Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

School of Mathematical Sciences

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Centre for Data Science

Supervisors

Professor Chris Drovandi
Position
ARC Future Fellow
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science

External supervisors

  • Dr David Borg, Australian Institute of Sport

Overview

Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is a subjective scale that is commonly used to measure an athletes tolerance to training. There are several versions of RPE scales, ranging from 10- to 100-point indices, which can make statistical modelling of such data challenging. Many studies in sport science and sport medicine assume a normal distribution for RPE, which is often inappropriate, and may lead to invalid conclusions from study results.  This research project will develop more appropriate statistical models for RPE, including using generalised linear models, and compare the results with the those produced from common but inappropriate models used by sports science researchers. Further, this project will provide sport science researchers with guidance on how to choose appropriate models based on the RPE scale used in the study.

Research activities

You will develop appropriate statistical (regression) models for modelling rating of perceived exertion data in sports and exercise science.  You will fit models to data (using R) and assess their performance.  You will compare the performance to existing modelling approaches used in the sports science and sports medicine literature.

Outcomes

More appropriate statistical models for studies involving rating of perceived exertion (RPE) will be developed.  This will lead to more accurate conclusions drawn from RPE studies in sports and exercise science, which can lead to better performance and health.

Skills and experience

Ideally you will have some background and a strong interest in statistics (the project can be adapted to how much statistics you have done in your degree so far).  Programming skills in R are desirable; it is likely you can further develop your skills in this project.

Start date

18 November, 2024

End date

14 February, 2025

Location

Gardens Point

Additional information

It is possible that this project can be progressed further in Honours or MPhil if desired.

Keywords

Contact

Chris Drovandi (c.drovandi@qut.edu.au)