Research Design: The research designs that support this study are cross-sectional and longitudinal. They are appropriate for the problem, because the researcher needed to know if processes of change effects exercise behavior changes …show more content…
A baseline was set, and then a follow up was conducted. Questionnaires were administered at the end of class period. Instructors explained the study, its purpose, and voluntary nature of it. If students did not want to participate, they could leave class while others answered their questionnaires. Those that wanted to participate were given questionnaire packets and a set of instructions for completion. All of the packets contained consent forms, as well as background information for requesting the data. Weeks one and nine were chosen, because they went along with the academic term, when there were transitions and changes …show more content…
This questionnaire assessed physical activity over a week. Students who participated recorded their frequency of strenuous, moderate, and mild exercise of fifteen minutes or more. When questionnaires were collected, the researchers used an exercise index to evaluate scores. A single question on the questionnaire was used to assess physical activity behavior. In this question, participants answered “yes” or “no” to determine if they had a program in place that improved or maintained physical fitness. A Staging Algorithum was used to assess the participants’ stage of exercise behavior. In this part of the questionnaire, students were asked to answer five questions describing their current level of regular exercise. The Process of Change Questionnaire had forty questions to assess the participants’ consciousness raising, dramatic relief, environmental reevaluation, self-evaluation, and social liberation of exercise. Using the Decisional Balance Questionnaire, participants answered six questions to assess the important aspects of exercise behavior change and rank them in order. Each participant decided how important exercise was to him or her. To determine self-efficacy, a five-item questionnaire was used to determine the degree of confidence in their ability to exercise when they are faced with