Proposal for Research in Sport and Exercise Science: Unit 9 Research Project
Research question:
The researcher has proposed a research question which is as follows: Is heat acclimatisation training
necessary for taekwondo athletes to improve competition performance? The researcher is keen to
assess whether heat acclimatisation training is necessary for taekwondo performance and if taekwondo
athletes could benefit from heat acclimatisation training by gaining thermoregulatory adaptations to
cope with the metabolic heat production, caused from training and competing in protective taekwondo
padding. Many taekwondo athletes are commonly seen training without wearing protective equipment,
except for during sparring, but even then, this is often seen on top of shorts and a t-shirt, not whilst
wearing a full dobok (uniform). Many taekwondo athletes may be competing with minimal
thermoregulatory adaptations to the heat produced and stored by protective equipment. The research
aims to determine whether specific heat acclimatisation training is required to cope with
thermoregulatory demands paced upon the athletes during training and competition.
Aims and Hypothesis:
The aim of this research is to discover if heat acclimatisation training is necessary for taekwondo. The
researcher aims to investigate this by evaluating a taekwondo specific incremental test whilst wearing
full protective equipment versus wearing no protective equipment. The research will aim to measure
variables indicative of heat stress and whether this increases with exercise intensity alongside its
potential detriment to performance. This research aims to evaluate if heat acclimatisation training needs
to be implemented into taekwondo athletes’ training routines. The hypothesis the researcher proposes
is as follows: Heat acclimatisation training is needed to optimise taekwondo performance. The null
hypothesis the researcher proposes is as follows: Heat acclimatisation training is not needed to optimise
taekwondo performance. An alternative hypothesis the researcher proposes is Heat acclimatisation
training has limited benefit on optimising taekwondo performance.
Proposed Research Design:
As this research involves numerical figures like temperatures, number of kicks, and kick fatigue index,
the proposed research design will be quantitative, more specifically true experimental. True
experimental research was chosen because this type of research allows the researcher to directly
determine if the taekwondo pads cause increased heat stress. As experimental research has an
independent variable, dependant variable, and control variables, this research design makes it simple
for the researcher to eliminate many external variables so that they can solely focus on the relationship
between the taekwondo pads and taekwondo performance. Quasi-experimental design was not chosen
because this design has lower internal validity as it is challenging to confirm that all confounding factors
have been taken into consideration without randomisation. Additionally, previous data cannot be used
as this research project is a first of its kind, so true experimental is needed to gather initial data on the
research topic. However, quasi-experimental research has higher external validity because real-world
interventions rather than manufactured environments are frequently used which could make quasi-
experimental research advantageous, but overall, the true experimental research design will be the
most appropriate research design, especially as many external variables can be controlled during
experiments.
Research question:
The researcher has proposed a research question which is as follows: Is heat acclimatisation training
necessary for taekwondo athletes to improve competition performance? The researcher is keen to
assess whether heat acclimatisation training is necessary for taekwondo performance and if taekwondo
athletes could benefit from heat acclimatisation training by gaining thermoregulatory adaptations to
cope with the metabolic heat production, caused from training and competing in protective taekwondo
padding. Many taekwondo athletes are commonly seen training without wearing protective equipment,
except for during sparring, but even then, this is often seen on top of shorts and a t-shirt, not whilst
wearing a full dobok (uniform). Many taekwondo athletes may be competing with minimal
thermoregulatory adaptations to the heat produced and stored by protective equipment. The research
aims to determine whether specific heat acclimatisation training is required to cope with
thermoregulatory demands paced upon the athletes during training and competition.
Aims and Hypothesis:
The aim of this research is to discover if heat acclimatisation training is necessary for taekwondo. The
researcher aims to investigate this by evaluating a taekwondo specific incremental test whilst wearing
full protective equipment versus wearing no protective equipment. The research will aim to measure
variables indicative of heat stress and whether this increases with exercise intensity alongside its
potential detriment to performance. This research aims to evaluate if heat acclimatisation training needs
to be implemented into taekwondo athletes’ training routines. The hypothesis the researcher proposes
is as follows: Heat acclimatisation training is needed to optimise taekwondo performance. The null
hypothesis the researcher proposes is as follows: Heat acclimatisation training is not needed to optimise
taekwondo performance. An alternative hypothesis the researcher proposes is Heat acclimatisation
training has limited benefit on optimising taekwondo performance.
Proposed Research Design:
As this research involves numerical figures like temperatures, number of kicks, and kick fatigue index,
the proposed research design will be quantitative, more specifically true experimental. True
experimental research was chosen because this type of research allows the researcher to directly
determine if the taekwondo pads cause increased heat stress. As experimental research has an
independent variable, dependant variable, and control variables, this research design makes it simple
for the researcher to eliminate many external variables so that they can solely focus on the relationship
between the taekwondo pads and taekwondo performance. Quasi-experimental design was not chosen
because this design has lower internal validity as it is challenging to confirm that all confounding factors
have been taken into consideration without randomisation. Additionally, previous data cannot be used
as this research project is a first of its kind, so true experimental is needed to gather initial data on the
research topic. However, quasi-experimental research has higher external validity because real-world
interventions rather than manufactured environments are frequently used which could make quasi-
experimental research advantageous, but overall, the true experimental research design will be the
most appropriate research design, especially as many external variables can be controlled during
experiments.
