The article that has been selected for critique is the 2016 article written by Meghna Basu Thakur and Namrata Joshi. The article is titled “Analysis of Self Compassion and Self Esteem between Adolescents Engaged in Physical Exercise in the form of Gym with those Having Sedentary Lifestyle.” It was published in 2016 in the Journal of Psychological Research. The article explores the difference in “self-compassion” and “self-esteem” in two groups of adolescents. The first group of adolescents engage in physical activities (gym) whereas the second group of adolescents live a sedentary lifestyle. This paper will delve into critiquing this article. In particular, this article critique paper will cover the following the elements: the authors’ research questions, hypotheses, and concepts, the statistical techniques employed by the authors, the variables tested by the authors, and the results, assumptions, interpretations, and limitations of the study, among many other elements.
In 2016, Thakur and Joshi conducted a statistical study, which explored the difference in self-compassion and self-esteem in two groups of adolescents, namely, “physical exercise group” and “sedentary lifestyle group”. They hypothesized that there would be a difference in self-compassion scores and self-esteem scores between the two groups of adolescents.
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With regard to the variables being measured, the independent variables (IVs) were physical exercise and a sedentary lifestyle. Based on these two variables, the authors divided the participants of the study into two groups: physical exercise group and sedentary lifestyle group. The dependent variables (DVs) were self-compassion and self-esteem, which were measured using “Neff’s Self Compassion Scale” and “Rosenberg’s Self Esteem Scale,” respectively. However, the researchers ought to have included more variables. Based on the variables being measured by the authors, the study fails to give an impression of types of exercise (aerobic vs weight training), exercise intensity, and gender difference. Thus, If I were the author, I would have included more variables. In particular, I would have covered the effect of varying exercise intensities and different types of exercise on both constructs. I would also have covered gender differences in the study.
The authors used different statistical tools to collect data. They measured self-compassion using the 26-item Self Compassion Scale. However, the authors did not take the sub-scores into account. The authors measured the second construct (self-esteem) using the 10-item RSES. After collecting the responses, the authors derived descriptive statistics and analyzed the data using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) package. Given the nature of the data collected, the authors employed a good statistical tool to analyze the data. SPSS is often employed by researchers for management and statistical analysis of social science data.
In addition to using SPSS, the authors analyzed the collected data for the inferential statistics. The specific statistical test used by the authors is the t-test. The authors used this statistical test to determine if there is a significant difference between the means of the two groups of adolescents. In particular, the authors calculated a t-test for random groups design with one IV having two levels. Since inferential statistics could be derived from the sample responses, the statistical test used by the authors was appropriate.
After analyzing the data, the authors organized the summary statistics and inferential statistics for two constructs of the two groups of adolescents in tabular forms. The tables presented the results obtained from the study in a clear manner. From the study, the authors gathered enough evidence to conclude that there is a difference in self-compassion scores and self-esteem scores between the physical exercise group and sedentary lifestyle group. The t-test for the self-compassion group was 1.708 (significance level=0.05). Thus, the results obtained by the authors were statistically significant.
With regard to the assumptions made and limitation of the statistical study, the authors did not provide the assumptions they made in their study. However, they clearly outlined the limitations of their statistical study. The study had a number of limitations. First, it failed to give an impression if the relationship between the two constructs towards exercise-related behaviours is bidirectional or not. This means that the findings of this study cannot be used in all contexts. The second limitation is that the study failed to compare the effect of varying exercise intensities as well as the effect of different types of exercises on self-compassion and self-esteem. Lastly, the study failed to cover gender differences. Due to these limitations, the generalizability of the findings may be limited to some contexts.
To ensure the findings of the study applies in all population demographics, I would have included the following variables in the study: the effect of varying exercise intensities on self-compassion and self-esteem, the effect of different types of exercises (aerobics and weight exercise) on self-compassion and self-esteem, and the gender differences. Still, the findings of this research study might be helpful in my future career. First, it will help me make lifestyle modifications to improve my health and quality of life. This is because exercise is very essential for mental health. This will have a positive impact on my future career.
References
Thakur, M. B., & Joshi, N. (2016). Analysis of Self Compassion and Self Esteem between Adolescents Engaged in Physical Exercise in the form of Gym with those having Sedentary Lifestyle. Journal of Psychosocial Research , 11 (1).
