This study will disclose the effect of age on performing basic physical exercises among law enforcement officers. It is vital that they stay in good shape because their aim is to ensure protection and be able to act timely regardless of the circumstances. Yet age takes hold of their physical performance, making them less likely to respond quickly to an unexpected stressful situation, which leads to failures, including attacks on them. At any age, an officer has to undergo training to prove their strength, flexibility, coordination, and response to act fast. Hence, the research question of the study is: What is the impact of age on the physical activity of law enforcement officers, and how differently do the youngest and the oldest officers respond to suddenness?
The research question would measure the interdependence of age and level of physical activity. Thus, the dependent variable would be physical performance, and the independent one is age. It is believed that age affects one’s strength, yet some claim it adds stamina and boosts shape. The number of independent variables depends on the number of experimental conditions (Field, 2017). For instance, this study aims to assess four different age groups – officers in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. It signifies there will be four manipulated variables that would serve as a cause to change specific measurements (in this case, the level of physical performance).
A between-subjects design will be utilized to answer the research question. This design is interpreted as an experiment where two or more groups are tested within different conditions (Rosnow & Rosenthal, 2014). In the case of this experiment, each group will be exposed to various exercises for the age that demand more effort to perform. Since there will be four control groups, each one will undergo the following trials: push-ups, pull-ups, swimming, overcoming a short distance of 100 meters, and cross-country. These are the basic exercises each officer has to do perfectly in order to stay in shape and be ready to respond quickly in unexpected cases.
Even though all groups face the same conditions, their performance will be assessed based on specific standards and rules. For instance, the average 25-year-old officer is expected to do one hundred push-ups per minute, while the 45-year-old can do sixty. It implies that there will be parameters for each group according to the police training programs. As a result, everyone will be tested in the same conditions, yet with different measurement criteria.
The between-study design is beneficial in that it allows for objective assessment and remains statistically robust. On the other hand, the research would require repeated ANOVA measures in the future. For instance, when a 29-year-old officer turns 30, they will be in a different age group, which means their assessment should be conducted on the basis of other criteria. It means that there will be a need to test them once again to trace the level of physical activity once again.
In conclusion, the study will investigate the interdependence between age and the physical performance of law enforcement officers since it is vital to be physically responsive. By implementing a between-subjects design, it is possible to trace how one’s activity lowers due to aging. The most trained group is expected to be the one involving officers in their thirties as a result of extended training and real-life situations they faced.
References
Field, A. (2017). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th Ed.). Sage Publications.
Rosnow, R. L., & Rosenthal, R. (2014). Beginning Behavioral Research (7th Ed.). Pearson.