A variety of research questions--such as the examples below--can be posed about pedometers to help students understand concepts of experimental design. These questions can be answered through HSTA club learning activities, or they can be answered as part of students' research projects that they will present at the HSTA Symposium (see section below). The specific procedures to answer any of these questions would need to be worked out by the student(s) with his/her HSTA teacher. Several trials could be performed and Microsoft Excel® could be used for analyzing/graphing data. Answering the questions involves doing physical activity: Student participation should be voluntary.

If students are answering these questions for a Symposium research project, they will not need "Institutional Review Board" (IRB) approval if they follow these rules: (a) the HSTA student or students who have come up with the project would collect data ONLY on himself (themselves) while wearing the pedometer(s); and (b) No other people--not even family members of these HSTA students or other students in the HSTA club--would be recruited into the study; no data would be collected from any other people wearing pedometers.

If your students want to do a research project that would collect data from human subjects OTHER than themselves, then you must discuss in advance with HSTA Central Office the need to write and gain approval for this research through an IRB application.

Step Count	Miles	Calories

1. PEDOMETER STEP COUNT PRECISION.

• How much does the step count reading vary on a specific pedometer when the same distance is walked (holding rate of walking and the person doing the walking constant) several times?

2. PEDOMETER STEP COUNT ACCURACY.

• What is the percentage error in the step data for a specific pedometer when the actual number of steps taken is compared to the step count reported on the pedometer (holding rate of walking and walker constant) for a given distance?
• How much does this percentage error change for different rates of walking, e.g., slow at 2 miles per hour (mph) as opposed to moderate at 3 mph (or fast at 4 mph)?

3. PEDOMETER LOCATION AND STEP COUNT VARIABILITY. 

• How much does the step data to cover a specific distance vary when the pedometer is positioned (worn) at different locations on the body? How does this compare to the actual number of steps taken?

4. PEDOMETER STEP COUNT AND SENSITIVITY SETTING.

• For pedometers that have a sensitivity adjustment, what is the variance in step counts across the different settings?

5. VARIATION IN STEPS ACROSS BRANDS OF PEDOMETER.

• How much does the step data vary when several different brands of pedometers are used to walk the same distance?
  

6. VARIATION IN STEPS WITH CHANGING SLOPE AND SURFACE.

• How much does the step data vary when walking on the level as opposed to up and down hill or on different surfaces (e.g., concrete, grass)?

7. VARIATION IN STEPS WITH CHANGING RATE OF WALKING.

• How much does the (your) step data vary when walking the same distance at different rates, e.g., slow, moderate, brisk, speed walk.

8. VARIATION IN STEPS WALKING ALONE VS. WITH SOMEONE.

• How much does the step count vary when you walk with a partner versus walking alone the same distance?

9. ACCURACY OF DISTANCE (MILEAGE).

• How much does the mileage data reported by the pedometer differ from the actual distance (assuming that stride length is accurately determined and entered into the pedometer).

10. VARIATION IN KCAL EXPENDITURE WITH DIFFERENT WEIGHT SETTINGS.

(Important: For any questions that involve body weight and kcal expenditure: This is private information. No individuals should be asked to share their body weight or kcal expenditure publicly. Any learning activities done to answer these questions should be done in a manner that does not allow one student to learn another students' body weight or kcal expenditure.)

• What is the variance in kcal expended per lb of body weight to cover a given distance when the pedometer is set at 10 different body weights (e.g., 110 lbs, 120 lbs, and so on in 10 lb increments up to 200 lbs)?
• How do different brands of pedometers compare in terms of the kcal expenditure data reported?

11. VARIATION IN KCAL EXPENDITURE WITH DIFFERENT STRIDE LENGTH SETTINGS.

• How does the stride length setting influence the kcal expenditure reported (set the pedometer to different stride lengths and walk to cover the same distance, as recorded by the pedometer, for each stride length.

12. PEDOMETER KCAL VS COMPENDIUM OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY KCAL.

• When a given body weight is entered into the pedometer and a specified distance is walked, how does the kcal expenditure shown on the pedometer differ from the kcal expenditure computed from the Compendium of Physical Activities? (These computations could be made for various rates—2 mph, 4 mph—of walking in the Compendium of Physical Activities.)

14. FOOD KCAL EQUIVALENTS OF WALKING SPECIFIED DISTANCES

• What quantities of different foods kcal provide the same number of kcal as are used up by walking certain distances (using kcal values reported by the pedometer or as computed from the Compendium of Physical Activities)?
• What is the difference in these food amounts when using gross as opposed to net kcal value of walking?

15. PEDOMETER KCAL FOR DISTANCES USING STAIRS.

• For a given body weight (or weights), how much lower is the kcal expenditure reported by the pedometer than the actual kcal expenditure when the distance covered includes going up and down a significant number of stairs?
• Relative to the above question: How much of a difference does this make in terms of adipose tissue equivalent if the walking was done on a regular basis over an extended time period. (Use reference values provided for “total kcal expenditure” and “taking the stairs” in the document Kcal Expenditure of Walking to make these calculations.)

Page last updated 11/29/04