Strengths to this Piece of Work

Some relevant literature has been referred to and a project outline attempted.
Areas for Development

The purpose and need for the study are unclear. Ethical considerations have not been considered permission to complete this study is denied until this aspect of the research has been addressed and presented to the research supervisor. There are no dates to your time-line. Your understanding of variables in relation to the project is unclear. The methodology is incomplete.

2. Please confirm that the data collected during your study will adhere to guidelines in the Data Protection Act (1999).
1. No 2. Yes

3. CATEGORY A Category A is research where the risks to participants or the researchers are wellknown and been well established in research. Authors making ethical proposals should indicate the extent to which procedures being proposed have been used previously. Most methods of research and methodologies that are likely to be used by researchers can be evidenced and consequently the risks to participants versus the knowledge gain should be identifiable. Undergraduate students and students on taught M levels courses are expected to conduct research classified as Category A. Ethical approval for Category A projects will be considered at subject level by the Subject/Departmental Ethics Sub-committee on an individual basis. CATEGORY B Category B is where the risks to participants balanced against the benefits of gathering the data are not clear. Greater emphasis is placed on protecting the well being of participants, including the researchers, but emphasis is also placed on research that is meaningless and adds little value. Category B projects will involve an invasive procedure that has not been used previously in research. Routine tests (blood lactate), where the procedures are well published are classified as Category A. However, it should be noted that blood collection involves a number of health and safety issues that need to be adhered to. Emphasis is placed on the research team to find evidence to demonstrate what the risks are to participants and this is typically done by providing examples where research has been conducted previously. Department ethics committees can propose that a project is Category B and forward the work to the School ethics committee. Undergraduates will not normally be permitted to carry out Category B projects and therefore the Department ethics committee should suggest to the student and supervisor that methods be modified to fall under the rubric

of an A category classification. Category B projects carry greater risk and should involve greater staff involvement and therefore staff should only agree to supervise students for whom they can provide appropriate support. CATEGORY U This is the lowest risk category. The project is classified as a U category if: a) there are no research participants being recruited, b) the risks involved to the researcher are minimal, c) the data being used is already in the public domain, d) ethical clearance for data collection has been granted elsewhere. If the researcher is unsure on the answer to any of the four points above, he/she indicate that the research as A category project. According to School guidelines, the outlined work is categorised as:
1. Category A 2. Category B 3. Category U

4. How will your research be conducted? Describe the methods so that it can be easily understood by the SSPAL ethics committee. Please ensure you clearly explain any acronyms and subject specific terminology. You could include copies of testing protocols, interview schedules, or questionnaires as appendices if appropriate
You should include a detailed description of your methods here, which should be based on academic theory/practice and appropriately referenced. You should justify (with academic support) the decisions that are made in relation to your methods. For example, if you are planning on running a four-week training programme, why will it be four weeks? Which studies have reported that this is appropriate? If you are going to use a 30m sprint test with footballers instead of 100m, why is that? If you are using focus group interviews, which studies have also used this approach in a similar research area etc. You should be able to use some of the information from part 2 of your project proposal from last academic year. Try not to repeat errors that you made last year though, and act on any feedback you were given by your supervisor. Sections may include research design, participants, details of when/where/how data will be collected, equipment required etc. A reference list can be included in this section Lengthy descriptions of procedures/protocols should be included in an appendix.

5. Informed consent: Participants have been/will be fully informed of the risks and benefits of the procedures and of their right to refuse participation or withdraw from the research at any time.
1. I agree (please provide a copy of the informed consent form that you intend to use) 2. I do not agree 3. There are no participants in this study

6. My project will adhere to issues of confidentiality: The confidentiality and anonymity of all participants in the work specified above will be maintained during collection, analysis, dissemination and subsequent storage and disposal of material
1. I agree 2. I do not agree 3. I do not have participants

7. A key issue in ethics is the balance between the knowledge gained from the research against the risks to those involved.
Outline the potential benefits and risks to those involved in the project

A useful chapter can be found in: Berg, K.E. & Latin, R.W. (2008) Ethics in human subject research. in Berg, K.E. & Latin, R.W. Essentials of research methods in health, physical education, exercise science and recreation. 3rd ed., Baltimore: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, pp.17-23. Even if you have no participants, there are ethical issues relating to your project, e.g. the possible influence you could have on the results as the researcher. You will need to do some reading on the key ethical issues for the type of project you are doing.

8. Have references been provided to show that your method has been conducted before and published?
1. Yes 2. No. If no you need to strengthen the defence of your method.

9. Have potential contentious issues been discussed?

1. Yes. 2. No.

10. Are participants in your study going to be recruited from a potentially vulnerable group?
1. No 2. Yes. If yes please provide details below. You also need to include an information sheet and an informed consent form. 3. There are no participants in this study.

11. Are your participants under the age of 16 years?

1. No 2. Yes. If yes you need to include a parental consent form, a child assent form, engage in the Criminal Record Bureau (CRB)* process and complete the self-declaration form.

12. Are your participants performing tests that require physical activity?
1. Yes. If yes you need to include a pre-exercise health screening form. 2. No 3. There are no participants

13. Are your participants who are performing tests that require physical activity over the age of 60 years?
1. No 2. Yes. If yes you need to ensure that you identify this in your methodology and ensure that your testing & monitoring processes have taken this into consideration.

14. Are your participants completing a previously validated questionnaire?

1. No 2. Yes. If yes you need to reference the validation study that developed the measure and include the questionnaire that you are using.

15. Are your participants completing an interview or questionnaire that you will devise?
1. No 2. Yes. If yes you need to include as much information as possible at this stage about the interview/questionnaire. Final interviews/questionnaires will need to be approved by your supervisor prior to

data collection.

16. Provide a detailed timeline showing how you will manage your project
You should include a timeline showing the key activities that will need to be done to complete your project, and the dates by which you will complete them

Appendices

Section 4 The purpose of this study is to measure and compare the accuracy and success of pupils who have Special Educational Needs (SEN) in relation to Physical Education (PE) at the beginning and end of a specified time period. During this period, the pupils will have the opportunity to regularly practice the PE skills being measured. The skills to be measured will be very specific and consistent; for example the number of times the pupil can hit a target with a bean bag in one session. The size of the bean bag, the distance and the length of the session will remain the same throughout the research period; and any other factors that could potentially impact upon performance will also be kept as consistent as possible; for example each activity will take place either indoors or outdoors throughout the programme; this would not vary. It should be acknowledged that in measuring this type of skill, validity could be confounded. This is because this activity involves both arm strength and the ability to throw. The score may be compromised by ability in one area, and lack of ability in the other. Arguably, this could apply particularly to a pupil with SEN. Also, validity could be threatened by the pupils lack of ability to understand the task rather than their ability to perform the task. Again, this could apply to a pupil with SEN (Kelly and Melograno 2004) It should also be acknowledged that scores could be affected by factors such as emotional or behavioural difficulties and health issues. Again, these could apply particularly to pupils with SEN (Vickerman 2007). Observation of any such issues will be recorded. Any modifications and adaptations used to help this group to achieve will also be recorded. Any relationships identified between these and improved performance will be of particular value as findings.

In addition the attitudes of the pupils towards PE will be measured at the beginning and at the end of the programme in order to identify any changes that result from the intervention. Quantitative methods will be employed throughout. The use of qualitative evaluation tools for assessing progress in physical education is not so well established (Hardman and Green 2011). Moreover, this study is concerned with the measurement of skills which yields quantitative data (Veal and Anderson 2011). The pupils attitudes will also be measured quantitatively using a Likert- type scale. For each question, a choice of 5 responses is provided. Each response (e.g. each response A) for every question carries the same score. The middle response is one of neutrality, in keeping with the accepted Likert- scale format (Berg and Latin 2008a). The attitude questionnaire is included within the appendices. The study will include a control group of pupils who do not have SEN. This is not a control group in the usual sense of being a group who do not receive a particular treatment of intervention; but in the sense that they do not share all of the same characteristics as the experimental group. It is probably more accurate to describe both groups as experimental, but with different variables. A variable can affect the outcome of experimental research. The independent variable is something the researcher can control; in this case selecting groups with and without SEN. The dependent variable refers to what is being measured; in this case, the end results of the PE programme. The aim of the experiment is to measure the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable (Berg and Latin 2008b). This experiment forms only a part of this study. The rationale for its inclusion is to compare the results of the two groups and to draw conclusions that might relate to teaching methods and ability. For example: are assumptions made about pupils with SEN in relation to their potential attainment in PE that could negatively impact upon their achievement? Ideally the research groups will be drawn from a primary school that includes pupils with SEN within the mainstream school system. This would mean that many variables are similar, with the exception of the SEN status, which could then be more easily isolated as an independent variable. The two groups would presumably have shared experiences in other areas, for example in relation to the amount of PE they have received. If the two groups were selected from different schools, including a SEN school, there could be many other hidden variables ranging from different educational experiences, to the effects of being segregated. These could be referred to as unknown confounders (factors that cannot easily be measured or that simply, are not known about) (Hoffman et al 2010) and could impact upon the effectiveness of the experiment, influencing the results. Both groups should be in the same school year. Comparison of the two groups could be of particular value in relation to the identification of adaptations and modifications. Each group will be small (8-10 pupils). This is a number that will be small enough to teach effectively, but large enough to gain meaningful data from. The sample size should be larger when there are numerous extraneous variables that may affect the dependent variable (Berg and Latin 2008c). As discussed in the last paragraph, an attempt is being made within this study to reduce these as far as possible.

The training sessions will take place twice a week for a period of 6 weeks (half a term). Gains within this time period have been recorded in previous studies relating to PE for primary- aged children (Malina et al 2004: Bar- Or and Rowland 2004). Each session will be relatively short; of 40 minutes duration. This is important so that the pupils; especially those with SEN, do not lose interest. The small group sizes will enable the teacher to devote time to each child during these sessions, and to maintain safe practice (Hayes 2010).

References Bar- Or O and Rowland T W (2004). Paediatric Exercise Medicine: from physiologic principles to health care application. Human Kinetics. p. 257. Berg K E and Latin R W. (2008) Essentials of Research Methods in Health, Physical Education, Exercise Science and Recreation. 3rd Edition. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. pp. 13, 234, 272 Hardman K and Green K (2011). Contemporary Issues in Physical Education. Meyer and Meyer Sport. p. 106 Hayes D. Encyclopaedia of Primary Education. Routledge. 2010. p. 327 Hoffmann T, Bennett S and Del Mar C (2010) Evidence- based practice across the health professions. Churchill Licingsonte. p. 31. Kelly L E and Melograno V J. (2004). Developing the Physical Education Curriculum. An achievement- based approach. Human Kinetics. p. 151. Malina R M; Bouchard C and Bar- Or O (2004) Growth, Maturation and Physical Activity. Human Kinetics p.499 Veal M L and Anderson W G (2011) Analysis of Teaching and Learning in Physical Education. Jones and Bartlett Learning. p. 59 Vickerman P (2007) Teaching Physical Education to Children with Special Educational Needs. Routledge. pp. 46-7

Section 7 An ethical issue that could arise from this study is that pupils might feel under pressure to compete with others. Emphasis will be placed upon individual achievement rather than competitiveness with others in order to avoid creating emotional stress (Humphrey and Yow 2002). Informed consent will be obtained from the childrens parents or legal carers. They should be enabled to raise any queries or concerns. The children also have the right to receive information about the project. Issues of confidentiality and anonymity must be addressed, so that the identity of the participants is protected. This includes the secure storage of data (Penney et al 2005). Specific ethical issues could arise relating to children with Special Educational needs (SEN). Levels of comprehension could vary from child to child in terms of the purpose of the project. It is essential that the activities involved in this study can only benefit the child and do no harm, or cause distress (Lo 2010). The effect that the researcher could have on the outcome of the intervention should be considered. If motivation is maintained, through encouragement and by making the sessions enjoyable; then it is likely that the achievements gained by the end of the 6week programme will be more successful (Thomas et al 2011). References Humphrey J H and Yow D A. Childrens Team Sports. Nova Science Publishers. 2002. p.1 Lo H (2010). Ethical issues in Clinical Research. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. p.163

Penney D, Clarke G, Quill M and Kinchin G D. (Eds.) (2005). Sport Education in Physical Education: research- based practice. Routledge. pp. 31-2 Thomas J R, Nelson JK and Silverman S J. (2011 ) Research Methods in Physical Activity. 6th Edition. Human Kinetics. p.294

Section 16 Time line: Meet with Research Supervisor (ongoing)

Prepare application form for ethics approval

Submit application form

Collect relevant literature (ongoing)

Prepare proposed PE programme

Identify school and liaise with head teacher and relevant teachers

Once ethical approval has been obtained, identify participants

Seek informed consent from parents and children

Measure and record the participants ability levels in the specified skill areas, and attitudes towards PE

Commence 6- week PE programme

Measure and record the participants ability levels in the specified skill areas, and attitudes towards PE

Complete research report