Research
Research Programs
Following are brief descriptions of ongoing research programs in the School of HPER with links to information about faculty members involved in each program. The research programs are grouped by subject areas:
Applied Health Science
Human Development and Family Studies
Research areas include long-term effects of divorce on children; effectiveness of safe-site exchange programs and supervised visitation programs; interpersonal relationships with focus on intimate familial relationships and their effect on future dating and mate selection; loss and grief in the family; stress and the family; and meaning making in families. The research in these areas is qualitative, primarily focusing on the use of narrative as a tool for understanding family process (Dr. Kathleen Gilbert and Dr. Bob Billingham).
Nutrition and Dietetics
Nutrition science and dietetics provides research and practical experiences for students in the food sciences (Dr. Alice Lindemann and Dr. Alyce Fly).
Public Health and Health Behavior and Minority Health
Research topics include design and delivery of prevention and care services that seek to eliminate health disparities among minorities, poor, and underserved populations, including diabetes prevention and control, breast cancer early detection screening, treatment, and survivorship quality of life; development of healthy sexuality; and explication of mediating and moderating factors that enhance the adoption of healthy lifestyles to reduce risk for type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. Other research in these areas include issues related to sexual health; mental health care seeking following an HIV diagnosis both in the U.S. and in Kenya; access to care for low income populations; Hispanics' use of medical care; and applied theory-based behavioral research to design and evaluate health interventions that address behaviors underlying physical activity, healthy eating, sexual and reproductive health, and care seeking (Dr. Mary Shaw-Perry, Dr. Michael Reece, Dr. Millicent Fleming-Moran, and Dr. Susan Middlestadt).
Kinesiology
Adapted Physical Education
This program has four research foci: the physiological responses to physical activity and/or exercise in people with disabilities across the lifespan (Dr. Georgia Frey); physical activity behaviors, determinants, patterns and associated health outcomes in people with disabilities across the lifespan (Dr. Georgia Frey); motivational constructs that influence physical activity behaviors of people with disabilities (Dr. Mike Kozub); and teacher variables such as attitudes, perceptions, and emotions toward people with disabilities that predict behaviors by program providers (Dr. Mike Kozub). Faculty are currently in collaborative research projects with colleagues from Indiana University Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Studies, University of Victoria, University of Massachusetts-Boston, and Ohio State University (Dr. Georgia Frey and Dr. Michael Kozub).
Applied Sport Science
The Graduate Program in Applied Sport Science is geared towards coaching and the coaching professions. Current research interests are in coaching track and field, with recent interest in the Sprint Start (Dr. Phil Henson).
Athletic Training
The Graduate Athletic Training Education program has a focused research agenda on prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of lower extremity pathologies. The majority of research is centered on functional ankle instability with particular interest in joint laxity, proprioception, and kinesthetic deficits associated with this instability (Dr. Carrie Docherty-Steele and Dr. John Schrader).
Biomechanics
The primary object of biomechanics research is to gain a better understanding of the cause-effect mechanisms of sport motions (Dr. Jesus Dapena).
Ergonomics
Ergonomics defines human physical and mental capabilities and provides qualitative/quantitative methods to evaluate the workplace relative to those capabilities. Topics studied in the new ergonomics laboratory include sleep deprivation (sleep apnea), chronic fatigue, and age as factors that impact work performance such as balance and task load handling, as well as office (computer) workstation design and environmental influences (Dr. John Shea).
Exercise Physiology
Clinical research in exercise, health, and disease includes endothelial function (i.e., arterial health) as it relates to exercise treatment/prevention of hypertension, obesity, and type 2 diabetes (Dr. Janet Wallace). Other programs include research on physical activity and quality of life, biological markers of aging, and sarcopenia (Dr. Jeanne Johnston) as well as diet and airway function, respiratory muscle function in health and disease, ventilatory strategies during exercise, and high-level performance and swimming physiology (Dr. Joel Stager and Dr. Tim Mickleborough).
Motor Control
Research efforts in this area include neuromuscular mechanisms involved in human movement, with an emphasis on aging and postural control. Current experiments are investigating the corrective responses in young and old adults to postural perturbations, and the ability to train these responses. Spinal mechanisms responsible for mediating these changes are examined (Dr. David M. Koceja).
Physical Education/Teacher Education
Research in this area explores movement skills and fitness and the role of exercise on quality of life (Dr. Donetta Cothran).
Sport Management and Sport Communication
This research focuses on activities and practices of sport communication and sport organization personnel, specifically those associated with the print media (i.e., editors, reporters) and those affiliated with intercollegiate and interscholastic sports (i.e., athletic directors, student-athletes); (Dr. Larry Fielding, Dr. Paul Pedersen, Dr. Kim Miloch, and Dr. Pamela Laucella).
Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies
Outdoor Recreation and Resource Management
Research in this area includes environmental attitudes, the human dimensions of natural resource management, and the outdoor adventure experience (Dr. Alan Ewert and Dr. Doug Knapp).
Recreation and Sport Management
Research topics include campus recreational sport programming and administration, as well as youth recreational sports programming; risk management planning in recreation; parental supervision of children and its influence on litigation; and weather related litigation (Dr. Craig Ross, Dr. Sarah Young, and Dr. Bruce Hronek).
Therapeutic Recreation
Work on this topic includes basic and applied research in the area of social and community functioning of people with severe mental illness; leisure-time physical activity of people with severe mental illness; and therapeutic outdoor programming and adventure therapy (Dr. Bryan McCormick and Dr. Alan Ewert).
Tourism Management
Research on tourism management includes ecotourism and resource-based tourism (Dr. Alan Ewert).
