Doactivitytrackerswork?

Facedwithgrowingproblemsofobesityandrelatedhealthissues,governmentagencyAis
consideringprovidingwearableactivitytrackers(e.g.Fitbit,Jawbone,Garmin,)toallresidents.
However,beforespendingpublicmoneyonsuchaproject,itneedsevidencethatthesedevices
work,i.e.theywilldelivertheexpectedbenefits.GovernmentagencyAhascontractedwith
consultingfirmBtoconductaresearchstudythatprovidessuchevidence,ifitexists.

YouareateamofresearchanalystsatconsultingfirmBassignedtotheabovestudyonwearable
trackers.AgencyAhasaskedforadetailedproposalofyourproposedresearch(approximately10
pages,doublespaced)beforetheyreleasethefundstostartdatacollection.Theproposalshould
coverthefollowingissues:

1. Drawaboxandarrowdiagramofthetheoreticalconceptsinyourresearch(e.g.whathealth
benefitscanbeexpectedfromactivitytrackers?).Howdoyouplantooperationalizethese
conceptsintoindependent(cause)anddependent(effect)variables?Commentonthe
reliabilityandvalidityofyourmeasures.
2. Besidesactivitytrackers,whatotherfactorsmightaffectthehealthbenefitsidentified
above?Howwouldyoucontrolfortheeffectofthesefactors,sothatyoucansafely
attributetheobservedbenefitstotheuseoftrackers?
3. Developasamplingplanforselectingparticipantsinyourresearchstudy.Howmany
participantsdoyouplantorecruit?Why?Towhatothersettings(countries,cultures,
occupations,etc.)wouldyourfindingsgeneralize?Why?
4. Statethespecifichypotheses(nullandalternate)ofyourresearchstudy.Whatpatternof
resultswouldleadtoyourejectthenullhypotheses(i.e.concludethatactivitytrackers
work)?Nostatisticaltestsareneeded:justdescribethepatternsofdatainqualitative
terms(e.g.groupXshouldscoresignificantlyhigherthangroupYonvariableZ).

Yourresearchproposalshouldbesubmittedonorbefore11:59pmon23Nov2016.Anyone
memberofyourteamcanuploadthedocumenttoBlackboard(weuseSafeAssignment)forthe
team.Oneachpageofthedocument,pleaseidentifytheprimarypersonresponsibleforthecontent
onthatpage.Groupgradeswillbemoderatedbypeerevaluationstocalculateindividualgrades,so
makesurethatyourcontributiontotheassignmentisclearandrecognizedbyyourteam.

Forclarifications/questions,emailamit.das@qu.edu.qa.Iwillassemblethequestionsandanswers
inaBlackboardpost.

Enjoy!