Sedentary Behavior and Health: Broadening the Knowledge Base and Strengthening the Science

We provide an overview of a recently published, edited book in a rapidly emerging field of research, policy, and practice for physical activity: Sedentary Behavior and Health. In this commentary, we highlight the broad perspectives provided in the 27 chapters of Sedentary Behavior and Health and suggest a research strategy to move the field forward—not only with scientific rigor, but also with breadth of scholarship. The book’s chapters provide an overview of the background to and contexts for sedentary behavior and health. They then highlight the importance of understanding health consequences and underlying mechanisms; introduce key measurement technology and analytic strategies; consider sedentary behavior in subpopulations; describe conceptual models and theories to guide sedentary behavior interventions; and explain what is known about interventions in different settings. Considering the breadth of perspectives brought to bear on the field and the plethora of opportunities for research, policy, and practice, we suggest 3 elements of an interdisciplinary research strategy drawing upon the primary knowledge bases of physical activity and health: through the experimental methods of exercise science, through the observational tools of epidemiology, and through the conceptual approaches and methods of behavioral science. A better understanding of the health consequences of sedentary behavior and how they may be influenced can be encompassed by 3 key questions: What changes are needed to most effectively influence sedentary behaviors? What elements of sedentary behavior should be changed to improve health outcomes? What are the feasibility of and the benefits from changing sedentary behavior?     

Ascending into order: A reflective analysis from a small open source development team

Open Source Software (OSS) has had a profound impact on the way in which software is developed and consequently on the perception of software development. This paper starts with a brief discussion of the eclectic techniques and processes, combinations of which may be used for OSS projects. A ‘real-world’ context will be examined using ‘Reflective Analysis’ focusing on the research and development team present within the Business, Logistics and Information Systems (BLIS) department at The University of Bolton. The reflective analysis explores some assumptions inherent in OSS development. Drawing on findings from experience, industry and background research, an attempt will be made to provide an insight into how in a small team, the use of OSS and associated techniques can lead to the successful development of software. Whilst early results show that smaller OSS projects may appear to have little or no formal structure with closer investigation it is clear this is not the case. Without at least some degree of management, the teams experience indicates that such projects may be prone to failure.     

Video‐mediated Judgements of Personal Characteristics Based Upon Non‐verbal Cues

The process of forming initial judgements to do with a range of personal attributes such as age, marital status, personality, etc. plays an important part in making contact with other people and forming relationships with them (Kleinke, 1986). It has also been the subject of extensive psychological enquiry of late (Cook, 1984). The twofold objectives of the present investigation were, firstly, to establish the degree of correspondence between observers’ judgements based upon video presentations of subjects, and subjects’ actual age, marital status, religion, socio‐economic status and personality; and, secondly, to determine the types of nonverbal cue upon which such impressions were founded. Results revealed that only in the case of age did the correlation between observered and actual values of the variable reach significance. The nonverbal cues implicated seemed to be mostly to do with subjects’ appearance, hair and face. More broadly, appearance, as a general category of observation, was extensively represented throughout the study, irrespective of the accuracy of the specific judgement arrived at. Results are discussed within the context of existing research findings. Limitations of the study are identified and suggestions made as to ways in which this work may be extended, particularly in respect of the importance of video and television replays as an observational medium.