physical activity.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ARTICLE CRITIQUE 2
In this article, researchers are studying if synchronous distance education is effective
when it comes to weight loss. Researchers want to know if synchronous distance learning will
help maintain weight loss over a period of time. This is a problem in healthcare because
individuals who are overweight and obese have a higher possibility to take on several health
conditions. Obesity and being overweight are not the same thing however, they can lead to the
same bad health. Obesity is when a person has too much body fat (Obesity, 2020). Being
overweight means a person weighs too much from either muscle, bone, fat, body water, or a
combination (Obesity, 2020)
Research Problem
The researchers have not convinced me why there is a need to study synchronous
distance education. While weight loss is a huge problem many people struggle with, I do not
believe this is something researchers should have choose to study. In the past there have been
previous studies which have been conducted on weight loss and in this particular study
researchers have not stated any new arguments. Synchronous distance learning does not seem as
if it is a new solution due to sounding similar to recordings people are able to watch on television
or on the internet. While the interactions are in real time, the results are fairly similar.
There are several variables in this study. The independent variable is the participation in
the fifteen-week weight loss program. When it comes to the dependent variables, there were a
few. One dependent variable was the overall weight loss and decrease in the body mass index
(BMI). Another dependent variable was the decrease in health concerns. A final dependent
variable is an increase of physical activity.
Some variable which could have impacted the study was the fact out of all of the
participants there were 69 females and only 11 males. A majority of the participants were also QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ARTICLE CRITIQUE 3
Caucasian and employed full time. Three quarters of the participants received a bachelor’s
degree or higher and had incomes greater than $50,000 annually. All of the participants were a
part of the North Carolina State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees. Due to all of the
participants being fairly similar there is not a positive way to test if the results would be the same
if using people of different ages, ethnicities or financial status.
Review of Literature
While there were a few other studies mentioned there was no in-depth information about
any of them. The researchers mentioned there were a few other studies which used Web-based
lessons which were taught by a therapist or one-on-one coaching. There was also mention of
published work which reviewed synchronous distance education using email follow ups. The
researchers also mention another study which reviewed synchronous chat rooms conducted by
health professionals. However, after mentioning there were other studies conducted there was no
in-depth coverage of them.
Other studies have shown a “dose-response effect” which showed positive effects in
weight loss when there was more participation involved. Some randomized controlled trials
(RCT) used Web-based intervention to communicate with e-mail, an automated counselor or chat
rooms. While the researchers provided information about other RCTs there was no in-depth
information about the names of the studies or their results.
Research Design
The type of research design used was a randomized controlled trial with weight loss
intervention and wait-list control group with 6-month follow-up. A randomized control study is
“a study in which people are allocated at random (by chance alone) to receive one of several
clinical interventions” (Jr., W. C. S., 2018).QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ARTICLE CRITIQUE 4
The study was conducted in real time where individuals participated in Eat Smart, Move
More, Weigh Less Online (ESMMWL). The individuals were randomly put into the intervention
group which was conducted over a fifteen-week period. In the study the control group received
the treatment following the intervention group. Using this type of study design helps prevent any
results from being biased. In order to do this, researchers need to make sure none of the
participants have recently tried to lose weight. Each participant also needs to be willing to be
assigned to a random group. This was an appropriate design because of the clinical trials used.
The researchers wanted to study a new weight loss program without the use of any bias to
change the results.
A possible threat to the internal validity of the study could be differential attrition.
Differential attrition refers to “the difference in the rate of attrition between the program and
control groups” (What Isn’t There Matters: Attrition and Randomized Controlled Trials, 2014).
This would happen if any of the participants did not want to participate in the program anymore.
Due to the participant dropping out of the program, their results are not compared to the others.
Because of this one group could show more weight loss where the other group realistically more
participants had dropped out.