Overall Research Experience
I have been interested in science and research since I was in grade school, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the Department of Kinesiology to conduct undergraduate research. Within my second semester, I was enrolled in the one-credit research introduction course, and at the end of my third semester, I was involved with Dr. Swinford and Dr. Kyra Noerr's research study. I have been involved in multiple parts of this study, from collecting survey responses to the writing of the manuscript. Now that it has been submitted, I have moved onto another project within the same population but with a different style of research. The first project was centered on more qualitative analysis of athlete's experiences whereas this second project is focused on more quantitative components.
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Throughout these years, I have been enrolled in a zero-credit research course through the Department of Kinesiology, and I have been a part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) sponsored by the Center of Research and Learning at IUPUI during the academic year of 2021-2022 and the summer of 2022. Through my research course, I have been a part of multiple journal discussions where I have to critically analyze research articles and then have the opportunity to discuss findings and the other components of the articles with my peers. These journal discussions have fueled my desire to seek knowledge, and I have multiple ideas for future studies. Because of my experience with the research course, UROP, and the ongoing project, I have learned a tremendous amount of knowledge and skills, and I have been able to experience how research is conducted and various duties and roadblocks that come with it.
Presentation Experiences
I have had the incredible opportunity of presenting research multiple times and in multiple ways throughout my undergraduate experience. All of these experiences have helped me to develop ways to effectively communicate data and knowledge to individuals within and out of the field.
IU Student Research and Creative Activities Day
Spring 2021
Due to the COVID-19 situation, this presentation was conducted online, through an ePortfolio. When this information was presented, we did not have the study completed and more survey responses were needed to be collected. This experience introduced me to the process of creating effective posters and using videos and pictures to show unique concepts.
Annual ACSM Midwest Regional Meeting
Fall 2021
Midwest ACSM hosted a synchronous online meeting for their annual regional meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the nature of the meeting, I had the opportunity to present my research in a video and then be available for a question-and-answer session after it. I had to learn various technological skills, how to concisely present my research within the time given, how to be professional in a synchronous video setting, and how to think on my feet and be able to adequately answer questions being asked.
IU Undergraduate Research Conference
Winter 2021
The winter 2021 IU Undergraduate Research Conference was the first time I was able to present a research poster in person. Because of my previous presenting experience, I had some basic presenting skills. This opportunity allowed me to practice and develop different ways of presenting that information to individuals with different research and knowledge backgrounds, I was also able to practice my ability to make posters and listen to the critique of others regarding the design.
IUPUI SHHS Kinesiology Research Day
Spring 2022
Presenting in person at the SHHS Kinesiology Research Day was quite enjoyable as I was able to present to fellow peers and other professionals within the field. I was able to have fruitful conversations regarding limitations, alternative methods of conducting this topic of research, and potential next steps for the field. One of my memorable experiences from this presentation was when I had the opportunity to talk with an individual who is a leader within the field of occupational therapy. After discussing the important data and findings of the study, she encouraged me to submit articles in other news sources for professionals in the field to be aware of these injuries because of the growing athletic population.
IU Student Research and Creative Activities Day Spring 2022
I was able to present in person at the IU Student Research and Creative Activities Day in 2022. Even though I was able to use the same poster from the Kinesiology Research Day presented a couple of days earlier, I did not use the same presentation techniques. This conference had an expanded audience field with many people having different backgrounds. I focused more on the overall knowledge and applications rather than more of the specific data. During this conference, I experienced some negative feedback related to the topic, but this helped me to grow in resilience.
Fitness Health Profiles of Pole Dance Fitness Athletes
In our pursuit for knowledge with our past research project, we found that there is some information that is lacking in the field regarding pole dance fitness athletes, specifically related to fitness measurements and understanding some of the physiological benefits of participating. A few studies have addressed the stability, cardiovascular, muscular strength, and body composition of athletes, but there are no studies that take a comprehensive approach to understanding health-related components of fitness in this population. The purpose of our study is to address this lack of knowledge and to understand how it compares against different experience levels. We hypothesize that 1) higher levels of experience will have higher levels of fitness and 2) the benefits of physical fitness will begin to plateau with greater experience.
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In order to approach this study, we will be conducting a battery of tests addressing all the components of physical fitness on pole dance fitness athletes.
THE FIVE COMPONENTS OF HEALTH RELATED FITNESS BY ACSM, 11TH EDITION
Body composition assessments, such as total body bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) or skinfold measurements, are used to determine the fat and fat-free tissue proportions in the body. This is typically expressed as total body fat percentage. While fat is important for different bodily functions, an excess amount can lead to a variety of diseases such as hypertension, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, stroke, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and dyslipidemia. Girth measurements, such as a waist-to-hip ratio, are used to determine body fat distribution which is indicative of health risk for certain diseases. For women younger than 60 years old, a ratio greater than 0.86 indicates a very high risk for conditions previously mentioned as well as premature death. For women older than 60 years old, the ratio is 0.90. Adequate nutrition, physical activity, and exercise are imperative to managing body composition.
Study Specific Tests:
- Waist-to-Hip Ratio
- Total Body Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)
- Height, Weight, and BMI
Liguori, G. (Ed.). (2021). Health-Related Physical Fitness Testing and Interpretation. In Liguori, G. (Ed.), ACSM's
guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (pp. 58–112). essay, Wolters Kluwer Health.
The Prevalence of Injuries, Healthcare, and Demographics of the North American Pole Dance Fitness Community
I began working on this project in November of 2020, and we submitted the manuscript in May of 2022. This project has been presented at five conferences in three different styles.
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The purpose of this study was threefold: 1) to understand the demographic information of North American pole dance fitness athletes, 2) to identify and describe common injuries, and 3) to identify and describe the response of healthcare professions. We found that majority of athletes identify as being female and nearly 70% of athletes reported experiencing at least one injury. The most common injuries were sprains. Of those injured, 64.8% of individuals went to a healthcare professional and most reported their interactions being positive but with a lack of knowledge regarding the sport. This information is useful for healthcare professionals in understanding pole dance fitness related injuries and for athletes and instructors to implement training strategies to reduce injuries.
Because this project was my first experience with organized research, there was a lot I was able to learn and many skills I was able to develop and grow. The qualitative nature of this project allowed me to explore research methods outside the typical testing and statistical analysis that are common with research. I learned how to use thematic content analysis and how to present and report the data from that analysis. I was able to explore the purpose and effective use of descriptive statistics. This project allowed me to practice my skills regarding professional presentations. Since this was my first research project to submit for publication, I worked on my ability to write scientifically, draw conclusions, and create effective tables and figures. Hopefully, we will receive information soon regarding the status of the manuscript.