M en and women report differences in exercise habits. For example, men and women differ on how frequently they plan to exercise. Planning to exercise may be influenced by a variety of reasons. Some of the reasons that push people to engage in regular exercises include: to stay fit, decreasing illness risks, feeling more energized, burning more calories and increasing speedy recovery chances from an injury or body surgery (Abou-Elmagd, 2016). Mao et al. (2020) explain that men and women differ on how frequently they intend to exercise. Additionally, these authors argue that both men and women have varied influential factors that drive them towards regular exercise. For example, the research by Mao et al. (2020) on the Taiwanese population indicated that women were more likely to exercise regularly when aged between 40 to 64 years.
Mao et al. (2020) explain that the most influential factor for women to engage in exercise was to maintain body shape by burning calories in the body. Additionally, women engaged in an exercise to lower the chances of contracting diseases such as diabetes. On the other hand, men who engaged in regular exercise were mostly influenced by obtaining flexibility and keeping fit from the exercises. Furthermore, most men engaged in regular exercise for enjoyment such as engaging in sports activities such as football for fun (Fletcher et al., 2018). Therefore, women and men pose differences in their intentions to exercise because they have various target goals to achieve from the exercise. Additionally, the differences in intention to exercise in gender may arise due to influential factors such as enjoyment and self-related health needs (Fletcher et al., 2018). Therefore, this research aims to test the hypothesis that women tend to have higher intentions to exercise than men.
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Literature Review
Various researchers have tackled the topic of gender and intentions to exercise. For example, Craft et al. (2014) explain that gender difference significantly affects exercising habits such as intentions to exercise. According to Craft et al. (2014), women returned a higher intention to exercise than men. According to this research, women had a higher intention to engage in exercise to lose weight and maintain body shape. Men, on the other hand, took part in exercises for enjoyment which was not enough to match the intensions for women to exercise. The enjoyment activities for men include sporting activities such as soccer and tennis playing. This indicates that men will have increased intentions to exercise when such activities are present. However, women are motivated to exercise for personal reasons such as maintaining body shape and burning calories which increases weight loss. Therefore women will be more motivated to engage in physical exercise activities than men (Craft et al., 2014).
Additionally, a study by Mao et al. (2020) on the Taiwanese population indicated that women were more prone to engaging in vigorous exercise than men. The study was conducted on a study population of 2147 participants out of which 47.8% of the population indicated that they took part in regular exercise while 34.1% of the population did not take place in regular exercise and 18% never engaged in exercise at all. Of the total population that took part in the study, Mao et al. (2020) found that women have higher intentions to take part in regular exercise compared to men. This study also indicated that women are more active in exercise when aged between 40 to 64 years. Due to various influential factors and target objectives, gender has had a significant effect on determining the frequency of men and women in participating in exercises for Taiwanese adults.
DeWolfe et al. (2020) also conducted a study on gender differences and physical activity. According to this study, women exhibit a huge amount of anxiety levels which affect their engagement in physical exercise. Therefore, the research findings of the research indicated that women have a significantly low engagement and intention to participate in physical exercise compared to men due to the higher anxiety sensitivity they bear. This research explains that anxiety levels are one of the influential factors resulting in the difference in gender engagement in physical exercise. Additionally, research by Van Uffelen et al. (2017) also indicated a variation in gender that determines engagement in physical exercise. These authors indicated that both men and women were influenced by the prevention of chronic illnesses and feeling good to take part in physical exercise. Furthermore, Van Uffelen et al. argue that men aged below sixty years are more active and have higher intentions to engage in exercise compared to their counterpart women.
Another study by Davis (2018) indicates that young women, especially those from humble backgrounds, engage in less physical exercise than recommended. Less exercise among this population is fueled by societal factors that hinder women from participating in physical activities. However, this study suggested that men engage in more physical activities compared to women of the same age. However, the intensity and participation time in physical activities diminish with an increase in age among both groups (Davis, 2018). Therefore, this study concluded that men have higher intentions to take part in exercise compared to women because they are more active and outgoing compared to women of the same age.
Methods of Study
Research Design
This research will employ a qualitative research methodology. Under the qualitative research method, the project will employ the self-report research design. According to Brill & Schwab (2019), self-report is a research method used by researchers to gather population data. Under this method, participants are required to appropriately respond to questions asked by the researcher without interference. Some examples of self-report materials include the use of questionnaires, study surveys, and interviews (Althubaiti, 2016). The self-report method will involve questioning participants about their feelings, attitudes, and beliefs towards engaging in physical exercise activities.
I selected this method because it is a relatively simple method to obtain data from a large population cheaply. In addition, the self-report method can be altered in different ways to suitably fit the research questions and hypothesis. For example, a researcher can specifically structure the research questions to fit the research needs and requirements of the study. Another example is that questionnaires involved in the study can be completed individually or in groups to ensure desired results are obtained by the researcher. Self-report design is also advantageous because it can effectively aid the researcher to collect data that cannot be directly observed. Furthermore, self-report research design allows data collection from a larger geographical area compared to other methods. According to Althubaiti (2016), the self-report method also offers data collection through interviews over a telephone which allows data collection from a wide geographical area. The two research variables for this study are gender and intentions. Data to analyze the two variables shall be obtained through literature analysis. This research method will seek peer-reviewed articles and survey materials from trusted sources that are less than five years. From these articles, we shall obtain information on intentions to exercise for both men and women, after which we shall analyze the data to find the statistical significance.
Participants
The research utilized the simple random sampling technique to obtain the sample for the research. According to Sharma (2017), the simple random sampling technique includes a random selection of a population subset that represents the information requirements of the larger group. Under the simple random sampling technique, each member of the population has equal chances of being selected to take part in the research activity or project. (Sharma, 2017). I selected this sampling technique for my research because it is unbiased and gives equal chances for every population member to take part in the research activity. Additionally, just as indicated by the name, a simple random sampling technique is a simple way to conduct a sampling procedure because it involves fewer complications compared to other sampling techniques. (Sharma, 2017).
However, despite the advantages of the simple random sampling technique, it also poses a variety of drawbacks to the research. For example, Sharma (2017) denotes that under this method, it is difficult and complicated to access lists of the full population. To perform an effective and efficient simple random sampling method, a researcher should have access, or the entire population should be available for the process, which may be difficult and involve complications. For example, to obtain a sample from university students, a researcher should have a full list of the university students, which may only be provided by the administration. On many occasions, administrations may be reluctant to share clients’ lists and information due to privacy policies which may hinder sampling selection performance.
In addition, the simple sampling technique method is time-consuming. According to Sharma (2017), the absence of full lists for firms may prompt data gathering from other sources. Smaller subsets of data may also be utilized to create a large full list of a population which may take a lot of time to perform. Additionally, gathering data from various sources in the absence of full lists may include a variety of costs, that when assembled, will lead to huge costs for the researcher. Furthermore, a simple random sampling technique will result in a sample selection bias. The main advantage of a simple random sampling technique is that it does not lead to biased results. However, when the sample for the larger population is not largely inclusive, the representation of the population may be skewed and may require additional sampling techniques to perfect the process.
After deciding the sampling technique we shall perform the sampling method activity on undergraduate students of the University of Michigan. Under this step, 90 participants were used for the convenience sample. Under this sample, 5 of the participants did not fill the survey and as a result, were eliminated from the final data analysis procedure. Therefore, the final sample analyzed comprised of 85 participants who dully filled the survey and questionnaires regarding the subsets and requirements of the research study. For the sample size of 85 participants, 19 of the participants were male, while the remaining (66) were female. The age of the participants ranged between 34 years to 66 years from whom we collected data for analysis and comparison. The mean age M for the participants was 45.4, while the standard deviation SD for the participating population was 4.32. As a requirement, all the available participants took part in the study willingly as indicated in the letter of consent and did not receive any incentives from the researcher that could alter the outcomes of the final results or information obtained from the sample participants.
Measures
Variable measurement occurred through a rating scale. On a scale of 1 to 7, participants were required to tick what best suited them. For example, the questionnaire had a question like “How likely is that you will take part in aerobic exercise regularly in the next month?” The participants were required to tick suitably from a scale of 1 (not at all likely) to a scale of 7 (very likely). The participants will therefore fill the questionnaire and submit the information. The information was retrieved from the questionnaires and recorded for analysis. The variables for the research were gender and intentions. The intentions were operationalized using the rating scale where participants were to provide information on a rating scale from 1 to 7 on how frequent they are to undertaking regular exercises. Gender was determined as either female or male, with both parties issuing information on their thoughts in the provided questionnaires.
The research also determined whether the variables are categorical or continuous. According to Bayoumi (2021), a categorical variable is a variable with limited category numbers or recognizable groups. This author argues that a categorical variable may lack logical order. They include factors like materials types, payment methods, and gender. On the other hand, continuous variables are variables with finite numbers between any values. They include the date, length and payment time, and date (Bayoumi, 2021). This research has two variables. They include gender and intentions. Gender is a categorical variable, while intention is a continuous variable.
Procedures
The research started with the selection of the hypothesis after which the study location was determined. On this study location, we conducted the sampling method (simple random) over the entire institution population to obtain suitable participants who later represented the whole population. Simple random sampling was chosen because it is a simple method and gives everyone equal chances of participating in the research (Sharma, 2017). After identification of the sample, participants were issued with questionnaires where they were required to fill them to the best of their knowledge without the interference of the researcher. The research also used the online survey software Qualtrics ( http://www.qualtrics.com ) that helps identify opportunities and create efficient questionnaires for participants. After the participants completed filling the questionnaires, the researcher recorded the data specifically for analysis and kept the questionnaires for confirmation. After data recording, data analysis was the next stage. From the provided information, the researcher recorded the number of females who had intentions to exercise the same as the number of males with intentions to take part in regular exercise activities. In addition, a literature data set was conducted by the researcher to determine what other scholars say regarding the intentions to exercise based on gender. For efficient data analysis, the research utilized the statistical analyzing software R (version 3.6.1) which was essential for computing and graphing data. Analysis of data will use the t-test formula.
T= mean 1- mean 2
SD/√n
Mean 1 and mean 2 indicate the average mean of tested sample sets
SD is the standard deviation
N is the sample size.
Results and Discussion
The results obtained from this study indicate that women have higher intentions to take part in regular exercise than men. These results concur with a study by Craft et al. (2014) women returned a higher intention to exercise than men. According to this research, women had a higher intention to engage in exercise to lose weight and maintain body shape. Men, on the other hand, took part in exercises for enjoyment which was not enough to match the intensions for women to exercise. The enjoyment activities for men include sporting activities such as soccer and tennis playing. This indicates that men will have increased intentions to exercise when such activities are present. However, women are motivated to exercise for personal reasons such as maintaining body shape and burning calories which increases weight loss. Therefore women will be more motivated to engage in physical exercise activities than men (Craft et al., 2014).
A study by Mao et al (2020) conducted on Taiwanese population also suggests that women had higher intentions to engage in vigorous exercise than men. The research by Mao et al. (2020) comprised of a population sample of 2147 participants, out of which 47.8% of the population indicated that they took part in regular exercise while 34.1% of the population did not take place in regular exercise and 18% never engaged in exercise at all. From the population that took part in exercises, this research found that women had higher intentions to exercise than men. In addition, Mao et al. (2020) also explained that women are more active in exercise when aged between 40 to 64 years. Due to various influential factors, and target objectives gender has had a significant effect on determining the frequency of men and women in participating in exercises for Taiwanese adults. Therefore, the results of this study uphold the hypothesis that it is expected that women will have a higher intention to exercise than men.
Limitations and Future Directions
This study employed a small sample size which may result in skewed results. Therefore, research with a higher sample size of a population will be appropriate to test the effectiveness of the research findings. In addition, the research utilized the simple random sampling technique which may be prone to bias. A more statistical sampling technique is required to test the effectiveness of the results obtained from this research. For example, researchers can utilize the probability sampling technique and compare the results with those obtained using simple random sampling. Furthermore, the use of qualitative methods in the research could hinder findings and results associated with it. Qualitative methods are not entirely accurate as information gained from other people may be biased which can lead to vague results. Therefore, a combination of both qualitative and quantitative is essential to test the difference and authenticity of the findings. Moreover, the quantitative research method is more numeric and involved more mathematical calculations which may yield adequate statistical comparison between the study variables.
Implications of the Study
The results obtained in this research will assist scholars in improving knowledge about the topic and completing their academic objectives. Additionally, this research will prompt other researchers to utilize the study gaps and conduct further research on the topic which enhances deep knowledge and understanding about the topic and helps solve prevailing real-world problems. For example, the information obtained avails a gap on the biological factors that influence women to high exercise intensions than men. This is a research topic that researchers can pursue to expand knowledge on the topic.
References
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Althubaiti A. (2016). Information bias in health research: definition, pitfalls, and adjustment methods. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare , 9 , 211–217. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S104807
Bayoumi, A. M. (2021). STDDIFF: Stata module to compute standardized differences for continuous and categorical variables.
Brill, M., & Schwab, F. (2019). A mixed-methods approach using self-report, observational time series data, and content analysis for process analysis of a media reception phenomenon. Frontiers in psychology , 10 , 1666.
Craft, B. B., Carroll, H. A., & Lustyk, M. K. (2014). Gender Differences in Exercise Habits and Quality of Life Reports: Assessing the Moderating Effects of Reasons for Exercise. International journal of liberal arts and social science , 2 (5), 65–76.
Davis, N., S. (2018). Boys do more exercise than girls, research finds. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/11/boys-do-more-exercise-than-girls-research-finds . Accessed 12 th December 2021.
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Mao, H. Y., Hsu, H. C., & Lee, S. D. (2020). Gender differences in related influential factors of regular exercise behavior among people in Taiwan in 2007: A cross-sectional study. PloS one , 15 (1), e0228191. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228191
Sharma, G. (2017). Pros and cons of different sampling techniques. International journal of applied research , 3 (7), 749-752.
Van Uffelen, J. G., Khan, A., & Burton, N. W. (2017). Gender differences in physical activity motivators and context preferences: a population-based study in people in their sixties. BMC Public Health , 17 (1), 1-11.
