Publication Date

1994

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Plowman, Sharon A.

Degree Name

M.S. Ed. (Master of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Physical Education

LCSH

Stretch (Physiology)--Measurement; Backache; Muscle strength--Testing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the sit-and-reach test as a measure of low-back and hamstring flexibility for male and female adolescents(15-18 years old). The subjects were 109 (females,n=55 and male,n=54) high-school students. The subjects performed a brief warm up prior to their testing session. Each subject completed the sit-and-reach(S-&-R), the modified-Schober (M-S) to measure low-back flexibility, the passive-straight-leg-raise(PSLR) and the active-knee- extension (AKE) tests to measure hamstring flexibility in a counter-balanced order. There was a moderate Pearson product moment correlation between the S-&-R and the AKE test (£=-.61) and the S-&-R and the PSLR test(£=.67) for the females. However, there was a poor correlation between the S-&-R and the M-S(£=.28). The males also had a moderate correlation between the S-&-R and the AKE test(£=-.63) and the S-&-R and the PSLR(£=.64). The correlation between the S-&-R and the M-S(£=.32) was poor. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was completed to determine the amount of variance for the S-&-R test that could be explained by the M-S. When the first predictor in the regression equation was the AKE test, the M-S explained an additional 4% of the S-&-R variance for females and 2% for males. When the PSLR test was the first predictor in the regression equation, the M-S explained an additional 7% of the S-&-R variance for both male and female subjects. It was concluded that the sit-and-reach test is not a valid measure of low-back flexibility in either male or female adolescents.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [26]-28; [41]-42).

Extent

50 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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