26 ml.kg-1.min-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Passing Rates of American Children and Youth on the FITNESSGRAM Criterion-Referenced Physical Fitness Standards

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to determine the percentage of 6-18-year-old students who passed the FITNESSGRAM criterion scores for percent body fat (%BF), body mass index (BMI), mile run (MR), sit-ups (SU), pull-ups (PU), and sit and reach (S&R), and (2) to suggest and illustrate the instructed-uninstructed/mastery-nonmastery technique for the validation of criterion-referenced cut-off scores. The data base consisted of the NCYFS I and II national probability samples of students. Results showed that the most frequently passed item was the S&R (M = 90%; F = 97%), followed by the two body composition items (%BF: M = 89%; F = 91%) (BMI: M = 88%; F = 85%), the MR (M = 77%; F = 60%), SU (M = 65%, F = 57%), and finally the PU (M = 73%; F = 32%). It is recommended that the criterion cut-off scores be statistically validated using the illustrated technique when the active (instructed) group has been trained with documented levels of frequency, intensity, and duration and the inactive (uninstructed) group is truly sedentary.

Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Reliability and Validity of the Back-Saver Sit-and-Reach

The purpose of the study was to examine the norm-referenced and criterion-referenced reliability and validity of the Back-Saver Sit-and-Reach Test (BSR; Single-Leg Sit-and-Reach; Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research [CIAR], 1999). One hundred seventy-nine elementary school children (87 boys and 92 girls), 6-12 years old participated, with 44 randomly selected participants retested on a second day. The BSR, Modified Schober (MSCH, Low Back Criterion Test), Passive Straight Leg Raise (PSLR, Hamstring Criterion Test), Active Knee Extension, True Lumbar Extension, True Lumbar Flexion, and Double-Leg Sit-And-Reach were administered in random order. Intraclass correlation coefficients (norm-referenced reliability) for the BSR were extremely high (.98-.99) for both boys and girls. Pa and Km (criterion-referenced test-retest reliability) for the right leg was .90 and .80, respectively, for boys; and .91 and .82 for girls, indicating the participants were classified consistently across days. Norm-referenced validity coefficients (Pearson product-moment correlations, r) of the BSR as a measure of hamstring flexibility were moderate for boys (.67 and .68, right and left legs, respectively) and moderately low for girls (.47 and .44, right and left legs). Correlation coefficients of the BSR as a measure of low back flexibility were extremely poor for boys and girls, with coefficients ranging from .003 to .06. Criterion-referenced validity of BSR for hamstring flexibility was low and unacceptable for right and left legs (Km: .48, .58, respectively), for both boys and girls (Km: .40, .22). The BSR appears to be similar to the Double-Leg Sit-and-Reach in that it is a test of hamstring flexibility but not low back. The criterion-referenced standards for both BSR and PSLR should be re-examined and adjusted to provide a better degree of classification agreement between the BSR and the criterion measure (PSLR).

When Is the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient Misleading

It is common practice for researchers and practitioners in physical education and exercise science to compute intraclass correlation coefficients ( R) to describe the reliability of their data. They report the coefficient and, more recently, its confidence interval. They also discuss the size of the coefficient and whether a significant difference exists among the means of the repeated measures. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how the interpretation of Rcan be misleading and to identify the other sources of information that require attention before the coefficient can be interpreted properly. To meet this purpose, a hypothetical data set is analyzed using the reliability procedure of SPSS 8.0 for Windows.

Walkway Length Determination for Steady State Walking in Young and Older Adults.

Gait analysis is an integral part of functional assessment in older adults and a routine clinical tool to treat patients of all ages who have pathology or disease related to sensory or motor function. Gait analyses have been used to determine “normal” walking for different age groups (Blanke & Hagemen, 1989; Bohannon, Andrews, & Thomas, 1996; Hageman & Blanke, 1986; Larish, Martin, & Mungiole, 1988; Murray, Kory, & Clarkson, 1969), to document current status of a patient’s gait (Maki, 1997; Zahedi, Spence, Solomonidis, & Paul, 1987), and to assess changes over time related to aging, pathology, or treatment (Hausdorff, Rios, & Edelberg, 2001; Jylhä, Guralnik, Balfour, & Fried, 2001; Macfarlane & Visser, 2003; MacRae, Feltner, & Reinsch, 1994; Whittle, 1996). Regardless of whether gait evaluation is merely recording speed with a stopwatch, performing a qualitative observation, or a detailed three-dimensional kinetic/kinematic assessment, a basic requirement of all of these applications relates to reliability of the data and whether the evaluated gait represents the participant’s typical gait pattern under the set conditions. A challenge facing researchers or clinicians is to identify and record a representative gait pattern excluding acceleration and deceleration variations, which are almost impossible to detect in normal walkers (Zahedi et al., 1987). The walkway space is often limited which requires minimizing the distance for acceleration and deceleration so that the portion of the walkway where the representative gait is used can be maximized. In several review articles on how to conduct clinical gait analyses, there was no guidance for identifying a representative gait, the variability associated with changing walking speed, or how many steps or distance participants needed to accelerate to steady state (SS) and then decelerate (Baumann, 1991; Coutts, 1999; Harris & Wertsch, 1994; Laughman, Askew, Bleimeyer, & Chao, 1984; Rosendal, 1991; Whittle, 1996). Preferred walking speed and fast speed are commonly used in gait analyses. People tend to select a preferred walking speed that is most efficient (ml O2/m) in energy cost (Fisher & Gullickson, 1978), and gait mechanics for SS preferred walking speed show less variability than at either a fast or slow pace. Self-selected speed has been shown to be reliable and reproducible with no significant differences between tests (Rechnitzer, Cunningham, & Howard, 1989). In older adults, maximum speed walking identifies functional impairments more effectively than preferred speed walking (Bohannon et al., 1996) with gait speed providing an index of functional status (Jylhä et al., 2001). Gait measures to identify functional ability and/or performance may include the time needed to perform a task, like walking a set distance which includes both acceleration (AC) and deceleration (DC) distances and, thus, represents an average speed, not a SS speed. A risk of disability in community-dwelling populations was assessed by the time to walk either 8 feet or 3 m from a standing start (Guralnik et al., 2000), and Nelson et al. (2004) used the best of three measurements over a Walkway Length Determination for Steady State Walking in Young and Older Adults

Effects of an Aerobic Activity Program on the Cholesterol Levels of Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a 15-week aerobic activity program on the total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels of 25 high school students, ages 14-17 years (experimental group = 14, control group = 11). Participants in the activity program exercised 4 days per week in a specially designed physical education class, while the control group participated in the regular physical education program. Results of the analysis of covariance found significant reductions in TC in the training group (control group Adj M = 190.2 mg/dl, experimental group Adj M = 173.1 mg/dl, p < .05), but no significant changes in HDL-C (control group Adj M = 49.8 mg/dl, experimental group Adj M = 50 mg/dl). While the exercise program appeared to have a beneficial effect on TC in 12 of 14 participants (86%), HDL-C also dropped in 12 of 14 participants (86%).

Effects of Violating Local Independence on IRT Parameter Estimation for the Binomial Trials Model

The appropriateness of the Binomial Trials Model for test data that consist of multiple attempts of the same item needs to be determined because the presence of learning or fatigue effects may violate the models assumption of local independence. The purpose of this study was to determine what effect the severity of the violation of local independence (VLI), coupled with different sample size (SS), test length (TL), and test difficulty (TD) had on the estimation of the model difficulty parameter, b, using computer simulation techniques. Each of the following conditions was replicated 100 times under a completely crossed design: SS (100, 200, 500, 2,000); TL (5, 10, 20, 25 attempts); TD (-1.2, 0.0, 1.2); and VLI (from no violation to complete violation). Examinee ability or latent trait was pseudorandomly drawn from a standard normal distribution, and the b-parameter was estimated using a maximum likelihood procedure on generated test scores. Regardless of SS, TL, and TD, the b-parameter tended to be overestimated for situations in which the VLI condition simulated fatigue and underestimated when the VLI condition simulated late-test learning or practice effect. The findings suggest that violations of local independence, at least as simulated in this study, could seriously bias the difficulty parameter estimates if all examinees tested exhibited the dependency.

Reliability and Validity of the Anaerobic Speed Test and the Field Anaerobic Shuttle Test for Measuring Anaerobic Work Capacity in Soccer Players

Twenty-six male and female collegiate and semiprofessional/professional soccer players (age = 20.4 ± 2.0 years; height = 172.1 ± 8.2 cm; weight = 70.7 ± 10.8 kg) participated in this study to determine the reliability and validity of a field anaerobic shuttle test (FAST) and the Cunningham and Faulkner (1969) treadmill anaerobic speed test (AST). The relationship between the AST and FAST was also investigated. Intraclass reliability coefficients were acceptable for the FAST (.96) and AST (.97) with no significant difference between the means at T1 and T2 (FAST = 56.0 vs. 55.8 sec; AST = 41.9 vs. 41.4 sec). Poor reliability for the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAT), .83 (W), .70 (W · kg-1), necessitated correcting the validity coefficients for attenuation, FAST vs. WAT = -.89 (W) and -.71 (W · kg-1); AST vs. WAT = .82 (W) and .74 (W · kg-1). These coefficients provide preliminary evidence that the construct being measured is anaerobic work capacity. The results (FAST vs. AST = -.85) indicate that FAST and AST appear to be measuring the same construct. Further research is needed to substantiate the validity of AST and FAST scores as measures of anaerobic work capacity of collegiate and professional soccer players.

Validity and Reliability of a Folk-Dance Performance Checklist for Children

This study was designed to determine if a folk-dance performance checklist had logical validity and to establish intrarater and interrater reliability coefficients for raters using the checklist. Fourth-grade students were videotaped during regular physical education classes to create videos for raters to view and score. A total of 5 educators with backgrounds in physical education or dance participated in a training session and coded videotaped performances. Intrarater and interrater reliability were documented in 2 ways: percent of agreement and intraclass coefficients based on the 1-way repeated measures analysis of variance model for a single measure and the average of all measures. The results of the study support the importance of a training session when using a checklist as a method to evaluate student performance. All raters were able to be trained to effectively apply the performance standards after one 4-hour training session and demonstrated high interrater reliability when scoring 3 of the 6 skill components.

Using an Online Survey Tool to Enhance Teaching.

Use of the internet in today’s culture, by young and old alike, is prevalent and continues to increase. Tasks commonly performed via the internet include sharing information, purchasing goods and services, delivering educational courses, and conducting survey research. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how the use of an online survey tool can be used in an educational setting to accomplish two objectives: (a) to expedite the process of receiving student feedback before mid-semester, and (b) to introduce students to some of the confidentiality issues related to online surveys.