Document Type
Poster Presentation
Publication Date
2-27-2021
Abstract
This project aims to find out whether geographic location can influence adult physical activity. The hypothesis of the study was that adults living in rural areas will have significantly higher rates of physical activity than those living in more urban areas. There were four U.S. states selected based on their general population density. The states chosen were Alaska, Wyoming, New Jersey, New York and the National average for reference. The data of adult physical activity was obtained from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the intention of seeing if adults who live in rural areas will have significantly higher practice of leisure-time physical activity than those living in more urban areas. The researcher then exported the trend data for each state which included the national average for reference. This was all combined to create a box and whisker plot to display the distribution of data for each state based on a five-number summary. Then, an ANOVA test was conducted, followed by t-test with a Bonferroni adjustment. The box plot of the adult physical activity per state, ANOVA analysis and post hoc Bonferroni t-test determined that adults living in rural areas will have significantly higher rates of physical activity than those living in more urban areas. The results supported the hypothesis. Although there are several limitations to this study, the findings can provide valuable information to guide research that is aimed at better understanding why physical activity in America is unequally distributed.
Conference/Symposium
Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC)
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Recommended Citation
Field, A. (2021, February 26-27). Location affects physical activity rates: Rural and urban comparisons [Poster presentation]. Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC), United States.
Comments
The 2021 Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC) was virtual.