McKenzie Thomas L, van der Mars Hans
a San Diego State University.
Res Q Exerc Sport. 2015 Mar;86(1):13-29. doi: 10.1080/02701367.2015.991264.
Numerous methods are available to assess physical activity (PA) but systematic observation (SO) excels in being able to provide contextually rich data on the setting in which the activity occurs. As SO is particularly useful for determining how activity is influenced by the immediate physical and social environments, its use is becoming more popular. Observation tools have the advantages of flexibility, high internal validity, low inference, and low participant burden, while their disadvantages include the need for careful observer training and recalibration, inaccessibility to certain environments, and potential participant reactivity. There is a need for both scientists and practitioners to have additional information on observation techniques and systems relative to making environmental and policy decisions about PA, and in this article, we describe concepts and identify questions related to using SO in researching PA behavior. We present 10 general questions in 3 sections, including those related to: (a) ensuring data accuracy through the selection of the most appropriate methodological protocols; (b) investigating PA in school settings, including physical education, recess, and other programs; and (c) investigating PA in community settings (e.g., parks, recreation centers, youth and adult sport programs) and homes.
有多种方法可用于评估身体活动（PA），但系统观察（SO）在能够提供关于活动发生环境的丰富背景数据方面表现出色。由于SO对于确定活动如何受到直接的物理和社会环境影响特别有用，因此它的应用越来越广泛。观察工具具有灵活性、高内部效度、低推断性和低参与者负担等优点，但其缺点包括需要对观察者进行仔细培训和重新校准、难以进入某些环境以及潜在的参与者反应性。科学家和从业者都需要更多关于观察技术和系统的信息，以便就PA做出环境和政策决策，在本文中，我们描述了相关概念，并确定了与在研究PA行为中使用SO相关的问题。我们在三个部分中提出了10个一般性问题，包括与以下方面相关的问题：（a）通过选择最合适的方法学方案确保数据准确性；（b）在学校环境中研究PA，包括体育教育、课间休息和其他项目；（c）在社区环境（如公园、娱乐中心、青少年和成人体育项目）和家庭中研究PA。
