RESEARCH SKILLS FOR MARKETING

Research Skills for Marketing



DATA ANALYSIS

Subjects

Eight males and 1 female Jitsuist with mean age of 29.62 ± 6.16 years old were recruited for this study. The experimental inclusion criteria required the Jitsuists to be brown or black belts. Each subject served as their own control and was matched with 2 other Jitsuists of similar weight stature for the SJFT. All subjects were familiarized with the SJFT 1 month prior to data collection, and were required to use the test in periodically in training. Nine subjects initially enlisted in this study however one dropped due to injury outside of training or thesis research. See Table 1 for subject characteristics. Subjects were volunteers and classified as low risk according to the American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines (ACSM, 2009). Subjects gave their informed written consent prior to enrollment in this study (Appendix A). All experimental procedures were explained and questions were answered upon their first visit to the Sacramento State Jitsu training facility.

Table 1Subject characteristics

Age (years)

29.62 ± 6.16

Height (cm)

174.62 ± 11.01

Weight (kg)

93.98 ± 20.30

Body Mass Index (BMI)

31.0

Procedures

Subjects reported to the Sacramento State Jitsu training facility on 4 separate occasions over 7 weeks. The first session was separated from the rest by 4 weeks to optimize familiarization and decrease learning effect. The last 3 sessions were separated by 1 week and lasted approximately 1 hour. Attempts were made to control for any confounding variables. For example, (a) testing occurred at 6:30pm each day, with subjects asked to refrain from food ingestion 1 hour prior to testing, (b) subjects were tested in the same room each session as normal practices would be held in, (c) subjects were not to exercise 24 hours prior to test day, (d) subjects were queried for injuries, illness, or excessive fatigue, and (d) subjects were reminded of the importance of giving maximal effort each day before testing.

All subjects attended a familiarization session 1 month prior to actual testing which enabled them to become comfortable with the SJFT. During the 3 test sessions, student researcher led all subjects through the warm-ups together since all 3 groups were tested all at once. The dynamic stretches (Figure 2), static stretches (Table 3), and the control consisted of a Jitsu specific (JS) warm-up (Table 4). Subjects performed the three stretching protocols on different days to account for any biasing effects, but at the same time each day to mimic normal training sessions. Each warm up session lasted approximately 8 minutes, and subjects began the SJFT within 2 minutes of completing the stretching protocol. Heart rate measurements were taken during the three testing sessions to observe changes in total body stress due to stretch protocols. The number of throws during the SJFT was also recorded to compare fitness levels on a Jitsu specific index.

Heart Rate

Subjects HR was obtained by a Polar Heart Rate monitor (T-31; Polar Electro). An abdominal band was worn by the subjects prior to and during the SJFT. The HR watch was placed on the right ...