FBC
TRAINERS
Because you took the extra step to seek out primary in-
» Resources
formation, you avoided sharing inaccurate information with your clients and co-workers from a misleading sec- ondary source.
What does the website look like?
The way a website looks can offer some insight into its
credibility. Of course, a slick design and clearly-written copy doesn’t guarantee that the information you are reading is trustworthy. However, it is worth noting that large websites of reputable organizations, such as Health Canada, typically look quite professional with well-managed design and com- munication. That’s not to say you can’t find credible info on a small, independently-run website. However, information- based sites with frequent typos, poor design and sensational headlines are more likely to raise eyebrows. Further, the website you are analyzing should present infor-
mation in an easily accessible manner that is logically format- ted. The material being presented on the site should be well referenced to primary sources (if applicable), and finding those primary sources should not be difficult. Research citations should be dated and relatively current (anything older than 10 years is usually too old unless it is used as an historical find- ing). Take note of when the site was last updated, as well.
Does the website clearly communicate its purpose?
Determine if a website has sponsors who advertise on the site, and if the purpose of the site is for information or com- merce purpose (or both). This will help you determine if there may be a potential conflict of interest about the in- formation you glean there. Sites that endorse, advertise and market information may not fully disclose both sides of an argument for and against a particular health practice. For example, a website that sells snack bars with flax seed might post research purporting that obese women who ate flax seed every day for three weeks lost 10 pounds. What the website doesn’t mention is that the women also exercised 60 minutes per day. This is an example of disclosing only par- tial results of a study, perhaps for the purposes of marketing.
Best Bets for Finding Credible Web-Based Health Information
We’ve already mentioned the usefulness of searching for
research information with Google Scholar. Other search tools to consider are government-sponsored sites, such as PubMed (found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ or by Googling “PubMed”). PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that links users to the MEDLINE database. This database contains abstracts and full-text articles from peer-reviewed life science and bio- medical journals. Remember our previous example about searching for
credible information on “high intensity interval training”? Typing this search request into PubMed links you to ap- proximately 217 abstracts in scientific publications, with the most recent studies listed first. One caveat about PubMed: It contains mostly abstracts,
which are paragraphs that sum up the study in about 100 words. To find more detailed full-text versions of a research paper, try visiting the publishing journal’s website. You may be able to gain access to electronic journals with full-text articles through university or college libraries, as well. Or,
34 Fitness Business Canada January/February 2009
Surfing for Research: A Case Study
There’s a sea of information out there! And you can quickly become overwhelmed by the number of results you get when searching the internet for a widely discussed topic, such as “cre- atine.” For example, using three different search tools and sev- eral different search terms leads to an amazing variety of results. Selecting the right search terms and search engines for your purposes is important to your results! The creatine example (all statistics are approximate based on the time at which this article was written):
Using Google’s homepage:
“creatine” returns 7,350,000 websites
“creatine study” returns 532,000 websites “creatine exercise” returns 557,000 websites “creatine exercise performance” returns 1,090,000 websites “creatine peer reviewed study” returns 59,800 websites
Using Google Scholar:
“creatine” returns 278,000 websites
“creatine study” returns 113,000 websites “creatine exercise” returns 30,300 websites “creatine exercise performance” returns 21,000 websites “creatine peer reviewed study” returns 9,710 websites
Using PubMed:
“creatine” returns 40,158 citations
“creatine exercise” returns 2,850 citations “creatine exercise performance” returns 484 citations
consider contacting one of the researchers directly. Many abstracts include a researcher’s contact info, and many re- searchers have PDF versions of a full-text study that they can quickly email to you. Finally, check out government sources such as Health Canada (www.healthcanada.com) for useful information on basic health questions.
Be a Professional
Your role as a health and fitness educator includes seeking out credible information for your clients and the general public. Spending a little extra time online to find the best and most accurate information for your clients will go a long way toward their continued success – and yours, too! FBC
Gregory Anderson, PhD (Kinesiology) is a professor in, and chair of the Kinesiology and Physical Education department at the University College of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Greg is the exercise physiologist for the Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team; he ac- tively publishes in research in pure and applied journals, writes for prac- titioner journals, and presents on a wide range of topics nationally and internationally. Amanda Vogel, MA Human Kinetics, is a Vancouver-based fitness instruc- tor and owner of Active Voice, a writing/editing service that helps fitness pros and organizations improve the quality and effectiveness of their pro- motional and educational material. You can read Amanda’s fitness career tips on her blog: http://FitnessWriter.blogspot.com. Receive a free copy of her e-book 51 Need-to-Know Writing & Marketing Tips for Fitness Pros at www.ActiveVoice.ca.
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