1. Measurement and Evaluation in Your Personal and Professional Life
Chapter 1
Measurement and Evaluation in Your Personal and Professional Life

2. Measurement and Evaluation Defined
The process of assigning a value (number or quality) to a characteristic being measured.
Evaluation:
The process in which all available data is combined to make an informed decision.

3. Classifications in Measurement and Evaluation
Objective vs. subjective
Criterion-referenced vs. norm-referenced
Discrete vs. continuous
Formative vs. summative

4. Your Viewpoint
Look at the prices of the items listed in Figure 1.1 (p. 9 in the text). Have you previously considered price comparisons such as this one?
Does this make you think again about the relative expense of the items you buy? How do you think energy drinks would compare?

5. People Who Use Measurement and Evaluation
Physical educators
Coaches and athletes
Sport and exercise psychologists
People in the fitness industry
Athletic trainers
Nutritionists
Health educators
Researchers

6. Measurement and Evaluation in Physical Education
Many different items are measured and graded:
Participation, improvement, effort, knowledge, sports skills, fitness, and performance
People may pass PE classes but still not participate in regular physical activity

7. Your Viewpoint
How could you use measurement and evaluation to motivate people to become more active and then stay active?

8. Coaches and Measurement and Evaluation
How to put together the best possible team
How to determine the best players
How to judge an athlete’s performance during the course of competition
How to bring out the best performance

9. Measures of Human Variables in Exercise/Sport Psychology
Mood and motivation
Psychological states and traits
Constructs:
Underlying qualities that make up the performance or behavior being measured; it is difficult to accurately measure underlying constructs that represent a successful behavior change.

10. Measurement and Evaluation in the Fitness Industry
Measure the customer’s success
Measure items needed for the survival of the facility:
Attendance
Equipment usage
Employee performance
Income and expenses
Motivation for why customers join

11. Measurement and Evaluation in Athletic Training and in Nutrition
Are athletes recovering quickly enough?
What are the most common injuries? Why do they occur?
How effective are various forms of rehabilitation?
Are athletes getting enough water?
Nutrition:
What are people actually eating?

12. Measurement and Evaluation in Health Education
Measurement and evaluation are necessary for:
Identifying health problems
Designing effective interventions
Understanding trends
Possible problems:
How are terms defined and do people understand them?
How can changes in behavior be measured?

13. Measurement and Evaluation in Research
Quantitative measurement:
Uses data that can be quantified so that it can be analyzed statistically
Qualitative assessments:
Uses detailed descriptions, observations, and interviews to try to understand the processes that underlie various behaviors

14. Complexity in Measurement
Have we remembered to measure all the relevant items?
Have we measured the right items?
How do we define what needs to be measured?
Have we made any errors in our measurements?