This article examines the obesity, health, and physical activity discourses of the past 35 years in the context of the United States with particular reference to five social sectors: the biomedical domain; the popular media; nonprofit foundations, centers and agencies; various national and multinational corporations; and government at all levels.…

Practica, internships, and mentorships are vital for the development of capable and productive graduates of preprofessional academic programs, including sports management and sports administration programs. College students with disabilities, including those in sports management and sports administration programs, who are preparing to enter their…

According to Jones, Wells, Peters, and Johnson (1993), being political is a necessary part of a coach's repertoire, because a coach's effectiveness and longevity may depend not only on a favorable win-loss record but also on an individual's ability to gain the approval of contextual power brokers (e.g., athletes, other coaches, or owners).…

Scientific and technological advances, occurring with increasing frequency, allow for exciting opportunities for multidisciplinary research but may be accompanied by unintended consequences for kinesiology. These advances require depth of knowledge in subdisciplines and place pressures on kinesiology departments to hire experts with grants in…

Interdisciplinary research requires that experts from multiple disciplines work together to combine methods and ideas in an integrative fashion to generate new knowledge. In many respects, the field of kinesiology is ideally positioned to take advantage of its inherent multidisciplinary design. Because of the multidisciplinary structure of…

This article addresses the perceived gap between the humanities and social sciences, and the sciences in kinesiology faculties and departments as interdisciplinary pressures mount in an increasingly complex world. I use an historical lens to highlight past difficulties in working across the two solitudes and describe Stephen Jay Gould's efforts to…

The university is a social institution and as such has a social responsibility to advance knowledge through research that is ultimately meaningful and beneficial to society. As we seek to advance research and graduate education in kinesiology, we must accept ethical standards and professional expectations not only as an institutional value but as…

In our increasingly complex society, research and research training in master's institutions is just as critical as in doctoral programs, but with a different emphasis and purpose. In PhD institutions, research programs are generally considered to be for the purpose of advancing knowledge in the discipline and helping to prepare the next…

The preparation of doctoral candidates is a critical aspect of advancing research in kinesiology on many levels. Graduates of doctoral programs not only produce research, they also exert influence in recruiting undergraduates and master's students into doctoral programs, as well as mentor doctoral students of their own. There has been a perception…

The translation of health research is a process of transforming scientific discoveries arising from laboratory, clinical, or population studies into clinical or population-based applications to improve health by reducing disease incidence, morbidity, and mortality. Initiated by the National Institutes for Health Roadmap Initiative and the U.S.…

This article addresses how kinesiological research on children should advance. Using the study of motor development as a backdrop, the article is divided into three sections. The first section relates the four fundamental questions in motor development that have been asked throughout its history. The second section describes four areas of…

School physical education plays an important role in public health. Nonetheless, there are few evidence-based, health-related, physical education programs and very little is known about how to disseminate them for widespread use. This article (a) presents background information and a review of the completed research on the SPARK (Sports, Play, and…

In this paper we focus our attention on an examination of the four-step process adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its systematic campaign to promote physically active lifestyles by older adults across the 193 WHO member states. The four steps adopted by the WHO include (1) Building Consensus Among Professionals; (2) Educating the…

This author states that a professional focus on evidence based practice (EBP) for school libraries emerged from the International Association of School Librarianship conference when he presented the concept. He challenged the school library profession to actively engage in professional and reflective practices that chart, measure, document, and…

A seminal dialogue on evidence based practice (EBP) at the International Association of School Librarianship in 2001 encouraged a worldwide paradigm shift in school librarianship from rhetorical and advocacy defenses to evidential documentation. Ross Todd described EBP as evidence for practice, evidence in practice, and evidence of practice (Todd…