Introduction
The pandemic has changed the landscape of the public and personal life to a tremendous extent, causing a significant shift toward the meticulous attention to health-related issues. Specifically, the issues of maintaining the proper rates of physical activity and controlling the exposure to health threats require closer attention due to the challenges associated with the pandemic. In their article, Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) assess the effects of the coronavirus on the extent of physical activity in residents of Canada, providing guidelines for improving the current activity rates. Due to the elaborate and sensible approach to the methodological framework of their study, Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) have managed to conduct a thorough research of the subject at hand.
Literature Review
Providing a brief yet meticulous assessment of the fundamental studies addressing the subject matter, the literature review embraces the key concepts and outlines the major gap in the present-day body of knowledge concerning the subject matter. Namely, the literature review allows tracking down the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, as well as across the globe, thus, providing the context for the paper (Sepúlveda-Loyola et al., 2020). The further integration of the multidimensional perspective as the tool for assessing all available factors concerning the current perceptions of healthy lifestyles among the Canadian population.
The reviewed literature appears to be fully appropriate for the researched issue. Namely, Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) consult the studies that tackle the topic of physical activity among Canadian residents, including the assessment of impediments to the access to the respective facilities and services. Additionally, the range of research topics that the literature review embraces includes the types of physical activities prevalent among the target populations. Overall, the review is presented in a clear manner, with key gaps in the available literature accurately identified.
Theoretical Framework and Research Approach
Unlike the literature review, which as conducted in great and rather meticulous detail by Lesser and Nienhuis (2020), the theoretical background of the study lacks description. The authors mention the theory behind their analysis only in passing when speculating about the nature of behavioral changes in Canadian citizens and, therefore, implying that the Behavioral Theories are applied to the analysis (Barley and Lawson, 2016). Overall, due to the lack of clarification regarding the theoretical framework for the study, the specified part of the research must be considered slightly underdeveloped, which reduces the value of the article to an extent.
As for the research approach utilized in the article, the choice of the qualitative framework appears to be a sound and sensible perspective on determining the nature of the problem and determining the range of factors affecting the behaviors and choices of the target population (Arora and Grey, 2020). Specifically, the application of the qualitative framework and the focus on qualitative data collection by conducting interviews have helped obtain the data concerning the essential impediments to implementing healthy lifestyles in Canadian citizens.
Sampling and Recruitment
In turn, the sampling and recruitment approaches utilized in the study have been robust and rather impressive. Specifically, the authors have defined their sampling criteria exceptionally accurately and selected research participants accordingly. Namely, the choice of the snowball sampling technique has allowed approaching the Canadian population specifically, thus, determining the vulnerability rates among the specified demographics and locating the means of mitigating the threat. In turn, the recruitment process based on the use of social media can be considered an appropriate and effective tool (Walker et al., 2021). Due to the ubiquitous nature of the specified social media, their use has allowed the authors of the study to embrace a vast range of participants of different age range, backgrounds, and culture. Consequently, the incorporation of the specified approach into the research framework can be deemed as reasonable and conducive to obtaining vital information. Specifically, the integration of social media has helped conduct interviews and retrieve the required qualitative data almost effortlessly.
Participants
Since the study by Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) embraces quite a broad and diverse range of people, seeking to study changes in the behaviors of all Canadians affected by the pandemic, the population that the authors selected as research participants is quite suitable for research purposes. Namely, the selection criteria have been very broad, the key exclusion criteria being age and residence. Namely people aged below 19 and not being legal residents of Canada were not viewed as the research material (Lesser and Nienhuis, 2020). Therefore, selecting a sample represented a rather simple task with multiple prerequisites for obtaining diverse and unique perspectives on the issue of health management. As a result, a general trend could be identified, with nuanced opinions regarding the means of managing the situation and amending the current issues with public health management in Canada becoming possible.
At the same time, one must not exclude the probability of biases occurring as a result of the selected framework. Namely, due to the nature of the snowball sampling framework, the chance of recruiting the participants that are closely familiar with one another and, therefore, share a substantial range of opinions, including those on the issue of health and health management, increases (De Las Heras-Pedrosa et al., 2020). Consequently, the outcomes of the data collection may turn out to represent the target population rather poorly, leading to a failure to capture the diversity of opinions on the issue of health management.
Ethics
Approaching the study by Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) from the ethical standpoint will lead to the discovery of a rather impressive ethical framework for managing the research and the related processes. Specifically, the fact that the research has been approved by “the Human Research Ethics Board at the University of the Fraser Valley” shows that Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) approached the emergent ethical dilemmas with all due seriousness and caution. Namely, informed consent has been obtained from all participants involved in the study so that the outcomes of the analysis could be seen as legitimate.
Qualitative Analysis
Finally, one must mention the manner in which the target audience has been approached, as well as the efficacy of the deployed measures and the success of the neighboring communities that utilized the services of a qualitative research involvement for its students. A closer look at the qualitative research in question will show that it meets the key requirements for qualitative studies.
The selected research method can be described as appropriate fir the study of the identified type. Namely, the qualitative research approach helps recognize the key factors affecting a certain issue. The specified rationale has served a perfect job at pointing the necessity to encourage a positive change in the current framework for promoting healthy lifestyle and introducing people to the opportunity at altering their behaviors toward positive ones (Moffitt et al., 2020). In fact, the authors of the analysis specify quite clearly that their study seeks to examine the key changes that the coronavirus has had on people’s behaviors by conducting qualitative interviews and, therefore, identifying key changes in the participants’ attitudes and perceptions of the subject matter (Béland and Marier, 2020). Therefore, the choice of the research methodology, particularly, the integration of the qualitative analysis technique, can be considered an important sand even indispensable step in building the research framework.
Arguably, the suggested tool for approaching the data collection process an especially the analysis could be seen as slightly misaligned with the nature of the research question. Specifically the fact that the study seeks to establish connections between a set of two variables types may indicate that the quantitative assessment is required. Indeed, the application of the quantitative analysis contributes to establishing correlation between the studies’ variables, therefore, allowing one to make the relevant conclusions concerning the convection between them.
In turn, if the self-0efficacy scale had been introduced into the study, the quantitative approach would have been quite appropriate. Specifically, the proposed change in the research design would have implied shifting the assessment of the dynamics between the main variables. Specifically, the introduction of the quantitative perspective into the assessment would imply providing quantitative data regarding the changes in people’s perceptions of healthy lifestyles as a result of the pandemic. Namely, the rates of people accepting heathy lifestyle choices would have been located and assessed, with the resulting identification of the correlation between the number of people accepting the healthy lifestyle options and the extent of the coronavirus effects, primarily the number of those affected by the disease (Chu et al., 2020). Therefore, the incorporation of the quantitative perspective would have changed the entire course end nature of the study, as well as its goals and research questions.
However, when describing the qualitative research method, open must mention that the specified approach can also assist in locating the link between the existing factors, though through a less reliable approach. Namely, the integration of interviews into the assessment allows obtaining a plethora o9f qualitative data that can further be used to detail the changes in people’s perceptions of the observed social changes (Moore et al., 2020). Therefore, the integration of the qualitative research method into the analysis of the issue at hand can be considered a legitimate reasoning behind the choice of the qualitative approach. More importantly, one must note that this research seeks to isolate the nature of the problem an determine its key characteristics as opposed to determining correlation between the variables, Therefore, the selected approach to managing the research proves , namely collecting data and processing it, can be considered an appropriate solution for the case under analysis.
Conclusion
By incorporating a well-developed and carefully constructed framework for managing research, Lesser and Nienhuis (2020) have produced a study that has provided the platform for substantial improvements in the well-being and extent of physical activity among Canadians. The study in question has been especially helpful in light of the significant damage that the healthcare system and the well-being of Canadian citizens have suffered due to the coronavirus. Offering a notable range of arguments derived from the accurate analysis of the key evidence, the authors of the study have created multiple opportunities for improving the rates of public health.
Reference List
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Walker, C. E., Krumhuber, E. G., Dayan, S., and Furnham, A. (2021) ‘Effects of social media use on desire for cosmetic surgery among young women’, Current Psychology, 40(7), pp. 3355-3364.