Draft Mock Research Proposal

Melissa Rubbo
Kaplan University
HS305-02
Unit 5 Assignment

Draft Mock Research Proposal

Research Problem
The physical and mental effects of stress are constantly invading the body. The repetition
of these stressors on the mind and body begin to put the mind and body in a constant state of
stress, which soon, the body will either give out, or find a way to cope. We are a culture that over
consumes and with that over consumption we find an overly stressed mind and body (Seaward,
2008). Multitasking and being constantly overloaded with information, whether it is technology
or everyday events, is putting an overwhelming amount of stress on us each day. By doing this,
we are increasing our risks of diseases like hypertension, mental disease, and even diabetes and
cancer. We are seeing a rise in cardiovascular disease as a result of stress, and even adolescents
are at a high risk as stress effects brain function, and in growing adolescents the neural
mechanism makes insignificant events extremely stressful (OBrien & Baime, 2011).
Stress levels in America are high and increasing at an alarming rate and as life gets busier
these stress levels must be dealt with. With risks like these, solutions to dealing with stress are
important for the health of people today. The top 5 stressors in the U.S. are job pressure, money,
health, relationships, and poor nutrition (American Psychological Association, 2013). Along with
these stressors come stress symptoms like fatigue, headaches, digestion problems, irritability, and
anger (APA, 2013). An overly stressed society can bring about a number of problems, so learning
to deal with stress is vitally important to the well-being of individuals everywhere. Behavior
problems are a result of stress and we see this in children and adults who have A.D.D. /A.D.H.D.
(Tennant, 2005). Stress affects the part of the brain that regulates behavior so when stress is
constant we will see problems with impulse control, decision making, and other brain functions

Draft Mock Research Proposal

that are important in developing and functioning. The problem of stress needs to be studied and
solutions must be discovered to prevent the decline of our society as a whole.
Current Background Section
The prevention of stress has long been researched and many studies show multiple ways
of relieving stress. Relaxation techniques are one of the foremost methods of stress relief and
these techniques include breathing exercises, meditation, visualization (guided imagery), yoga,
and many others (Mayo Clinic, 2013). These particular techniques are to bring a sense of
calming to an individual. These work best when a person is stressed, breathing short and shallow,
and is unable to calm down or focus. These techniques are great for dealing with stressful
situations that hit hard and without warning. An example would be losing a small child in a
crowded place. Being a high stress situation, deep breathing can help slow the individuals heart
rate, and calm their racing thoughts in order to stay in a state of mind that thinks rationally so
they can move forward and help to locate their child. Being overly anxious and stressed out will
only add to the confusion and the problem. A situation like this would be considered an acute
stressor and can be dealt with immediately using breathing, calming and focusing techniques.
Dealing with chronic stress can take a technique that involves using it every day. An
example of this would be exercise. Chronic stress is often a result of anxiety, and it has been
shown that anxiety can be combatted against with exercise (Petruzello, Landers, Hatfield,
Kubitz, Salazar, 1991). In the study it shows that only aerobic exercise had the greatest effect,
and it wasn't until over a course of 10 weeks of consistent aerobic exercise that the effect was its
greatest (Petruzello, Landers, Hatfield, Kubitz, Salazar, 1991). It was also important to note that
the duration of the exercise made a difference. If it was too short it was not enough to fight the

Draft Mock Research Proposal

anxiety, yet too long and it was putting undue stress on the body and the mind. 21 minutes was
the necessary amount of time to create anxiety reduction. It is understood that exercise helps with
stress relief, but what type of exercise, and is there a type of exercise that will work better for
some people and not for others? We know exercise will increase endorphins and improve your
mood, but these results come from exercise that gets your heart rate up and gets your body
moving (Mayo Clinic, 2013).
We can see that aerobic exercise produces hormones in the brain that give what runners
call a runners high and this neurochemical reaction is reached during long distance running
(Boecker, Sprenger, Spilker, Henriksen, Koppenhoefer, Wagner, Valet, Berthele, & Tolle, 2008).
Running for 21 minutes is a good start for the body to release stress, but longer durations are
even more beneficial. Taking long distance aerobic exercise (i.e., long distance running) and high
intensity, varied metabolic conditioning (i.e., crossfit type exercise) and comparing the two as to
which has a greater benefit at reducing stress over a period of time would be informative for the
general public when looking for different ways to reduce their stress levels.
I believe there is enough research on aerobic exercise and stress to gather information for
that side of the question, but studies and information regarding high intensity; varied functional
movement and stress is not as thoroughly studied. I find that encouraging because it is an area
that studies have not been done, and I will be able to add new information in stress reduction
techniques. I have found some journal articles as well as informative medical and exercise blogs
on the high intensity exercises and I will use these alongside the aerobic articles to create my
mock research proposal.
Refined Research Question

Draft Mock Research Proposal

Rather than create a hypothesis, I have chosen to refine my research problem and create a
refined research question. Is constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement exercise
more beneficial than aerobic exercise alone (i.e., running) when it comes to stress management?

References
American Psychological Association. (2013). Stress Statistics. Retrieved from:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/stress-statistics/
Boecker, H., Sprenger, T., Spilker, M., Henrikson, G., Koppenhoefer, M., Wagner, K., Valet, M.,
Berthele, A., Tolle, T. (2008). The Runners High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human
Brain. Cerebral Cortex Journal. Retrieved
from:http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/11/2523.abstract?

Draft Mock Research Proposal

maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&andorexacttitle=and&andorexa
cttitleabs=and&fulltext=exercise+and+stress+reduction&andorexactfulltext=phrase&sear
chid=1&FIRSTINDEX=20&fdate=1/1/1998&tdate=9/30/2014&resourcetype=HWCIT
Mayo Clinic. (2013). Relaxation Techniques. Retrieved
from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/relaxationtechnique/SR00007/NSECTIONGROUP=2
Mayo Clinic. (2013). Exercise and Stress: Get moving to manage stress. Retrieved from:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise-and-stress/SR00036
OBrien, M., Baime, J. (2011). National Science Foundation. Teens and Stress. Retrieved from:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/teensstress.jsp
Petruzello, S., Landers, D., Hatfield, B., Kubitz, K. & Salazar, W. (1991). A Meta- Analysis on
the Anxiety-Reducing Effects of Acute and Chronic Exercise. Retrieved
from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-199111030-00002
Seaward, B. (2008). MANAGING STRESS 6E VITALBOOKS (6th ed). Jones & Bartlett
Learning. Retrieved from: http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781449665159/id/pg5
Tennant, V. (2005). The Powerful Impact of Stress. Retrieved from:
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Keeping%20Fit%20for
%20Learning/stress.html