Critical Thinking in Exercise Science

Sources of Information

Different types of information sources, including popular, expert, and scholarly, each with varying levels of credibility and target audiences.

Health Literacy

The skills necessary to access, understand, and utilize health-related information effectively. The “truth” in the field of exercise science may only be true in certain contexts or may be preliminary findngs in need of further study.

Critical Thinking

The ability to evaluate the validity of information, recognizing that many claims in exercise science may be context-specific or preliminary.

Evidence Pyramid

A hierarchy of evidence quality, with higher levels indicating more reliable information.

From bottom to Top: Expert Opinion/Background Information, Case Series/Case Report, Observational Studies with Comparison/Cohort Groups, Non-randomized Controlled Trials, Randomized Controlled Trials and Critical Appraisals, Systemic Reviews

Opinion

Information from accessible sources like blogs and magazines, is often influenced by confirmation bias which is a belief that something is true because you want it to be.

Expert Opinion

Anecdotal evidence that may not be scientifically validated often lacks rigorous support. It is based on logical fallacies, an argument that may sound convincing or true but is flawed in reality.

Case Reports

Detailed accounts of individual patient diagnoses and treatments, providing insights into specific cases.

Observation/Descriptive Studies

Research aimed at describing populations or phenomena without establishing causation. Observe if a correlation exists between 2 or more variables. It answers the What, where, when and how But not the why. Correlation doesn’t equal causation

Cross-Sectional Studies

Surveys assessing the prevalence of conditions within a population at a single time.

Longitudinal Studies

Research following participants over extended periods to observe changes over time.

Experimental Science

Research involving hypothesis testing through controlled experimentation with independent and dependent variables. There are 2 groups the treatment/experimental and the control.

The result must be replicable. A working model is when the data supports a hypothesis after multiple experiments. A scientific theory is when a working model has substantial evidence from multiple investigators

Randomized Controlled Trials

The gold standard in research design is minimizing bias by randomly assigning participants to groups. The analysis is focused on estimating the size of the difference in outcomes between both groups. It is difficult and expensive to do so its not the default

Variability in Human Experiments

There is a wide genetic and environmental variability among humans like exercise habits (type, effort, commitment) diet, sleep, genomes, social interactions, and environments. It makes the “truth” difficult to determine under different circumstances. We can mitigate variability by having a large sample size or a crossover study

Crossover Studies

A design where participants receive both experimental and control treatments, acting as their own controls. A washout period occurs between the experimental and control trials. Individual acts as their own control, enabling researchers to see the effect of the drug in each participants rather than between two groups which helps manage variability between participants

Placebo Effect

The phenomenon where individuals experience real changes in health due to their beliefs about treatment, even if the treatment is inactive. To limit the effect we have a blind study so participants don’t know if they took the treatment or placebo. A double-blind study is when researches are also blinded to reduce bias. This is rare as its difficult and expensive to perform

Blind Study

A research design where participants are unaware of whether they receive the treatment or placebo to reduce bias.

Systematic Reviews

Comprehensive evaluations of all relevant research on a topic, synthesizing high-quality evidence.

Meta-Analysis

A statistical technique that combines data from similar studies to derive overall findings.

Scientific Method

A systematic research approach is characterized has empirical, it is objective we control the variables and it’s verifiable in peer review. It is rational and follow logic. It is testable and repeatable. It is parsimonious which means its explained with the fewest number of causes. It is general and results agree with other populations. It is rigorously evaluated and its tentative in that it is the present results and could change in the future

Popular Source of Information

Non-expert, magazine/newspaper, targets the general audience, language is easy to read and its short, 1-2 pages. Many Ads

Expert or Trade Information

These are experts in the field/subject like CSEP and ACSP. The targeted audiences are members of an organization or industry, it uses trade-specific terminology and its short to medium, 4-5 pages. Few ads

Scholarly/Peer-reviewed

By scholars, Professors, experts and researches. The targeted audience are other researchers/academics. It uses formal, research language, scientific terminology and requires a high level of knowledge to understand. It is very lengthy and there are no ads, the sources are cited

Case Report

A detailed report of the diagnosis, treatment, response to treatment and follow-up after treatment of an individual.

A case series is a group of case reports involving patients who were given similar treatment

Single-subject experiments

You design an exercise regime for yourself for a client, and measure fitness parameters before and after the program.

You can only claim the program is working for you and can’t claim it will work for someone else. And achieving your goal doesn’t mean you have designed or are following the absolute optimal program.

Retrospective studies

Compare groups of people who have a particular disease or condition, looking back