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2
Research Methods in Physical Activity
Seventh Edition

Jerry R. Thomas, EdD

Jack K. Nelson, EdD

Stephen J. Silverman, EdD

Human Kinetics

3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thomas, Jerry R., author.
Research methods in physical activity / Jerry R. Thomas, Jack K. Nelson, Stephen J. Silverman. -- Seventh edition.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
I. Nelson, Jack K., author. II. Silverman, Stephen J., author. III. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Motor Activity. 2. Kinesiology, Applied. 3. Physical Education and Training. 4. Research Design. 5. Sports Medicine--methods. WE 103]
GV361
613.7'1072--dc23
2014028466
ISBN: 978-1-4504-7044-5 (print)
Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2005 by Jerry R. Thomas, Jack K. Nelson, and Stephen J. Silverman
Copyright © 2001, 1996, 1990, 1985 by Jerry R. Thomas and Jack K. Nelson
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden
without the written permission of the publisher.
The web addresses cited in this text were current as of February 2015, unless otherwise noted.
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Developmental Editor: Melissa J. Zavala
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E6201

5
 Contents
Preface

Study Tips

Acknowledgments

Part I: Overview of the Research Process

Chapter 1: Introduction to Research in Physical Activity

The Nature of Research
Unscientific Versus Scientific Methods of Problem Solving
Alternative Models of Research
Types of Research
Overview of the Research Process
Parts of a Thesis: A Reflection on the Steps in the Research Process
Summary

Chapter 2: Developing the Problem and Using the Literature

Identifying the Research Problem
Purpose of the Literature Review
Basic Literature Search Strategies
Steps in the Literature Search
Summary

Chapter 3: Presenting the Problem

Choosing the Title
Writing the Introduction
Stating the Research Problem
Presenting the Research Hypothesis
Operationally Defining Terms
Basic Assumptions, Delimitations, and Limitations
Justifying the Significance of the Study
Differences Between the Thesis and the Research Article
Summary

Chapter 4: Formulating the Method

How to Present Methodological Details
Why Planning the Methods Is Important
Two Principles for Planning Experiments
Describing Participants
Describing Instruments
Describing Procedures

6
 Describing Design and Analysis
Establishing Cause and Effect
Interaction of Participants, Measurements, and Treatments
Summary

Chapter 5: Ethical Issues in Research and Scholarship

Seven Areas of Scientific Dishonesty
Ethical Issues Regarding Copyright
Model for Considering Scientific Misconduct
Working With Faculty
Protecting Human Participants
Protecting Animal Subjects
Summary

Part II: Statistical and Measurement Concepts in Research

Chapter 6: Becoming Acquainted With Statistical Concepts

Why We Need Statistics
Use of Computers in Statistical Analysis
Description and Inference Are Not Statistical Techniques
Ways to Select a Sample
Justifying Post Hoc Explanations
Difficulty of Random Sampling and Assignment: How Good Does It Have to Be?
Unit of Analysis
Measures of Central Tendency and Variability
Basic Concepts of Statistical Techniques
Data for Use in the Remaining Statistical Chapters
Summary

Chapter 7: Statistical Issues in Research Planning and Evaluation

Probability
Meaningfulness (Effect Size)
Power
Using Information in the Context of the Study
Summary

Chapter 8: Relationships Among Variables

What Correlational Research Investigates
Understanding the Nature of Correlation
What the Coefficient of Correlation Means
Using Correlation for Prediction
Partial Correlation
Semipartial Correlation
Procedures for Multiple Regression
Logistic Regression
Discriminant Function Analysis

7
 Multivariate Forms of Correlation
Summary

Chapter 9: Differences Among Groups

How Statistics Test Differences
Types of t Tests
Interpreting t
Relationship of t and r
Analysis of Variance
Analysis of Covariance
Experimentwise Error Rate
Understanding Multivariate Techniques
Summary

Chapter 10: Nonparametric Techniques

Chi Square: Testing the Observed Versus the Expected
Procedures for Rank-Order Data
Correlation
Differences Among Groups
Summary

Chapter 11: Measuring Research Variables

Validity
Reliability
Methods of Establishing Reliability
Intertester Reliability (Objectivity)
Standard Error of Measurement
Using Standard Scores to Compare Performance
Measuring Movement
Measuring Written Responses
Measuring Affective Behavior
Scales for Measuring Affective Behavior
Measuring Knowledge
Item Response Theory
Summary

Part III: Types of Research

Chapter 12: Sociohistorical Process in Sport Studies

David K. Wiggins

Daniel S. Mason
Development of the Discipline
Theory and Sport History
Relationship Between Theory and Method

8
Research Sources
Research Topics
Research Design
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Research Findings
Exemplary Studies in Sport History
Summary

Chapter 13: Philosophical Research in Physical Activity

R. Scott Kretchmar

Tim Elcombe
Identifying the Purposes of Philosophical Research
Identifying the Range of Philosophical Research
Locating a Research Problem
Analyzing a Research Problem
Summary

Chapter 14: Research Synthesis (Meta-Analysis)

Using Meta-Analysis to Synthesize Research
Presenting Effect Size Data
Summary

Chapter 15: Surveys

Questionnaires
Electronic Surveys
Delphi Method
Personal Interviews
Normative Surveys
Summary

Chapter 16: Other Descriptive Research Methods

Developmental Research
Case Studies
Job Analysis
Observational Research
Unobtrusive Research Techniques
Correlational Research
Summary

Chapter 17: Physical Activity Epidemiology Research

Barbara E. Ainsworth

Charles E. Matthews
Observational Versus Experimental Research

9
 What Is Epidemiology?
Physical Activity Measurement Definitions
Assessment of Physical Activity
Epidemiological Study Designs
Reading and Interpreting a Physical Activity Epidemiological Study
Summary

Chapter 18: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research

Sources of Invalidity
Threats to Internal Validity
Threats to External Validity
Controlling Threats to Internal Validity
Controlling Threats to External Validity
Types of Designs
Summary

Chapter 19: Qualitative Research

Procedures in Qualitative Research
Data Analysis
Concluding Remarks
Summary

Chapter 20: Mixed-Methods Research

Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
Designing Mixed-Methods Research
Issues in Mixed-Methods Research
Examples of Mixed-Methods Research
Summary

Part IV: Writing the Research Report

Chapter 21: Completing the Research Process

Research Proposal
Thesis and Dissertation Proposal
Advisor and Dissertation Committee
The Good Scholar Must Research and Write
Scientific Writing
First Things Are Sometimes Best Done Last
Developing a Good Introduction
Describing the Methods
The Proposal Process
Preparing and Presenting Qualitative Research Proposals
Writing Proposals for Granting Agencies
Submitting Internal Proposals
Completing Your Thesis or Dissertation
Results and Discussion

10
 Handling Multiple Experiments in a Single Report
Using Tables and Figures
Summary

Chapter 22: Ways of Reporting Research

Basic Writing Guidelines
A Brief Word About Acknowledgments
Thesis and Dissertation Format: Traditional Versus Journal
Helpful Hints for Successful Journal Writing
Revising Research Papers
Writing Abstracts
Making Oral and Poster Presentations
Summary

Appendix
Statistical Tables

References

About the Authors

11
 Preface
With the publication of this seventh edition, 30 years have passed since the first edition was
published in 1985. We take this opportunity to thank all the people who have used this
book over the years. We hope that you have learned a lot about research methods in the
study of physical activity. Maybe you have even enjoyed the humorous stories, jokes, and
pictures that we have included to enliven the reading. We were particularly pleased to note
the paper by Silverman and Keating (2002) in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport that
indicated that 71% of the people responding to their survey about the research methods
course used our book. Their survey results clearly show that the content of this book is well
aligned with the topics that teachers of research methods believe are important. We are also
delighted that many of you in other English-speaking countries have also used this book
—Good on ya, mates! In addition, we appreciate that earlier editions have been translated
into Chinese (twice), Greek, Korean, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Dr. Jack Nelson has retired but continues to provide assistance and advice. Dr. Stephen
Silverman joined us as a coauthor on the fifth edition and, in spite of our sense of humor,
agreed to continue on the sixth and seventh editions. Dr. Silverman is a well-known scholar
and methodologist in physical education pedagogy and is a former editor in chief of
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.

The main use of this text still appears to be in the first graduate-level research methods
courses, although it is also being used in undergraduate research methods courses and as a
resource for those engaged in research planning and analysis. Our use of the term physical
activity in the book title is meant to convey the broadly conceived field of study often
labeled kinesiology, exercise science, exercise and sport science, human movement, sport
studies, or physical education, as well as related fields such as physical therapy,
rehabilitation, and occupational therapy. We hope that everyone who reads, understands,
plans, carries out, writes, or presents research will find the book a useful tool to enhance his
or her efforts.

This seventh edition retains the basic organization of the sixth edition, as follows:

Part I is an overview of the research process, including developing the problem, using
the literature, preparing a research plan, and understanding ethical issues in research
and writing.
Part II introduces statistical and measurement issues in research, including statistical
descriptions, power, relationships among variables, differences among groups,
nonparametric procedures, and measurement issues in research.
Part III presents the types of, or approaches to, research, including historical,
philosophical, research synthesis, survey, descriptive, epidemiological, experimental,

12
 qualitative, and mixed methods.
Part IV will help you complete the research process, which includes writing the
results and discussion, organizing the research paper, developing good figures and
tables, and presenting research in written and oral forms.
The appendix includes statistical tables.

Instructors using this text in their courses will find an instructor guide, test package,
presentation package, and image bank at
www.HumanKinetics.com/ResearchMethodsInPhysicalActivity. The image bank includes
most of the art, tables, and example elements from the text, which can be used to create
custom presentations. The instructor guide includes chapter overviews, sample course
syllabi, supplemental class activities, and student handouts. The test bank includes 302
questions.

Although the format of the book remains similar to that of the sixth edition, we have made
a number of changes that we hope improve and update the text. Various people have read
and reviewed the previous edition and provided helpful comments, including the many
students we have taught and faculty who use the book to teach research methods. We truly
do pay attention to the things you tell us. But sometimes, when we read reviews, we feel as
Day (1983, p. xi) did when he read that a reviewer described his book as both good and
original, but then went on to say that “the part that is good is not original and the part that
is original is not good.” Following is a short review of the changes in this seventh edition:

Part I: Overview of the Research Process. Each chapter includes minor revisions that
reflect updated information and more recent reports. We have made a significant
revision to chapter 2 about using library techniques by adding much more on
electronic searches. In addition, chapter 5 on ethical issues has been updated with
particular attention to procedures for the use of human and animal subjects.
Part II: Statistical and Measurement Concepts in Research. We strive in each edition to
increase the relevance of the examples and provide easy-to-understand calculations for
basic statistics. We have reduced the examples of hand calculations and formulas and
replaced them with sample output from the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences. We have taken 2008 player performance data for outcome and skill
variables from the Professional Golfers Association website as examples for analysis in
the statistical chapters. Along with the chapter examples, the learning activities in the
instructor guide should help students grasp the fundamentals of statistical techniques.
We continue to use a unified approach to parametric and nonparametric techniques.
Part III: Types of Research. We have continued our use of expert authors to present
coherent views of sociohistorical research (a new chapter by David Wiggins and
Daniel Mason), philosophical research (R. Scott Kretchmar and Tim Elcombe), and
epidemiological research in physical activity (Barbara Ainsworth and Charles
Matthews). These three types of research are outside our expertise, and we wanted
them presented by expert scholars. Another significant revision in part III is the

13
 qualitative research chapter. The many changes in the field have prompted us to
expand and update our discussion of qualitative research. Because of the increasing
simultaneous use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches within a single
study, we have expanded chapter 20 on mixed-methods research. In addition, we
have made minor revisions and updates to all the other chapters in this part.
Part IV: Writing the Research Report. The two chapters in this section remain
essentially the same, with changes and updates. Chapter 21 has a substantial new
section that includes these heads: Thesis and Dissertation Proposal, Advisor and
Dissertation Committee, The Good Scholar Must Research and Write, Scientific
Writing, and First Things Are Sometimes Best Done Last.

As we have said in each edition, we are grateful for the help of our friends, both for help
that we acknowledge in various places in the book and for help in other places where we
have inadvertently taken an idea without giving credit.

After the passage of time, one can no longer remember who originated what idea.
After the passage of even more time, it seems to me that all of the really good ideas
originated with me, a proposition which I know is indefensible (Day, 1983, p. xv).

We believe that this book provides the necessary information for both the consumer and
the producer of research. Although no amount of knowledge about the tools of research can
replace expertise in the content area, good scholars of physical activity cannot function
apart from the effective use of research tools. Researchers, teachers, clinicians, technicians,
health workers, exercise leaders, sport managers, athletic counselors, and coaches need to
understand the research process. If they do not, they are forced to accept information at
face value or on the recommendation of others. Neither is necessarily bad, but the ability to
evaluate and reach a valid conclusion based on data, method, and logic is the mark of a
professional.

Inserted into some chapters are humorous stories, anecdotes, sketches, laws, and corollaries.
These are intended to make a point and enliven the reading without distracting from the
content. Research processes are not mysterious events that graduate students should fear.
To the contrary, they are useful tools that every academic and professional should have
access to; they are, in fact, the very basis on which we make competent decisions.

Jerry R. Thomas

Jack K. Nelson

Stephen J. Silverman

14
 Study Tips
Dear Student of Research Methods:

We want you to learn the material here, and most of you are learning it in a classroom
setting as well as by reading the textbook. From many years of teaching research methods,
we have arrived at the following recommendations:

1. Attend and participate in class—90% of life is showing up!

2. Take notes in class—writing it down is an effective way to learn.
3. Read the assigned materials before class—duh!
4. Plan for and ask at least one question in every class.
5. Develop and work with a study group.
6. Prepare for exams and tests—do not cram; study over several days.
7. Use campus resources to improve learning—library, computer, the Internet.
8. Visit often with your professor—those of us teaching research methods are likable
folks!

The following list will help you determine your readiness to be a student of research
methods.

Score ONE point for each of the following statements that describes you:
Your library carrel is better decorated than your apartment is.
You have taken a scholarly article to a bar or coffee shop.
You rate coffee shops on the availability of outlets for your electronic devices.
You have discussed academic matters at a sporting event.
You actually have a preference between microfilm and microfiche.
You always read the reference lists in research articles.
You think that the sorority sweatshirt Greek letters are a statistical formula.
You need to explain to children why you are in the 20th grade.
You refer to stories as “Snow White et al.”
You wonder how to cite talking to yourself in APA style.

Scoring scale

5 or 6—definitely ready to be a student in research methods

7 or 8—probably a master’s student
9 or 10—probably a doctoral student

Humorously yours,

Professors of Research Methods

15
 Acknowledgments
As with any work, numerous people contributed to this book, and we want to recognize
them. Many are former students and colleagues who have said or done things that better
developed our ideas as expressed in these pages. Also, a number of faculty members who
have used previous editions have either written reviews or made suggestions that have
improved the book. Although we cannot list or even recall all these contributions, we do
know that you made them, and we thank all of you.

In particular, we thank Karen French at the University of South Carolina, Dick Magill at
Louisiana State University (emeritus), Brad Cardinal at Oregon State University, and Kathi
Thomas at the University of North Texas for allowing us to use materials that were
published jointly with them. Scott Kretchmar, Tim Elcombe, David Wiggins, Daniel
Mason, Barb Ainsworth, and Chuck Matthews made invaluable contributions with their
chapters on research methods in the areas of philosophy, history, and exercise
epidemiology, which are areas we simply could not write about effectively.

If you adopt this book for your class, we hope that you will make use of the class teaching
materials available on the Human Kinetics website at
www.HumanKinetics.com/ResearchMethodsInPhysicalActivity. Included are over 300
Microsoft PowerPoint slides, learning activities, test questions, and other course materials.
We thank Phil Martin from Iowa State University for his contributions to these materials.

Finally, we thank the staff at Human Kinetics, in particular Amy Tocco, our acquisitions
editor, Melissa Zavala, our developmental editor, and Carly S. O’Connor, our managing
editor for this edition, for their support and contributions. They have sharpened our
thinking and improved our writing.

Jerry R. Thomas

Jack K. Nelson

Stephen J. Silverman

16
 Part I
Overview of the Research Process
The researches of many have thrown much darkness on the subject and if they
continue, soon we shall know nothing at all about it.

—Attributed to Mark Twain

This part provides an overall perspective of the research process. The introductory chapter
defines and reviews the types of research done in physical activity and provides some
examples. We define science as systematic inquiry, and we discuss the steps in the scientific
method. This logical method answers the following four questions (Day, 1983, p. 4), which
constitute the parts of a typical thesis, dissertation, or research report:

1. What was the problem? Your answer is the introduction.

2. How did you study the problem? Your answer is the materials and methods.
3. What did you find? Your answer is the results.
4. What do these findings mean? Your answer is the discussion.

We also present alternative approaches for doing research relative to a more philosophical
discussion of science and ways of knowing. In particular, we address qualitative research,
the use of field studies, and methods of introspection as strategies for answering research
questions instead of relying on the traditional scientific paradigm as the only approach to
research problems.

Chapter 2 suggests ways of developing a problem and using the literature to clarify the
research problem, specify hypotheses, and develop the methodology. In particular, we
emphasize the use of new electronic technology for searching, reading, analyzing,
synthesizing, organizing, and writing literature reviews.

The next two chapters in part I present the format of the research proposal with examples.
This information is typically required of the master’s or doctoral student before collecting
data for the thesis or dissertation. Chapter 3 addresses defining and delimiting the research
problem, including the introduction, statement of the problem, research hypotheses,
operational definitions, assumptions and limitations, and significance. Information is
provided for both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Chapter 4 covers methodology,
or how to do the research using either quantitative or qualitative methods. Included are the
topics of participant selection, instrumentation or apparatuses, procedures, and design and
analysis. We emphasize the value of pilot work conducted before the research and how
cause and effect may be established.

17
Chapter 5 discusses ethical issues in research and scholarship. We include information on
misconduct in science; ethical considerations in research writing, working with advisors,
and copyright; and the use of humans and animals in research.

When you have completed part I, you should better understand the research process. Then
comes the tricky part: learning all the details. We consider these details in part II (Statistical
and Measurement Concepts in Research), part III (Types of Research), and part IV
(Writing the Research Report).

18
 Chapter 1
Introduction to Research in Physical
Activity
Everything that can be invented has been invented.

—Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

To each person, the word research conjures up a different picture. One might think of
searching the Internet or going to the library; another might visualize a lab filled with test
tubes, vials, and perhaps little white rats. Therefore, as we begin a text on the subject, we
must establish a common understanding of research. In this chapter, we introduce you to
the nature of research. We do this by discussing methods of problem solving and types of
research. We explain the research process and relate it to the parts of a thesis. By the time
you reach the end of chapter 1, you should understand what research really involves.

19
 The Nature of Research
The object of research is to determine how things are as compared to how they might be.
To achieve this, research implies a careful and systematic means of solving problems and
involves the following five characteristics (Tuckman, 1978):

Systematic. Problem solving is accomplished through the identification and labeling

of variables and is followed by the design of research that tests the relationships
among these variables. Data are then collected that, when related to the variables,
allow the evaluation of the problem and hypotheses.
Logical. Examination of the procedures used in the research process allows
researchers to evaluate the conclusions drawn.
Empirical. The researcher collects data on which to base decisions.
Reductive. The researcher takes individual events (data) and uses them to establish
general relationships.
Replicable. The research process is recorded, enabling others to test the findings by
repeating the research or to build future research on previous results.

Problems to be solved come from many sources and can entail resolving controversial
issues, testing theories, and trying to improve present practice. For example, a popular topic
of concern is obesity and methods of losing weight. Suppose we want to investigate this
issue by comparing the effectiveness of two exercise programs in reducing fat. Of course, we
know that caloric expenditure results in the loss of fat, so we will try to find out which
program does this better under specified conditions. (Note: Our approach here is to give a
simple, concise overview of a research study. We do not intend it to be a model of
originality or sophistication.)

This study is an example of applied research. Rather than try to measure the calories
expended and so on, we approach it strictly from a programmatic standpoint. Say that we
are operating a health club and offer aerobic dance and jogging classes for people who want
to lose weight. Our research question is this: Which program is more effective in reducing
fat?
applied research—A type of research that has direct value to practitioners but in which the
researcher has limited control over the research setting.

Suppose we have a pool of participants to draw from and can randomly assign two-thirds of
them to the two exercise programs and one-third to a control group. We have their scout’s
honor that no one is on a drastic diet or is engaging in any other strenuous activities while
the study is in progress. Both the aerobic dance class and the jogging class are one hour
long and are held five times a week for 10 weeks. The same enthusiastic and immensely
qualified instructor teaches both classes.

20
Our measure of fatness is the sum of skinfold measurements taken at eight body sites. Of
course, we could use other measures, such as the percentage of fat estimated from
hydrostatic weighing (or total body water or some other estimate of fatness). In any case,
we can defend our measures as valid and reliable indicators of fatness, and skinfolds are
functional field measures. We measure all the participants, including those in the control
group, at the beginning and the end of the 10-week period. During the study we try to
ensure that the two programs are similar in procedural aspects, such as motivational
techniques and the aesthetics of the surroundings. In other words, we do not favor one
group by cheering them on and not encouraging the other, nor do we have one group
exercise in an air-conditioned, cheerful, and healthful facility while the other has to sweat it
out in a dingy room or a parking lot. We try to make the programs as similar as possible in
every respect except the experimental treatments. The control group does not engage in any
regular exercise.
hydrostatic weighing—A technique for measuring body composition in which body
density is computed by the ratio of a person’s weight in air and the loss of weight
underwater.

After we have measured all the participants on our criterion of fatness at the end of the 10-
week program, we are ready to analyze our data. We want to see how much change in
skinfold thickness has occurred and whether differences have occurred between the two
types of exercise. Because we are dealing with samples of people (from a whole universe of
similar people), we need to use some type of statistics to establish how confident we can be
in our results. In other words, we need to determine the significance of our results. Suppose
the mean (average) scores for the groups are as follows:

Aerobic dance: –21 mm

Jogging: –25 mm
Control: +8 mm

These values (which we made up) represent the average change in the combined skinfold
thicknesses of the eight body sites. The two experimental groups lost fat, but the control
group actually showed increased skinfold thicknesses over the 10-week period.

We decide to use the statistical technique of analysis of variance with repeated measures.
We find a significant F ratio, indicating that significant differences exist among the three
groups. Using a follow-up test procedure, we discover that both exercise groups are
significantly different from the control group. But we find no significant difference between
the aerobic dance and the jogging groups. (Many of you may not have the foggiest idea
what we are talking about with the statistical terms F ratio and significance, but do not
worry about it. All that is explained later. This book is directly concerned with those kinds
of things.)

Our conclusion from this study is that both aerobic dance and jogging are effective

21
(apparently equally so) in bringing about a loss in fatness of overweight people (such as the
ones in our study) over 10 weeks. Although these results are reasonable, remember that this
scenario is only an example. We could also pretend that this study was published in a
prestigious journal and that we won the Nobel Prize.

Basic research and applied research can be thought of as two ends of a

continuum. Basic research addresses theoretical problems, often in
laboratory settings, and may have limited direct application. Applied
research addresses immediate problems, often in less controlled real-world
settings, and is more closely linked to application.

Research Continuum
Research in our field can be placed on a continuum that has applied research at one
extreme and basic research at the opposite extreme. The research extremes are generally
associated with certain characteristics. Applied research tends to address immediate
problems, use so-called real-world settings, use human participants, and involve limited
control over the research setting, but it gives results that are of direct value to practitioners.
At the other extreme, basic research usually deals with theoretical problems. It uses the
laboratory as the setting, frequently uses animals as subjects, carefully controls conditions,
and produces results that have limited direct application. Christina (1989) suggested that
basic and applied forms of research are useful in informing each other as to future research
directions. Table 1.1 demonstrates how research problems in motor learning might vary
along a continuum from basic to applied depending on their goals and approaches.
basic research—A type of research that may have limited direct application but in which
the researcher has careful control of the conditions.

22
To some extent, the strengths of applied research are the weaknesses of basic research, and
vice versa. Considerable controversy exists in the literature on social science (e.g., Creswell,
2009; Jewczyn, 2013) and physical activity (e.g., Christina, 1989) about whether research
should be more basic or more applied. This issue, labeled ecological validity, deals with
two concerns: Is the research setting perceived by the research participant in the way
intended by the experimenter? Does the setting have enough of the real-world
characteristics to allow generalizing to reality?
ecological validity—The extent to which research emulates the real world.

Of course, most research is neither purely applied nor purely basic; rather, it incorporates
some degree of both. We believe that systematic efforts are needed in the study of physical
activity to produce research that moves back and forth across Christina’s (1989) levels of
research (table 1.1). Excellent summaries of this type of research and the accumulated
knowledge are provided in three edited volumes representing exercise physiology, sport
psychology, and motor behavior: Physical Activity, Fitness, and Health (Bouchard, Shepard,
& Stephens, 1994), Handbook of Sport Psychology (Singer, Hausenblas, & Janelle, 2001),
and Cognitive Issues in Motor Expertise (Starkes & Allard, 1993). An expert prepared each
chapter in these books to summarize theories as well as to present basic and applied research
about areas related to exercise physiology, sport psychology, and motor expertise. The
novice researcher would do well to read several of these chapters as examples of how
knowledge is developed and accumulated in the study of physical activity. We need more
efforts to produce a related body of knowledge in the study of physical activity. Although
the research base has grown tremendously in our field over the past 40 years, much remains
to be done.

There is a great need to prepare proficient consumers and producers of research in

kinesiology. To be proficient, people must thoroughly understand the appropriate
knowledge base (e.g., exercise physiology, motor behavior, pedagogy, and the social and
biological sciences) as well as research methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed
methods). In this book we attempt to explain the tools necessary for consuming and
producing research. Many of the same methods are used in the various areas of kinesiology

23
(as well as in the fields of psychology, sociology, education, and physiology). Quality
research efforts always involve some or all of the following actions:

Identifying and delimiting a problem

Searching, reviewing, and effectively writing about relevant literature
Specifying and defining testable hypotheses
Designing the research to test the hypotheses
Selecting, describing, testing, and treating the participants
Analyzing and reporting the results
Discussing the meaning and implications of the findings

Practicality and Accessibility

We recognize that not everyone is a researcher. Many people in kinesiology have little
interest in research per se. In fact, some have a decided aversion to it. Researchers are
sometimes viewed as strange people who deal with insignificant problems and are out of
touch with the real world (although we know that none of you think that way). In an
informative yet entertaining book on writing scientific papers, Day and Gastel (2006)
related the story about two men riding in a hot-air balloon who encountered some cloud
coverage and lost their way. When they finally descended, they did not recognize the
terrain and had not the faintest idea where they were. It so happened that they were drifting
over the grounds of one of our more famous scientific research institutes. When the
balloonists saw a man walking alongside a road, one of them called out, “Hey, mister,
where are we?” The man looked up, took in the situation, and after a few moments of
reflection said, “You’re in a hot-air balloon.” One balloonist turned to the other and said,
“I’ll bet that man is a researcher.” The other balloonist asked, “What makes you think so?”
The first replied, “His answer is perfectly accurate and totally useless” (pp. 204-205).

All kidding aside, the need for research in any profession cannot be denied. After all, one of
the primary distinctions between a discipline or profession and a trade is that the trade
deals only with how to do something, whereas the discipline or profession concerns itself
not only with how but also with why something should be done in a certain manner (and
why it should even be done at all). But although most people in a discipline or profession
recognize the need for research, most do not read research results. This situation is not
unique to our field. It has been reported that only 1% of chemists read research
publications, that fewer than 7% of psychologists read psychological research journals, and
so on. The big question is why. We guess that most professionals who do not read research
believe that doing so is not necessary. They believe that research is not practical enough or
does not directly pertain to their work. Another reason given by practitioners for not
reading research publications is that they cannot understand them. The language is too
technical, and the terminology is unfamiliar and confusing. This complaint is valid, but we
could argue that if the professional preparation programs were more scientifically oriented,

24
the problem would diminish. Nevertheless, the research literature is extremely difficult for
the nonresearcher to understand.

Reading Research
Someone once said (facetiously) that scientific papers are meant not to be read but to be
published. Unfortunately, we find considerable truth in this observation. We writers are
often guilty of trying to use language to dazzle the reader and perhaps to give the
impression that our subject matter is more esoteric than it really is. We tend to write for the
benefit of a rather small number of readers—that is, other researchers in our field.

We have the problem of jargon, of course. In any field, whether it is physics, football, or
cake baking, jargon confounds the outsider. The use of jargon serves as a kind of
shorthand. It provides meaning to the people within the field because everyone uses those
words in the same context. Research literature is famous for using a three-dollar word when
a nickel word would do. As Day and Gastel (2006, p. 200) asked, what self-respecting
writer would use a three-letter word such as now when he or she could use the elegant
expression at this point in time? Researchers never do anything, they perform it; they never
start, they initiate; and they terminate instead of end. Day and Gastel further remarked that
an occasional author slips and uses the word drug, but most salivate like Pavlov’s dogs in
anticipation of using chemotherapeutic agent.

The need to bridge the gap between the researcher and the practitioner has been recognized
for years. For example, the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance has a feature
called “Research Works,” which disseminates applied research information to teachers,
coaches, and fitness and recreation leaders. The website for the American Kinesiology
Association (www.americankinesiology.org) regularly has a section on applied research. Yet
despite these and other attempts to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners,
the gap is still imposing.

It goes without saying that if you are not knowledgeable about the subject matter, you
cannot read the research literature. Conversely, if you know the subject matter, you can
probably wade through the researcher’s jargon more effectively. For example, if you know
baseball and the researcher is recommending that by shortening the radius, the hitter can
increase the angular velocity, you can figure out that the researcher means to choke up on
the bat.

One of the big stumbling blocks is the statistical analysis part of research reports. Even the
most ardent seeker of knowledge can be turned off by such descriptions as this: “The
tetrachoric correlations among the test variables were subjected to a centroid factor analysis,
and orthogonal rotations of the primary axes were accomplished by Zimmerman’s graphical
method until simple structure and positive manifold were closely approximated.” Please

25
note that we are not criticizing the authors for such descriptions, because reviewers and
editors usually require them. We are just acknowledging that statistical analysis is
frightening to someone who is trying to read a research article and does not know a factor
analysis from a volleyball. The widespread use of computers and “computerese” probably
compounds the mystery associated with statistics. Many people believe anything that comes
out of a computer. Others are more old-fashioned and check the computer’s accuracy with
their calculators. A classic, yet fictional, case of a computer mistake occurred in a high
school in which the computer printed the students’ locker numbers in the column where
their IQs were supposed to go. It is classic because no one noticed the error at the time, but
at the end of the year the students with the highest locker numbers got the best grades.

How to Read Research

Despite all the hurdles that loom in the practitioner’s path when reading research, we
contend that you can read and profit from (usually not materially, but then consider the
data on the new Speedo swimsuit and its influence on the 2008 swimming results in
Beijing) the research literature even if you are not well grounded in research techniques and
statistical analysis. We would like to contend that after you read this book, you will be able
to read any journal in any field, but the publisher would not let us say that. We offer the
following suggestions on reading the research literature:

Become familiar with a few publications that contain pertinent research in your field.
You might get some help on choosing the publications from a professor or librarian.
Read only studies that are of interest to you. This point may sound too trite to
mention, but some people feel obligated to wade through every article.
Read as a practitioner would. Do not look for eternal truths. Look for ideas and
indications. No study is proof of anything. Only when it has been verified repeatedly
does it constitute knowledge.
Read the abstract first. This saves time by helping you determine whether you wish to
read the whole thing. If you are still interested, then you can read the study to gain a
better understanding of the methodology and the interpretations, but do not get
bogged down with details.
Do not be too concerned about statistical significance. Understanding the concept of
significance certainly helps, but a little common sense serves you about as well as
knowing the difference between the .02 and the .01 levels, or a one-tailed test versus
a two-tailed test. Think in terms of meaningfulness. For example, if two methods of
teaching bowling result in an average difference of 0.5 pins, what does it matter
whether the difference is significant? On the other hand, if a big difference is present
but not significant, further investigation is warranted, especially if the study involved
a small number of participants. Knowing the concepts of the types of statistical
analysis is certainly helpful, but it is not crucial to being able to read a study. Just skip
that part.

26
 Be critical but objective. You can usually assume that a national research journal
selects studies for publication by the jury method. Two or three qualified people read
and judge the relevance of the problem, the validity and reliability of the procedures,
the efficacy of the experimental design, and the appropriateness of the statistical
analysis. Certainly, some studies are published that should not be. Yet if you are not
an expert in research, you do not need to be suspicious about the scientific worth of a
study that appears in a recognized journal. If it is too far removed from any practical
application to your situation, do not read it.

You will find that the more you read, the more you understand, simply because you
become more familiar with the language and the methodology, like the man who was
thrilled to learn he had been speaking prose all his life.

An Example of Practical Research

To illustrate our research consumer suggestions, consider the lighthearted account of a

young physical education teacher and coach named Sonjia Roundball (J.K. Nelson, 1988).
In a moment of weakness, Sonjia glanced through the table of contents of Research
Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, which had been left in her car by a graduate student friend
of hers (they had used it to keep their tacos from dripping on the upholstery). She
experienced a spark of interest when she noticed an article titled “The Effects of a Season of
Basketball on the Cardiorespiratory Responses of High School Girls.” With some curiosity,
she turned to the article and began to read. In its introductory passages, the article stated
that relatively little specific information was available on the physiological changes in girls
because of sport participation. A short review of literature cited a few studies on swimmers
and other sport participants, and the upshot was that female athletes possess higher levels of
cardiorespiratory fitness than nonathletes do. The author emphasized that no studies had
tried to detect changes in girls’ fitness during a season of basketball.

The next section of the study dealt with methods. It noted the length of the season, the
number of games, the number of practices and their length, and the breakdown of time
devoted to drills, scrimmages, and individual practice. The participants were 12 girls on the
high school basketball team and 14 girls in the nonparticipant group who were in physical
education classes and had academic and activity schedules similar to those of the
participants. All participants in the study were tested at the beginning and end of the season
on maximal oxygen consumption and various other physiological measurements dealing
with ventilation, heart rate, and blood pressure. Sonjia remembered those things from her
exercise physiology course a number of years earlier and was willing to accept these as good
indicators of cardiorespiratory fitness.

The results were then presented in tables. Sonjia did not understand these things but was
willing to trust the author as to their appropriateness. The author discovered no significant

27
increases in any of the cardiorespiratory measures from the preseason test to the postseason
test for either group. This finding jolted Sonjia to the quick! Surely, a strenuous sport such
as basketball should produce improvements in fitness. Something must be wrong here, she
thought. She further read (with small consolation) that the basketball players had higher
values of maximal oxygen consumption than the nonparticipants did at both the beginning
and the end of the season. Sonjia then read the discussion, which mentioned things such as
that the values were higher than similar values in other studies. (So what? Sonjia thought.)
She read with more interest the observations by the author that boys’ basketball programs
were more strenuous in terms of length and number of workouts. Sonjia began to think
about this. The author admitted that the number of participants was small and that some
changes might not have been detected, and the author offered other speculations. The
author concluded, however, that the training program used in this study was not strenuous
enough to induce significant improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness.
discussion—The chapter or section of a research report that explains what the results
mean.

Sonjia was sophisticated enough to realize the limitations of the single study. Nevertheless,
the practice schedule and general practice routines used in the study were similar to her
own. She noticed in the references for the article three studies from a journal called
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. She had never read that journal, but she decided to
drive over to the university the next weekend to look up the publication in the library.
When she located the journal, the latest issue happened to have an article on the
conditioning effects of swimming on college women. Although the study dealt with a
different sport and a different age group, she reasoned that the review of literature might
prove fruitful. She was right. It cited a recent study on aerobic capacity, heart rate, and
energy cost during a season of girls’ basketball. Sonjia quickly located the study and then
read with the excitement that comes from the personal discovery of ideas. She also was
pleasantly surprised to find that it was easier reading than the first study because she was
now more familiar with the terminology and the general organization of the article.

This study also reported no improvement in aerobic capacity during the season. The study
involved monitoring heart rates during games by telemetry, and researchers infrequently
observed heart rates of over 170 beats per minute (bpm). They concluded that the practice
sessions were apparently too moderate in intensity and that the training should be
structured to meet both the skill and the fitness demands of the sport.

Sonjia returned to her school determined to take a more scientific approach to her
basketball program. To start, she had one of her managers chart the number of minutes
players were actually engaged in movement in the practice sessions. Sonjia also had the
players take their pulses at various intervals during the sessions. She was surprised to find
that the heart rates rarely surpassed 130 bpm. As an outgrowth of her recent literature
search, she remembered that an intensity threshold was necessary to bring about

28
improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness. She knew that for this age group a heart rate of
about 160 bpm was needed to provide a significant training effect. Consequently, she
initiated some changes in her practice sessions (including more conditioning drills) and
made the scrimmages more intensive and gamelike. To end this saga of Sonjia, you will be
happy to know that Coach Roundball’s team went on to win all its games, the district and
the state championships, and the world games.

Summarizing the Nature of Research

Thomas Huxley, a famous British scientist who promoted Darwin’s theory of evolution,
wrote that science is simply common sense at its best. However, the status science holds is
based on findings being correct most of the time as well as finding the instances in which
reported findings are not correct. Science is systematic; if you and I do the same experiment
at the same time or two years apart, we should get the same answer. Unfortunately, several
recently reported attempts to replicate earlier studies have not been successful. Of the 1.4
million scholarly papers published in journals each year, an important question might be
How many reported findings are wrong?
science—A process of careful and systematic inquiry.

Having said that about science, discovery can be rewarding, whether that discovery is
research that applies to and can improve your situation or new knowledge obtained while
researching your thesis or dissertation. Research should be viewed more as a method of
problem solving than as some dark and mysterious realm inhabited by impractical people
who speak and write in baffling terms. We believe that practitioners can read research
literature, and we are dedicated in this text to facilitating the process of becoming a research
consumer.

29
 Unscientific Versus Scientific Methods of Problem
Solving
Although there are many definitions of research, nearly all characterize research activity as
some sort of structured problem solving. The word structured refers to the fact that a
number of research techniques can be used as long as they are considered acceptable by
scholars in the field. Thus, research is concerned with problem solving, which then may
lead to new knowledge.

The problem-solving process involves several steps whereby the problem is developed,
defined, and delimited; hypotheses are formulated; data are gathered and analyzed; and the
results are interpreted with regard to the acceptance or rejection of the hypotheses. These
steps are often referred to as the scientific method of problem solving. The steps also
constitute the chapters, or sections, of the research paper, thesis, or dissertation.
Consequently, we devote much of this text to the specific ways these steps are
accomplished.
scientific method of problem solving—A method of solving problems that uses the
following steps: defining and delimiting the problem, forming a hypothesis, gathering
data, analyzing data, and interpreting the results.

Some Unscientific Methods of Problem Solving

Before we go into more detail concerning the scientific method of problem solving, we
should recognize some other ways by which humankind has acquired knowledge. All of us
have used these methods, so they are recognizable. Helmstadter (1970) labeled the methods
tenacity, intuition, authority, the rationalistic method, and the empirical method.

Tenacity

People sometimes cling to certain beliefs despite a lack of supporting evidence. Our
superstitions are good examples of the method called tenacity. Coaches and athletes are
notoriously superstitious. A coach may wear a particular sport coat, hat, tie, or pair of shoes
because the team won the last time he wore it. Athletes frequently have a set pattern that
they consider lucky for dressing, warming up, or entering the stadium. Although they
acknowledge no logical relationship between the game’s outcome and their particular
routine, they are afraid to break the pattern.
tenacity—An unscientific method of problem solving in which people cling to certain
beliefs regardless of a lack of supporting evidence.

30
For example, take the man who believed that black cats bring bad luck. One night when he
was returning to his ranch, a black cat started to cross the road. The man swerved off onto
the prairie to keep the cat from crossing in front of him and hit a hard bump that caused
the headlights to turn off. Unable to see the black cat in the dark night, he sped frantically
over rocks, mounds, and holes until he came to a sudden stop in a ravine, wrecking his car
and sustaining moderate injuries. Of course, this episode just confirmed his staunch belief
that black cats do indeed bring bad luck.

Obviously, tenacity has no place in science. It is the least reliable source of knowledge.

Intuition

Intuitive knowledge is sometimes considered common sense or self-evident. Many self-

evident truths, however, are found to be false. That the earth is flat is a classic example of
the intuitively obvious; that the sun revolves around the earth was once self-evident; that no
one could run a mile in less than 4 min once was self-evident. Furthermore, for anyone to
shot-put more than 70 ft (21 m) or pole-vault more than 18 ft (5.5 m) or for a woman to
run distances over 0.5 mi (0.8 km) was impossible. One fundamental tenet of science is
that we must be ever cognizant of the importance of substantiating our convictions with
factual evidence.

Authority

Reference to some authority has long been used as a source of knowledge. Although this
approach is not necessarily invalid, it does depend on the authority and the rigidity of
adherence. But the appeal to authority has been carried to absurd lengths. Even personal
observation and experience have been deemed unacceptable when they dispute authority.
Supposedly, people refused to look through Galileo’s telescope when he disputed Ptolemy’s
explanation of the world and the heavens. Galileo was later jailed and forced to recant his
beliefs. Bruno also rejected Ptolemy’s theory and was burned at the stake. (Scholars read
and believed Ptolemy’s book on astrology and astronomy for 1,200 years after his death!) In
1543 Vesalius wrote a book on anatomy, much of which is still considered correct today.
But because his work clashed with Galen’s theories, he met with such ridicule that he gave
up his study of anatomy.

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of the appeal to authority as a means of obtaining
knowledge is the right to question and to accept or reject the information. Furthermore,
the authority’s qualifications and the methods by which the authority acquired the
knowledge also determine the validity of this source of information.

Rationalistic Method

31
In the rationalistic method, we derive knowledge through reasoning. A good example is the
following classic syllogism:

All men are mortal (major premise).

The emperor is a man (minor premise).
Therefore, the emperor is mortal (conclusion).

Although you probably would not argue with this reasoning, the key to this method is the
truth of the premises and their relationship to each other. For example,

Basketball players are tall.

Tom Thumb is a basketball player.
Therefore, Tom Thumb is tall.

In this case, however, Tom is very short. The conclusion is trustworthy only if it is derived
from premises (assumptions) that are true. Also, the premises may not in fact be premises
but rather descriptions of events or statements of fact. The statements are not connected in
a cause-and-effect manner. Consider the following example:

There is a positive correlation between shoe size and mathematics performance

among elementary school children (i.e., children with large shoe sizes do well in
math).
Herman is in elementary school and wears large shoes.
Therefore, Herman is good in mathematics.

Of course, in the first statement the factor common to both mathematics achievement and
shoe size is age. Older children tend to be bigger and thus have bigger feet than younger
children. Older children also have higher achievement scores in mathematics, but there is
no cause-and-effect relationship. You must always be aware of this when dealing with
correlation. Reasoning is fundamental in the scientific method of problem solving but
cannot be used by itself to arrive at knowledge.

Empirical Method

The word empirical denotes experience and the gathering of data. Certainly, data gathering
is part of the scientific method of solving problems. But relying too much on your own
experience (or data) has drawbacks. First, your own experience is limited. Furthermore,
your retention depends substantially on how the events agree with your experience and
beliefs, on whether things “make sense,” and on your state of motivation to remember.
Nevertheless, the use of data (and the empirical method) is high on the continuum of
methods of obtaining knowledge as long as you are aware of the limitations of relying too
heavily on this method.

32
 empirical—A description of data or a study that is based on objective observations.

Scientific Method of Problem Solving

The methods of acquiring knowledge previously discussed lack the objectivity and control
that characterize the scientific approach to problem solving. Several basic steps are involved
in the scientific method. Some authors list seven or eight steps, and others condense these
steps into three or four. Nevertheless, all the authors are in general agreement as to the
sequence and processes involved. The steps are briefly described next. The basic processes
are covered in detail in other chapters.

Step 1: Developing the Problem (Defining and Delimiting It)

This step may sound contradictory, because how could the development of the problem be
part of solving it? Actually, the discussion here is not about finding a problem to study
(ways of locating a problem are discussed in chapter 2); the assumption is that the
researcher has already selected a topic. But to design and execute a sound investigation, the
researcher must be specific about what is to be studied and to what extent it will be studied.

Many ramifications constitute this step, an important one being the identification of the
independent and dependent variables. The independent variable is what the researcher is
manipulating. If, for example, two methods of teaching a motor skill are being compared,
then the teaching method is the independent variable; this item is sometimes called the
experimental, or treatment, variable.
independent variable—The part of the experiment that the researcher is manipulating;
also called the experimental variable or treatment variable.

The dependent variable is the effect of the independent variable. In the comparison of
teaching methods, the measure of skill is the dependent variable. If you think of an
experiment as a cause-and-effect proposition, the cause is the independent variable and the
effect is the dependent variable. The latter is sometimes referred to as the yield. Thus, the
researcher must define exactly what will be studied and what will be the measured effect.
When this question is resolved, the experimental design can be determined.
dependent variable—The effect of the independent variable; also called the yield.

Step 2: Formulating the Hypothesis

The hypothesis is the expected result. A person setting out to conduct a study generally has
an idea as to what the outcome will be. This anticipated solution to the problem may be
based on some theoretical construct, on the results of previous studies, or perhaps on the

33
experimenter’s experience and observations. The last source is probably least likely or
defensible because of the weaknesses of the unscientific methods of acquiring knowledge
discussed previously. Regardless, the research should have some experimental hypothesis
about each subproblem in the study.
hypothesis—The anticipated outcome of a study or experiment.

If a hypothesis is testable, a study will either support or refute it.

Testability is a necessary feature of a hypothesis.

We enjoyed Calvin and Hobbes, the cartoon strip by Bill Watterson. In a clever strip,
Calvin is talking to his friend Susie in the lunchroom:

Calvin: Curiosity is the essence of the scientific mind. For example, you know how
milk comes out your nose if you laugh while drinking? Well, I’m going to see what
happens when I inhale milk into my nose and laugh!
Susie (as she leaves): Idiocy is the essence of the male mind.
Calvin: I’m guessing it will shoot out my ears. Don’t you want to see?

Calvin has developed a testable hypothesis: If I inhale milk into my nose and laugh, it will
shoot out of my ears. Susie has an untestable hypothesis (at least in our view): “Idiocy is the
essence of the male mind.”

One of the essential features about the hypothesis is that it be testable. The study must be
designed in such a way that the hypothesis can be either supported or refuted. Obviously,
then, the hypothesis cannot be a type of value judgment or an abstract phenomenon that
cannot be observed.

For example, you might hypothesize that success in athletics depends solely on fate. In
other words, if a team wins, it is because it was meant to be; similarly, if a team loses, a
victory was just not meant to be. Refuting this hypothesis is impossible because no evidence
could be obtained to test it.

Step 3: Gathering the Data

Of course, before step 2 can be accomplished, the researcher must decide on the proper
methods of acquiring the necessary data to be used in testing the research hypothesis. The
reliability of the measuring instruments, the controls that are employed, and the overall
objectivity and precision of the data-gathering process are crucial to solving the problem.

In terms of difficulty, gathering data may be the easiest step because in many cases it is
routine. Planning the method, however, is one of the most difficult steps. Good methods
attempt to maximize both the internal validity and the external validity of the study.

34
 internal validity—The extent to which the results of a study can be attributed to the
treatments used in the study.
external validity—The generalizability of the results of a study.

Internal validity and external validity relate to the research design and controls that are
used. Internal validity refers to the extent to which the results can be attributed to the
treatments used in the study. In other words, the researcher must try to control all other
variables that could influence the results. For example, Jim Nasium wants to assess the
effectiveness of his exercise program in developing physical fitness in young boys. He tests
his participants at the beginning and then at the end of a 9-month training program and
concludes that the program brought about significant improvement in fitness. What is
wrong with Jim’s conclusion? His study contains several flaws. The first is that Jim did not
consider maturity. Nine months of maturation produced significant changes in size and in
accompanying strength and endurance. Also, what else were the participants doing during
this time? How do we know that other activities were not responsible, or partly so, for the
changes in their fitness levels? Chapter 18 deals with these threats to internal validity.

External validity pertains to the generalizability of the results. To what extent can the
results apply to the real world? A paradox often occurs for research in the behavioral
sciences because of the controls required for internal validity. In motor-learning studies, for
example, the task is often something novel so that it provides a control for experience.
Furthermore, being able to measure the performance objectively and reliably is desirable.
Consequently, the learning task is frequently a maze, a rotary pursuit meter, or a linear
position task, all of which may meet the demands for control with regard to internal
validity. But then you face the question of external validity: How does performance in a
laboratory setting with a novel, irrelevant task apply to learning gymnastics or basketball?
These questions are important and sometimes vexing, but they are not insurmountable.
(They are discussed later.)

Possible Misinterpretations of Results

We will never run out of math professors because they always multiply.
When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
The ocean would be much deeper without sponges.

Step 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Results

35
The novice researcher finds this step to be the most formidable for several reasons. First,
this step usually involves some statistical analysis, and the novice researcher (particularly the
master’s student) often has a limited background in and a fear of statistics. Second, analysis
and interpretation require considerable knowledge, experience, and insight, which the
novice may lack.

That analyzing and interpreting results is the most challenging step goes without question.
It is here that the researcher must provide evidence for the support or rejection of the
research hypothesis. In doing this, the researcher also compares the results with those of
others (the related literature) and perhaps attempts to relate and integrate the results into
some theoretical model. Inductive reasoning is employed in this step (whereas deductive
reasoning is primarily used in the statement of the problem). The researcher attempts to
synthesize the data from his or her study along with the results of other studies to
contribute to the development or substantiation of a theory.

36
 Alternative Models of Research
In the preceding section we summarized the basic steps in the scientific method of problem
solving. Science is a way of knowing, often defined as structured inquiry. One basic goal of
science is to explain things or to generalize and build a theory. When a scientist develops a
useful model to explain behavior, scholars often test predictions from this model using the
steps of the scientific method. The model and the approaches used to test the model are
called a paradigm.

Normal Science
For centuries, the scientific approaches used in studying problems in both the natural and
the social sciences have been what Thomas Kuhn (1970), a noted science historian, termed
normal science. This manner of study is characterized by the elements we listed at the
beginning of this chapter (i.e., systematic, logical, empirical, reductive, and replicable). Its
basic doctrine is objectivity. Normal science is grounded in the natural sciences, which have
long adhered to the idea of the orderliness and reality of matter—that is, that nature’s laws
are absolute and discoverable by objective, systematic observations and investigations that
are not influenced by (in other words, independent of) humans. The experiments are
theory driven and have testable hypotheses.
normal science—An objective manner of study grounded in the natural sciences that is
systematic, logical, empirical, reductive, and replicable.

Normal science received a terrific jolt with Einstein’s theory of relativity and the quantum
theory, which indicated that nature’s laws could be influenced by humans (that is, that
reality depends to a great extent on how one perceives it). Moreover, some things, such as
the decay of a radioactive nucleus, happen for no reason at all. The fundamental laws that
had been believed to be absolute were now considered statistical rather than deterministic.
Phenomena could be predicted statistically but not explained deterministically (Jones,
1988).

Challenges to Normal Science

Relatively recently (since about 1960), serious challenges have arisen regarding normal
science’s concept of objectivity (i.e., that the researcher can be detached from the
instruments and conduct of the experiment). Two of the most powerful challengers to the
idea of objective knowledge were Thomas Kuhn (1970) and Michael Polanyi (1958). They
contended that objectivity is a myth. From the first inception of the idea for the hypothesis
through the selection of apparatus to the analysis of the results, the observer is involved.

37
The conduct of the experiment and the results can be considered expressions of the
researcher’s point of view. Polanyi was especially opposed to the adoption of normal science
for the study of human behavior.

Kuhn (1970) maintained that normal science does not really evolve in systematic steps the
way that scientific writers describe it. Kuhn discussed the paradigm crisis phenomenon, in
which researchers who have been following a particular paradigm begin to find
discrepancies in it. The findings no longer agree with the predictions, and a new paradigm
is advanced. Interestingly, the old paradigm does not die completely but only develops
varicose veins and fades away. Many researchers with a great deal of time and effort
invested in the old paradigm are reluctant to change, so it is usually a new group of
researchers who propose the new paradigm. Thus, normal science progresses by revolution,
with a new group of scientists breaking away and replacing the old. Kuhn and Polanyi
concurred that the doctrine of objectivity is simply not a reality. Nevertheless, normal
science has been and will continue to be successful in the natural sciences and in certain
aspects of the study of humans. But Martens (1987) contended that it has failed miserably
in the study of human behavior, especially in the more complex functions.
paradigm crisis phenomenon—The development of discrepancies in a paradigm leading to
proposals of a new paradigm that better explains the data.

As a sport psychologist, Martens asserted that laboratory experiments have limited use in
answering questions about complex human behavior in sport. He considered his role as a
practicing sport psychologist to have been far more productive in gaining knowledge about
athletes and coaches and the solutions to their problems. Other workers in the so-called
helping professions have made similar observations about both the limitations of normal
science and the importance of alternative sources of knowledge in forming and shaping
professional beliefs. Schein (1987), a noted scholar of social psychology, related an
interesting (some might call it shocking) revelation concerning the relative influence of
published research results versus practical experience. At a conference, he and a number of
his colleagues were discussing what they relied on most for their classroom teaching. These
professors seemed to agree that the data they really believed in and used in the classroom
came from personal experience and information learned in the field. Schein was making the
point that different categories of knowledge can be obtained by different methods. In
effect, some people are more influenced by sociological and anthropological research
models than by the normal science approach.

For some time, many scholars in education, psychology, sociology, anthropology, sport
psychology, physical education, and other disciplines have proposed methods of studying
human behavior other than those of conventional normal science. Anthropologists,
sociologists, and clinical psychologists have used in-depth observation, description, and
analysis of human behavior for nearly three-quarters of a century. For over 40 years,
researchers in education have used participant and nonparticipant observation to obtain

38
comprehensive, firsthand accounts of teacher and student behaviors as they occur in real-
world settings. More recently, physical educators, sport psychologists, and exercise
specialists have been engaged in this type of field research. A number of names given to this
general form of research are ethnographic, qualitative, grounded, naturalistic, and
participant observational research. Regardless of the names, the commitments, and the
beliefs of the researchers, this type of research was not well received at first by the adherents
of normal science and the scientific method. In fact, this form of research (we include all its
forms under the name qualitative research) has often been labeled by normal scientists as
superficial, lacking in rigor, and just plain unscientific. As qualitative research methods have
evolved, so has the thinking of many of these people. As you will see in chapters 19 and 20,
many of the research tenets listed by Kuhn (1970) are found in contemporary qualitative
research.
qualitative research—A research method that often involves intensive, long-term
observation in a natural setting; precise and detailed recording of what happens in the
setting; and the interpretation and analysis of the data using description, narratives,
quotes, charts, and tables. Also called ethnographic, naturalistic, interpretive, grounded,
phenomenological, subjective, and participant observational research.

Martens (1987) referred to such adherents of normal science as the gatekeepers of

knowledge because they are the research journal editors and reviewers who decide who gets
published, who serves on the editorial boards, and whose papers are presented at
conferences. Studies without internal validity are not published, yet studies without
external validity lack practical significance. Martens (1987) charged that normal science (in
psychology) prefers publishability to practical significance.

The debates between qualitative and normal (often classified as quantitative) research have
been heated and prolonged. The qualitative proponents have gained confidence and
momentum in recent years, and this point of view is now recognized as a viable method of
addressing problems in the behavioral sciences. Credibility is established by systematically
categorizing and analyzing causal and consequential factors. The naturalistic setting of
qualitative research both facilitates analysis and precludes precise control of so-called
extraneous factors, as does much other research occurring in field settings. The holistic
interrelationship among observations and the complexity and dynamic processes of human
interaction make it impossible to limit the study of human behavior to the sterile,
reductionistic approach of normal science. Reductionism, a characteristic of normal
science, assumes that complex behavior can be reduced, analyzed, and explained as parts
that can then be put back together as a whole and understood. Critics of the conventional
approach to research believe that the central issue is the unjustified belief that normal
science is the only source of true knowledge.
reductionism—A characteristic of normal science that assumes that complex behavior can
be reduced, analyzed, and explained as parts that can then be put back together to

39
 understand the whole.

Implications of These Challenges

The challenges to normal science involve many implications. For example, when we study
simple movements, such as linear positioning in a laboratory to reflect cognitive processing
of information, do we learn anything about movements in real-world settings such as the
performance of sport skills? When we evaluate EMG activity in specific muscle groups
during a simple movement, does the result really tell us anything about the way the nervous
system controls movements in natural settings such as athletics? Can we study the
association of psychological processes related to movement in laboratory settings and expect
the results to apply in sport and exercise situations? When we conduct these types of
experiments, are we studying nature’s phenomena or laboratory phenomena?

Do not misinterpret the intent of these questions. They do not mean that nothing
important can be discovered about physical activity from laboratory research. What they
suggest is that these findings do not necessarily accurately model the way humans plan,
control, and execute movements in natural settings associated with exercise and sport.

Kuhn’s (1970) explanations of how science advances and the limitations of applying
normal science to natural settings demonstrate that scientists need to consider the various
ways of knowing and that the strict application of the normal scientific method of problem
solving may sometimes hinder rather than advance science. If the reductionistic approach of
the scientific method has not well served the natural scientists who developed it, then
certainly researchers in human behavior need to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses
of conventional and alternative research paradigms for their particular research questions.

Alternative Forms of Scientific Inquiry

Martens (1987, p. 52) suggested that we view knowledge not as either scientific or
unscientific or as either reliable or unreliable but rather as existing on a continuum, as
illustrated in figure 1.1. This continuum, labeled DK for degrees of knowledge, ranges from
“don’t know” to “damn konfident.” Considered in this way, varying approaches to
disciplined inquiry are useful in accumulating knowledge. As examples, Martens (1979,
1987) urged sport psychologists to consider the idiographic approach, introspective
methods, and field studies instead of relying on the paradigm of normal science as the only
answer to research questions in sport psychology. Thomas, French, and Humphries (1986)
detailed how to study children’s sport knowledge and skills in games and sports. Costill
(1985) discussed the study of physiological responses in practical exercise and sport settings.
Locke (1989) presented a tutorial on the use of qualitative research in physical education
and sport. In later chapters we give greater detail about some of these alternative strategies
for research, particularly historical, philosophical, qualitative, and mixed methods.

40
Figure 1.1 The degrees of knowledge theory with examples of methods varying in degree of
reliability.

Reprinted, by permission, from R. Martens, 1987, “Science, knowledge, and sport psychology,” The Sport Psychologist
1(1): 46.

What we hope you gain from this section is that science is disciplined inquiry, not a set of
specific procedures. Although advocates of alternative methods of research are often
persuasive, we do not want you to conclude that the study of physical activity should
abandon the traditional methods of normal science. We have learned much from these
techniques and will continue to do so. Furthermore, we certainly do not want you to toss
away this book as being pointless. We have not even begun to tell you all the fascinating
things that we have learned over the years (it is hard to tell whether some of these things
should be classified as normal or abnormal science). In addition, we have many funny
stories yet to tell (abnormal humor). Aside from these compelling reasons for continuing
with the book, we want you to realize and appreciate that so-called normal science is not
the solution to all questions raised in our field. Furthermore, none of the alternative
methods of research denounces the scientific method of problem solving.

The bottom line is that different problems require different solutions. As we said before,
science is disciplined inquiry, not a set of specific procedures. We need to embrace all
systematic forms of inquiry. Rather than argue about the differences, we should capitalize
on the strengths of all scholarly methods to provide useful knowledge about human
movement. The nature of the research questions and setting should drive the selection of
approaches to acquiring knowledge. In fact, just as Christina (1989) suggested that

41
researchers might move among levels of research (basic to applied), so researchers might
move among paradigms (quantitative to qualitative to mixed methods) to acquire
knowledge. In addressing this issue, we have expanded the qualitative and mixed-method
research sections in chapters 19 and 20, which focus on using varying types of research
approaches. Of course, we do not want to be perceived like Danae in the comic strip Non
Sequitur (by Wiley). Danae (a young girl) says to her horse that she wants to grow up to be
a preconceptual scientist. Her horse asks, “What is that?” to which Danae responds that it is
“the new science of reaching a conclusion before doing any research and then simply
dismissing anything contrary to your preconceived notions.”

42
 Types of Research
Research is a structured way of solving problems. Different kinds of problems attend the
study of physical activity; thus, different types of research are used to solve these problems.
This text concentrates on five types of research: analytical, descriptive, experimental,
qualitative, and mixed methods. A brief description of each follows.

Analytical Research
As the name implies, analytical research involves in-depth study and the evaluation of
available information in an attempt to explain complex phenomena. The types of analytical
research are historical, philosophical, reviews, and research synthesis.
analytical research—A type of research that involves in-depth study and the evaluation of
available information in an attempt to explain complex phenomena; can be categorized
in the following way: historical, philosophical, reviews, and research synthesis.

43
 My research methods teacher will love this idea.

© Creativa/fotolia

Historical Research

Obviously, historical research deals with events that have already occurred. Historical
research focuses on events, organizations, institutions, and people. In some studies, the
researcher is interested mostly in preserving the record of events and accomplishments. In
other investigations, the researcher attempts to discover facts that will provide more
meaning and understanding of past events to explain the present state of affairs. Some
historians have even attempted to use information from the past to predict the future. The
research procedures associated with historical studies are addressed in considerable detail in
chapter 12.

Philosophical Research

Critical inquiry characterizes philosophical research. The researcher establishes hypotheses,

examines and analyzes facts, and synthesizes the evidence into a workable theoretical model.
Many of the most important problem areas must be dealt with by the philosophical
method. Problems dealing with objectives, curricula, course content, requirements, and
methodology are but a few of the important issues that can be resolved only through the
philosophical method of problem solving.

Although some authors emphasize the differences between science and philosophy, the
philosophical method of research follows essentially the same steps as other methods of
scientific problem solving. The philosophical approach uses scientific facts as the basis for
formulating and testing research hypotheses.

An example of such philosophical research was Morland’s 1958 study in which he analyzed

44
the educational views held by leaders in American physical education and categorized them
into educational philosophies of reconstructionism, progressivism, essentialism, and
perennialism.

Having an opinion is not the same as having a philosophy. In philosophical research, beliefs
must be subjected to rigorous criticism in light of the fundamental assumptions. Academic
preparation in philosophy and a solid background in the fields from which the facts are
derived are necessary. Other examples and a more detailed explanation of philosophical
research are given in chapter 13.

Reviews

A review is a critical evaluation of recent research on a particular topic. The author must be
extremely knowledgeable about the available literature as well as the research topic and
procedures. A review involves an analysis, evaluation, and integration of the published
literature, often leading to important conclusions concerning the research findings up to
that time (for good examples of reviews, see Blair, 1993, and Silverman and Subramaniam,
1999).
review—A critical evaluation of research on a particular topic.

Certain publications consist entirely of reviews, such as Psychological Review, Annual Review
of Physiology, Review of Educational Research, and Kinesiology Review. A number of journals
publish reviews periodically, and some occasionally devote entire issues to reviews. For
example, the 75th anniversary issue of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (Silverman,
2005) contains some excellent reviews on various topics.

Research Synthesis

Reviews of literature are difficult to write because they require the synthesis of a large
number of studies to determine common underlying findings, agreements, or
disagreements. To some extent this is like trying to make sense of data collected on a large
number of participants by simply looking at the data. Glass (1977) and Glass, McGaw, and
Smith (1981) proposed a quantitative means of analyzing the findings from numerous
studies; this method is called meta-analysis. Findings between studies are compared by
changing results within studies to a common metric called effect size. Over the years, many
meta-analyses have been reported in the physical activity literature (e.g., Payne & Morrow,
1993; Rawdon, Sharp, Shelley & Thomas, 2012; Schieffer & Thomas, 2012; Thomas &
French, 1985). This technique is discussed in more detail in chapter 14.

Descriptive Research

45
Descriptive research is concerned with status. The most prevalent descriptive research
technique is the survey, most notably the questionnaire. Other forms of surveys include the
interview (personal and by telephone) and the normative survey. Chapter 15 provides
detailed coverage of these techniques. The following sections briefly describe three types of
survey research techniques.
descriptive research—A type of research that attempts to describe the status of the study’s
focus. Common techniques are questionnaires, interviews, normative surveys, case
studies, job analyses, observational research, developmental studies, and correlational
studies.

Questionnaire

The main justification for using a questionnaire is the need to obtain responses from
people, often from a wide geographical area. The questionnaire usually strives to secure
information about present practices, conditions, and demographic data. Occasionally, a
questionnaire asks for opinions or knowledge.

Interview

The interview and the questionnaire are essentially the same technique insofar as planning
and procedures are concerned. Obviously, the interview has certain advantages over the
questionnaire. The researcher can rephrase questions and ask additional ones to clarify
responses and secure results that are more valid. Becoming a skilled interviewer requires
training and experience. Telephone interviewing has become increasingly common in
recent years. It costs half as much as face-to-face interviews and can cover a wide
geographical area, which is generally a limitation in personal interviews. We discuss some
other advantages of the telephone interview technique in chapter 15.

Normative Survey

A number of notable normative surveys have been conducted in the fields of physical
activity and health. The normative survey generally seeks to gather performance or
knowledge data on a large sample from a population and to present the results in the form
of comparative standards, or norms. The AAHPER Youth Fitness Test Manual (American
Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 1958) is an outstanding
example of a normative survey. Thousands of boys and girls ages 10 to 18 throughout the
United States were tested on a battery of motor fitness items. Percentiles were then
established for comparative performances to provide information for students, teachers,
administrators, and parents. The AAHPER youth fitness test was developed in response to
another survey, the Kraus-Weber test (Kraus & Hirschland, 1954), which revealed that

46
American children scored dramatically lower on a test battery of minimum muscular fitness
when compared with European children.

Other Descriptive Research Techniques

Among the other forms of descriptive research are the case study, the job analysis,
observational research, developmental studies, and correlational studies. Chapter 16
provides detailed coverage of these descriptive research procedures.

Case Study

The case study is used to provide detailed information about an individual (or institution,
community, and so on). It aims to determine unique characteristics about the subject or
condition. This descriptive research technique is used widely in such fields as medicine,
psychology, counseling, and sociology. The case study is also a technique used in qualitative
research.

Job Analysis

This type of research is a special form of case study. It is done to describe the nature of a
particular job, including the duties, responsibilities, and preparation required for success in
the job.

Observational Research

Observational research is a descriptive technique in which behaviors are observed in the

participants’ natural setting, such as the classroom or play environment. The observations
are frequently coded, and then their frequency and duration are analyzed.

Developmental Studies

In developmental research, the investigator is usually concerned with the interaction of

learning or performance with maturation. For example, a researcher may wish to assess the
extent to which the ability to process information about movement can be attributed to
maturation as opposed to strategy, or to determine the effects of growth on a physical
parameter such as aerobic capacity.

Developmental research can be undertaken by what is called the longitudinal method,

whereby the same participants are studied over a period of years. Obvious logistical
problems are associated with longitudinal studies, so an alternative is to select samples of

47
participants from different age groups to assess the effects of maturation. This is called the
cross-sectional approach.

Correlational Studies

The purpose of correlational research is to examine the relationship between performance

variables, such as heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion; the relationship between
traits, such as anxiety and pain tolerance; or the correlation between attitudes and behavior,
as in the attitude toward fitness and the amount of participation in fitness activities.
Sometimes correlation is employed to predict performance. For example, a researcher may
wish to predict the percentage of body fat from skinfold measurements. Correlational
research is descriptive in that a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be presumed. All that
can be established is that an association is (or is not) present between two or more traits or
performances.

Epidemiological Research

Another form of descriptive research that has become a viable approach to studying
problems dealing with health, fitness, and safety is the epidemiological research method.
This type of research pertains to the frequencies and distributions of health and disease
conditions among populations. Rate of occurrence is the basic concept in epidemiological
studies. The size of the population being studied is an important consideration in
examining the prevalence of such things as injuries, illnesses, or health conditions in a
specified at-risk population.

Although cause and effect cannot be established by incidence and prevalence data, a strong
inference of causation can often be made through association. Chapter 17 is devoted to
epidemiological research.

Experimental Research
Experimental research has a major advantage over other types of research in that the
researcher can manipulate treatments to cause things to happen (i.e., establish a cause-and-
effect situation). This approach contrasts with other types of research in which already
existing phenomena or data from the past are observed and analyzed. As an example of an
experimental study, assume that Virginia Reel, a dance teacher, hypothesizes that students
would learn more effectively through the use of video. First, she randomly assigns students
to two sections. One section is taught by the so-called traditional method (explanation,
demonstration, practice, and critique). The other section is taught in a similar manner
except that the students are filmed while practicing and can thus observe themselves as the
teacher critiques their performances. After 9 weeks, a panel of dance teachers evaluates both

48
sections. In this study, the teaching method is the independent variable, and dance
performance (skill) is the dependent variable. After the groups’ scores are compared
statistically, Virginia can conclude whether her hypothesis can be supported or not.
experimental research—A type of research that involves the manipulation of treatments in
an attempt to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

In experimental research, the researcher attempts to control all factors except the
experimental (or treatment) variable. If the extraneous factors can be controlled, then the
researcher can presume that the changes in the dependent variable are due to the
independent variable. Chapter 18 is devoted to experimental and quasi-experimental
research.

Qualitative Research
In the study of physical activity, qualitative research is the relatively new kid on the block,
although it has been used for many years in other fields, such as anthropology and
sociology. Researchers in education have been engaged in qualitative methods longer than
researchers in our field have. As previously mentioned, several names are given to this type
of research (ethnographic, naturalistic, interpretive, grounded, phenomenological,
subjective, and participant observational). Some are simply name differences, whereas some
have different approaches and points of focus. We have lumped them all under the heading
of qualitative research, because that term seems to be the most commonly used in our field.

Qualitative research is different from other research methods. It is a systematic method of

inquiry, and it follows the scientific method of problem solving to a considerable degree,
although it deviates in certain dimensions. Qualitative research rarely establishes hypotheses
at the beginning of the study, but instead uses more general questions to guide the study. It
proceeds in an inductive process in developing hypotheses and theory as the data unfold.
The researcher is the primary instrument in data collection and analysis. Qualitative
research is characterized by intensive firsthand presence. The tools of data collection are
observation, interviews, and researcher-designed instruments (Creswell, 2009). Qualitative
research is described in chapter 19 and 20.

Mixed Methods of Research

In mixed methods of research, both quantitative and qualitative approaches are included
(or mixed) within a research effort. This approach, often viewed as a pragmatic one,
suggests that both qualitative and quantitative techniques are useful when studying real-
world phenomena. The notion is that the approach that works best to capture behavioral
data is what should be used. For mixed methods, qualitative and quantitative techniques
are integrated, or mixed, within a single study; it is like two small studies, one quantitative

49
and one qualitative.

50
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Die Cigarette
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Die Cigarette

Ein Vademecum für Raucher

Author: Stephan Dirk

Release date: March 11, 2024 [eBook #73143]

Language: German

Original publication: Leipzig: Verlag für Industrie-Kultur, 1924

Credits: Hans Theyer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

at https://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIE CIGARETTE

***
 Anmerkungen zur Transkription
Die Schreibweise und Interpunktion des Originaltextes wurde übernommen;
offensichtliche Druckfehler sind stillschweigend korrigiert worden.
Das Original hat keine Kapitelüberschriften. Zur besseren Übersicht sind
Trennlinien eingefügt worden.
 DIE CIGARETTE
EIN VADEMECUM FÜR RAUCHER
von

Stephan Dirk

Herausgegeben von der Reemtsma A. G.

VERLAG FÜR INDUSTRIE-KULTUR

LEIPZIG 1924
 Alle Rechte,
insbesondere das Übersetzungsrecht, vorbehalten
Copyright 1924 by Verlag für Industrie-Kultur,
Leipzig

Druck von Günther, Kirstein & Wendler in Leipzig

 INHALTSVERZEICHNIS
Seite
Die Bedeutung der Cigarette für die Allgemeinheit 7
Unterlagen zur Beurteilung einer Cigarette 21
Das Mischungsproblem 32
Die Fabrikation der Cigarette 38
Die wichtigsten Arten des Orienttabaks 44
Über die Genußwirkung des Tabaks 65
Eine Psychologie der Raucher 81
Über die Kultur des Cigarettengenusses 96
 Es gibt wenig Genußmittel, die für die Menschheit eine so
verallgemeinerungsfähige Bedeutung gefunden haben wie die
Cigarette, und es ist deshalb besonders verwunderlich, daß man in
den breiten Raucherkreisen über die Herkunft der Cigarette und ihre
Unterschiedlichkeiten so wenig Kenntnisse antrifft.
Es gibt wohl sehr viele Weinkenner, die einen Pfälzer von einem
Steinwein und einen Mosel gegenüber einem Rheingauer nicht nur
an Flaschenformen und Flaschenfarben unterscheiden können oder
sogar innerhalb enger Gebiete gleichartige Weinarten noch nach
Lage, Jahrgang und Auslese bestimmen; es mag auch eine ziemlich
große Anzahl Cigarrenraucher geben, denen die
Geschmackseigenarten bestimmter Sumatra-, Brasil-,
Virginiapflanzen usw. bekannt sind, aber die Cigarette hat trotz ihrer
großen Bedeutung bis heute nur wenig Freunde gefunden, die sich
auch mit den Feinheiten unterschiedlicher Provenienzen und
unterschiedlicher Mischungen beschäftigt haben.
Es mag die allgemeine Unkenntnis über die Cigarette mit ihrer
verhältnismäßig kurzen Verbreitungszeit begründet werden können;
aber die eigentliche Ursache wird darin zu suchen sein, daß sich die
Cigarettenraucher noch kaum darüber klar sind, wie außerordentlich
mannigfaltig Orienttabake sind, und wie weit ihre Verarbeitung und
Mischung an Kompliziertheit und Schwierigkeit alles übertrifft, was
bisher bei der Fabrikation von Genußmitteln in Betracht kam. Noch
heute kann man häufig die Meinung vertreten finden, daß der Inhalt
einer Papierhülse ziemlich gleichgültig ist, wenn nur überhaupt ein
echter Tabak verwendet wurde. Nach dem Kriege nahm man auf
Grund der Zwangswirtschaftserfahrungen sogar allgemein an, daß es
wirklich reine Orientcigaretten kaum gibt, und daß selbst eine
wesentliche Untermischung mit deutschen Tabaken und Surrogaten
geschmacklich kaum feststellbar ist.
In Wirklichkeit sind die heutigen Raucher weitaus verwöhnter, als
sie selbst wissen. Wenn es manchem Unternehmer vor dem Kriege
gelingen konnte, mit gestreckten und gefälschten Orienttabaken
auch auf dem freien Markt noch Abnehmer in genügender Anzahl zu
finden, so dürfte dies heute, sogar unter dem Zwang der hohen
Preise für importierte Tabake kaum mehr möglich sein, ohne daß er
die größten Gefahren für die Weiterentwicklung seines
Unternehmens heraufbeschwört. Das durch die Kriegserfahrungen
geschärfte Mißtrauen gegen Ersatzgenußmittel hat für heute eine
Qualitätsforderung gebracht, an die vor dem Kriege niemand denken
konnte, und die vor allen Dingen auch den Rauchern selbst gar nicht
zum Bewußtsein kam.
Der Krieg und die Nachkriegsjahre, die ja in vieler Hinsicht an
Stelle langsamer Entwicklung einen raschen Umschwung gebracht
haben, haben gezeigt, wie sehr die Cigarette dem Bedürfnis unserer
Generation entspricht. Bis gar nicht so lange Zeit vor dem Kriege war
die Cigarette eigentlich eine nur wenig anerkannte
Nebenerscheinung der Cigarre. In der Meinung kultivierter
Raucherkreise blieb sie bis zu einem gewissen Grade das
unkultivierte Requisit von unreifen Jünglingen und zweifelhaften
Existenzen, die ohne Geschmacksverfeinerung und wirkliche
Genußfähigkeit ein gleichgültiges Fabrikat in einer überflüssig
eleganten Form verbrauchten. Wie mancher Vater hat damals
seinem herangewachsenen Sohne das Rauchen unter der Bedingung
gestattet, daß er bei einer vernünftigen ordentlichen Cigarre bliebe
und nicht der Geschmacklosigkeit der überdies weitaus schädlicheren
Cigarette anheimfiele.
Die Cigarette wurde gegenüber der Cigarre lange Zeit
geringschätzig beurteilt. Als besonderes Abschreckungsmittel wurde
die schädliche Wirkung des verbrannten Papiers und weiterhin die
Zweifelhaftigkeit des Inhalts betont, zu dem ein richtiger
Cigarrenraucher ja tatsächlich keine Stellung finden konnte. Das
alles aber hat das rasche Anwachsen der Bedeutung von Cigaretten
nicht aufhalten können, und heute wird ihr Antagonist, die Cigarre,
sowohl in der Zahl der Anhänger wie in wirtschaftlicher Hinsicht
durch die Cigarette weit übertroffen.
Wenn die Wandlungen menschlicher Genußbedürftigkeit im Laufe
der Zeiten auch kaum einer aburteilenden Kritik unterworfen werden
können, so ist der Rückgang der Cigarre gegenüber der Cigarette
doch sehr zu bedauern. Denn mit der Cigarre wandert wieder einmal
ein Bild alter und feiner Lebenskultur in die Vergangenheit. Eine
wirkliche Raucherkultur wird heute noch sehr selten mit der
Cigarette verbunden; ihr Dasein ist hierzu noch zu jung. Aber es
wäre sehr wünschenswert, wenn die Cigrettenraucher etwas von der
alten Cigarrenraucherkultur lernen könnten und auf dieser Tradition
eine wirkliche Cigarettenkultur aufbauen würden. Es ist deshalb
wünschenswert, weil sich mit der Kultur solcher
Lebensgewohnheiten regelmäßig auch eine Kultivierung der
Lebensformen überhaupt gleichzeitig zu entwickeln pflegt, und weil
außerdem mit einer Kultur der Genußmittel der für die
Volksgesundheit beste harmonische Ausgleich der Kontraste des
menschlichen Lebens erreicht wird.
Man könnte auch sagen, daß eine Kultur der Genußmittel die
Schädlichkeit derselben auf ein Mindestmaß beschränkt, aber man
würde damit eine unrichtige Beurteilungseinstellung gegenüber den
narkotischen Genußmitteln im allgemeinen und gegenüber der
Cigarette im besondern einnehmen. Wohl scheinen die
Meinungskämpfe für und gegen irgendwelche Genußmittel und
damit die Betonung oder Ableugnung der Schädlichkeit von Alkohol,
Tabak, Kaffee usw. kein Ende nehmen zu wollen, aber der
Einsichtige weiß, daß mit der einfachen Schädlichkeitsfeststellung für
den menschlichen Organismus noch keine Entscheidungsbasis für
solche Streitigkeiten gewonnen sein kann. Wir wissen heute, daß der
Mensch ein Mittelpunkt für Kraftansammlung und Kraftverbrauch, für
Kräfte und Gegenkräfte, Gifte und Gegengifte, körperlich fördernde
und körperlich schädigende Einflüsse ist. Die eine Seite ist nicht
ohne die andere Seite denkbar. Ein Körper, an den geringe
Kräftebeanspruchungen gestellt werden, wird wenig Kräfte sammeln
können. Worauf es ankommt, ist nur das Gleichgewicht, und was
vermieden werden muß, ist nur ein Gleichgewicht zerstörendes
Übermaß auf der einen wie auf der anderen Seite.
Außerdem ergibt das menschliche Leben so viele und vor allem so
starke Beanspruchungen des Nervensystems, daß die angenommene
Schädlichkeit des Tabakgenusses dagegen nur gering erscheint.
Wenn noch dazu der Nachweis erbracht wird, daß nervöse
Spannungen des Menschen durch den Tabakgenuß eine beruhigend-
harmonische Auflösung erfahren können, so bedeutet dies die
Anerkennung eines positiven Wertes des Tabaks. Solche nervöse
Spannungen lassen sich keineswegs im Leben vermeiden, wie es die
Naturapostel verlangen, und solange dies der Fall ist, wird das
Bedürfnis nach einem Ausgleich immer wieder Genußmittel suchen,
die einseitig starke geistige Leistungen kompensieren können. Es ist
charakteristisch, daß einerseits die Gesundheitsfanatiker extremer
»Anti«-Bestrebungen meist selbst körperlich und geistig nicht sehr
kräftig sind, und daß es andererseits niemandem gelungen ist, den
Nachweis zu erbringen, daß durch ängstliches Vermeiden größerer
Kräfteanspannungen des Gehirns und des Körpers das Leben
verlängert werden kann. Selbstverständlich müssen
Kräftebeanspruchungen der jeweiligen Leistungsfähigkeit des
Menschen entsprechen. Bei solchen Streitfragen sind Meinungen
eigentlich immer Ergebnisse ganz persönlicher Erfahrungen und
Empfindungen. Das einzige objektive Vorbild, das die Forderung
eines »naturgemäßen« Lebens vorweisen kann, ergibt das Tier, denn
es gibt keine auch noch so primitiven Menschenrassen, die für
Enthaltsamkeit nachweislich als Vorbild Geltung behaupten können.
Wir wissen aber, daß der Mensch im Gegensatz zum Tier geistigen
Anforderungen genügen muß, die in gar keinem Verhältnis mehr
zum Körper stehen. Schon die einfachen Nervenbeanspruchungen
des täglichen geistigen Lebens sind im eigentlichen Sinne der
Naturapostel derartig ungesund, daß jeder Vergleich mit Lebewesen,
die nur ihrer Gesundheit und natürlich also nur der körperlichen
Selbsterhaltung und Fortpflanzung leben, hoffnungslos ist. Die
vielleicht Überzüchtung zu nennende Entwicklung des menschlichen
Geistes bedingt dann eben Mittel, die einen Ausgleich schaffen, und
es ist sinnlos, gegen diese Mittel zu Felde zu ziehen, oder sie auch
nur als überflüssigen Luxus zu betrachten, solange die Ursachen
nicht beseitigt werden können, die sie veranlaßt und erzwungen
haben.
 Der Mensch braucht Schuhwerk, da er im allgemeinen für den
Spezialsport des Barfußlaufens kein Interesse mehr aufbringt. Er
braucht Kleidung, da sein Körper allein den Witterungseinflüssen
nicht mehr standhalten kann. Und so braucht er auch Genußmittel,
da der Körper des Menschen nicht mehr in der Lage ist, den
übersteigerten Anforderungen geistigen Lebens den erforderlichen
Ausgleich zu geben.
Die heilsame Wirkung des Tabakgenusses ist nicht mit Heilmitteln
zu vergleichen, die das Wandeln und Vergehen des Menschen nach
der Meinung Lebensunkundiger aufhalten sollen, aber sie ist
segensreich durch die Anregung oder die Beruhigung, die sie im
Ausgleich widerstrebender Spannungen zu geben vermag.
Die weitaus meisten Raucher werden den Genuß von Tabak als
Ausgleichsmittel auch fast immer irgendwie körperlich empfinden
können. Wer im Felde gewesen ist und dort nach den ungeheuren
Nervenbeanspruchungen die Gier nach dem Tabak kennengelernt
hat, wer im heutigen Erwerbsleben steht und sich weder innerlich
noch äußerlich von den aufregenden Verhältnissen unserer Zeit
unabhängig machen kann und zum Tabak greift, der weiß, daß
dieses manchmal als schädlich verschrieene Kraut eine sehr
segensreiche Wirkung besitzt. Die Voraussetzung ist immer wieder
die Kultivierung des Genusses und die sich daraus ergebende
Einstellung zur Leistungsfähigkeit des eigenen Körpers mit dem
Ergebnis eines tatsächlichen Ausgleichs. Extreme Beanspruchungen,
die über die Elastizitätsgrenze des Körpers hinausgehen, haben
natürlich relativ schädliche Folgen. Aber selbst dann ist die
Schädlichkeit des Tabaks überhaupt nicht mit der Schädlichkeit
anderer Genußmittel, die er ersetzen will, zu vergleichen. Die
generelle Annahme, daß mit oder ohne Tabak ein Mensch oder ein
Volk eine kürzere oder längere Lebenszeit gewinnen kann, ist irrig.
Außerdem wird doch wohl nach allgemeinem Empfinden ein Leben
nicht nach seiner Länge, sondern nach seiner Intensität bewertet.
So können zu allen Zeiten und bei allen Völkern Mittel
nachgewiesen werden, die mit der narkotischen Wirkung des Tabaks
vergleichbar sind. Bei vielen primitiven Völkern ist es die Betelnuß,
bei anderen das Opium, dessen schädliche Folgen — so groß sie für
den Körper eines Europäers auch sein mögen — für den Körper des
Asiaten viel geringer sind, als allgemein angenommen wird. An
weiteren Mitteln sind Haschisch, Kiff-Kiff und andere pflanzliche
Produkte usw. bekannt. In Deutschland und vielen anderen vor allem
europäischen Ländern erfüllte die gleiche Aufgabe Jahrhunderte
hindurch der Alkohol. Erst nach den Zeiten des Sir Francis Drake trat
daneben mehr und mehr der Tabakgenuß in Erscheinung, und es ist
auffallend, daß mit der Zunahme und Verfeinerung des
Tabakgenusses in den letzten Jahrzehnten gleichlaufend eine
Abnahme des Alkoholgenusses nachweisbar ist. Die Bedürfnisse
einer Allgemeinheit wandeln sich im Laufe der Zeiten und passen
sich dem jeweiligen Entwicklungszustand der Menschen und der
Völker immer wieder an. Es scheint, als ob der Tabakgenuß dazu
berufen wäre, die Jahrhunderte alte Aufgabe des Alkohols in
weitgehendem Maße zu übernehmen. Der mittelalterliche und
spätere Verbrauch von Alkohol war geradezu ungeheuer. Wir können
uns heute kaum noch eine Vorstellung machen, was die damaligen
Menschen vertragen haben. Die bedeutendsten geistigen Träger
ihrer Zeit wie beispielsweise Luther, Goethe, Bismarck und viele,
viele andere waren frohe Zecher und genossen die
Ausgleichswirkung dieses geistigen Genußmittels mit einer
Lebhaftigkeit, die in unserer augenblicklichen Zeit Befremden
erregen würde. Das Zeichen unserer Zeit sind zahllose
Antialkoholbewegungen und ein tatsächlich außerordentliches
Nachlassen des Konsums. Dem Kenner menschlicher
Entwicklungserscheinungen gibt beispielsweise das Alkoholverbot in
Amerika nicht so sehr den Beweis, daß theoretisch
volksgesundheitliche Bestrebungen praktisch in großem Maße
durchführbar sind, sondern er erkennt daraus, daß tatsächlich die
Zeit des Alkohols langsam vorübergeht, und daß die Möglichkeit
eines Verbotes hierfür nur ein Symptom ist. Gerade in den
Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika hat der Tabakverbrauch in
ganz besonderem Maße zugenommen, so daß nur von einer
Richtungsänderung der Ausgleichsbedürfnisse gesprochen werden
kann. Die Notwendigkeit eines Ausgleiches zeigte sich sehr deutlich,
als graue Theoretiker der Volksgesundheit auch noch ein
Nikotinverbot als Gesetz durchsetzen wollten, und ein alter Senator
die Debatte in Washington mit den Worten erledigte, daß die Staaten
keine Kleinkinderbewahranstalten seien. Noch deutlicher zeigt sich
die Verschiebung im Ausgleichsuchen bei den mohammedanischen
Völkern, bei denen auf Grund des Alkoholverbotes der Religion die
Kultur des Kaffees und des Tabaks eine Höhe gewonnen hat, wie sie
nirgends sonst in der Welt erreicht wird. Verbote sind stets völlig
zwecklos, wenn die menschliche Natur nicht die zum Verbote nötige
Majorität durch eine entsprechende Wandlung ihrer Bedürfnisse
zuläßt, oder wenn kein Ersatz für die aufgegebene Genußmöglichkeit
vorhanden ist.
In Zusammenfassung der vorher gegebenen Argumente kann mit
allgemeiner Gültigkeit behauptet werden, daß Genußmittel mit dem
Ziel einer anregenden oder beruhigenden Wirkung auf das
Nervensystem und damit auf die menschliche Psyche nicht
ausgeschaltet werden können und naturnotwendig sind.
Volksgesundheitlich können nur diejenigen Genußmittel als schädlich
bezeichnet werden, die dem jeweiligen Entwicklungszustand und
den sich daraus ergebenden Bedürfnissen des Menschen oder des
Volkes nicht entsprechen. Der Kenner der Massenpsyche weiß, daß
zwangsweise durchgeführte Verbote, die nicht in einem Instinkt
gegenüber den allgemeinen Bedürfnissen, sondern in der Theorie
einzelner ihre Ursache haben, die Gefahren von Entladungen der
anders nicht gelösten Spannungen zur Folge haben. Es steht
weiterhin fest, daß der Tabak für die Gegenwart als Ausgleichsmittel
eine so allgemeine Bedeutung hat, daß weder von physischer
Schädlichkeit noch von einem volkswirtschaftlich schädlichen Luxus
gesprochen werden kann. Es scheint weiterhin, daß von den
verschiedenen Formen des Tabakgenusses die Cigarette die
bevorzugte Form des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts ist.
 Da für die Wertung der Tabakfabrikate das einfache Bedürfnis für
den einzelnen Menschen unmittelbar vorausgesetzt werden muß, ist
es selbstverständlich nicht zu verteidigen, wenn jemand auch ohne
ein irgendwie unbestimmtes Bedürfnis zur Cigarette greift, da dann
weder Genußmöglichkeit noch der Ausgleichwert des Tabaks
gefolgert werden kann. Es ist unverantwortlich, dem
Nachahmungstrieb, der Eitelkeit usw. nachzugeben und
beispielsweise heranwachsenden Kindern das Rauchen schon zu
einer Zeit zu gestatten, zu der ein wirkliches Ausgleichsbedürfnis
noch nicht denkbar ist. Erst durch das Bedürfnis wird erwiesen, daß
ein Genußmittel dem Organismus entspricht, wobei natürlich
krankhafte Übersteigerungen des Genußtriebes ausgenommen
werden müssen.
Aber selbst für Exzesse krankhaft übersteigerter Genußtriebe ist
der Tabak im allgemeinen viel zu harmlos; man vergleiche nur die
manchmal verheerenden Wirkungen von Alkohol, Opiaten usw.
gegenüber der großen Seltenheit von gesundheitlichen
Schädigungen durch übertriebenen Tabakgenuß. Auch bei solchen
seltenen Beispielen wird man meistens nicht in dem starken
Tabakgenuß die wirkliche Ursache der gesundheitlichen
Schädigungen suchen müssen, sondern in den jeweiligen
Umständen, die ihrerseits erst den Tabakgenuß zur Folge haben. Es
dürfte vielleicht sogar der interessante Nachweis erbracht werden
können, daß die anscheinend gesündesten Speisen durch
übertriebenen Genuß praktisch einen größeren Prozentsatz an
gesundheitlichen Schädigungen in der Menschheit ergeben, als der
— selbstverständlich stets zu vermeidende — übergroße
Tabakgenuß.
Die Menschheit verliert langsam ihre Robustheit; ihre
altersunterschiedlichen Gruppen, Völker und Rassen drängen
langsam nach Verfeinerung, und mit der wachsenden
Differenzierung des einzelnen Menschen geht eine steigende
Verfeinerung und Differenzierung der Genußmittel parallel. Das
Nachlassen des Bierkonsums, die zunehmende Verfeinerung auch in
alkoholischen Getränken, die vielfache Aufgabe des Alkohols als
tägliches Getränk beispielsweise zugunsten des weitaus
kultivierteren Tees, das Anwachsen der Schokoladen- und
Konfiturenindustrie usw. veranschaulichen den natürlichen
Entwicklungsvorgang, wenn auch vielleicht nur der Tee mit der
außerordentlichen Genußdifferenzierung verglichen werden kann, die
der Cigarette die Zukunft sichert.
 Die Verfeinerung des Geschmacksempfindens, die in Deutschland
seit dem Kriege registriert werden kann, scheint eine Kultivierung
der Cigarette gewährleisten zu können, die eine segensreiche
Bedeutung dieses Genußmittels für das 20. Jahrhundert erhoffen
läßt. In den außerdeutschen Ländern sind die Verhältnisse etwas
anders. Heute steht Deutschland von den größeren Völkern
bezüglich der Qualitätsforderungen an der Spitze, wenn auch diesen
Forderungen vorläufig noch infolge mangelnder Kaufkraft der
Konsumenten nur von wenigen qualitätsstolzen Fabriken in einem
wirklich ausreichenden Maße entsprochen werden kann.
Die Cigarette ist in Deutschland noch nicht seit sehr lange
bekannt, und erst in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten des vergangenen
Jahrhunderts gewann sie für Deutschland eine stetig anwachsende
Bedeutung. Da wir die Cigarette in ihrer heutigen Form aus dem
Osten bekommen haben, nennen wir sie zum Unterschied zu später
in Deutschland bekannt gewordenen Abarten »Orientcigarette«. Wir
bezeichnen mit diesem Namen eine ganz bestimmte Art von in
Papier gehüllten Tabakfabrikaten, deren Herkunftsländer für uns im
Orient liegen. In Wirklichkeit ist die Kenntnis des Tabaks und der
Cigarettenform auch nach dem Orient erst vor wenigen
Jahrhunderten gelangt. Sie stammt aus Amerika, wo bereits
Columbus Cigaretten in Form von maisblattumwickelten Tabaken
gesehen hat. Als die Kenntnis des Tabaks nach dem Orient kam,
wurde dieses Genußmittel mit einer erstaunlichen Sicherheit den
Bedürfnissen des Landes angepaßt. Es entwickelte sich im Orient
eine Kultur des Tabakanbaus, die sehr bald an Differenzierung die
Erzeugnisse der amerikanischen Ursprungsländer weit übertraf. Mag
auch der orientalische Tabak ursprünglich vorzugsweise in Pfeifen
unterschiedlicher Art geraucht worden sein, so wurde auch die
Gewohnheit, den Tabak in Papierhüllen zu fassen, übernommen, und
damit entstand im Orient zugleich eine Kultur der Cigarette, die so
groß wurde, daß für uns der eigentliche Cigarettenbegriff mit dem
der Orientcigarette völlig identisch wurde. Wenn der deutsche
Raucher amerikanische Tabake zu Cigaretten verarbeitet findet, so
pflegt er diese als minderwertig abzulehnen und den Inhalt der
Papierhülse mit »schwarzem« Tabak zu bezeichnen. Eine Cigarette
mit schwarzem Tabak erscheint dem deutschen Raucher nicht als
eine richtige Cigarette. Wenn dies geschichtlich auch nicht zu
vertreten ist, so wird es eben dadurch verständlich, daß die uns
bekannte Orientcigarette an Verfeinerung und Veredlung des
Genusses den Tabaken der Neuen Welt so außerordentlich überlegen
ist, daß ein Wettbewerb beider Tabakarten wenigstens in der Form
einer Cigarette in Deutschland ausgeschlossen erscheint.
Die Tabake, die der Cigarettenraucher als schwarze Tabake
bezeichnet, sind uns unter der Vorstellung von Cigarren- oder
Pfeifentabaken geläufiger. In den außerdeutschen Ländern ist diese
Einstellung den Tabaken gegenüber nicht allgemein. Beispielsweise
werden in Frankreich, Spanien, Belgien, Argentinien und anderen
stark romanisch gefärbten Ländern die sogenannten schwarzen
Tabake den Orienttabaken vorgezogen. Es mag dies teilweise durch
die Wirtschaftspolitik der Länder, wie z. B. Frankreich, wo für die
Regiecigarette ein hoher Prozentsatz französischer Tabake
verarbeitet wird, begründet werden können. Aber in anderen
Ländern wieder neigt das Bedürfnis der Raucher so offensichtlich zu
dem einfacheren und herberen Genuß der sogenannten schwarzen
Tabake, daß von ganz individuellen Bedürfnissen verschiedener
Rassen gesprochen werden kann.
In Nordamerika wurde durch das Alkoholverbot der
Tabakverbrauch ganz wesentlich verstärkt. Es werden dort
Orientcigaretten fabriziert, die an Qualität unübertrefflich sind; doch
für die breite Masse des Volkes kommen vorzugsweise amerikanische
Tabake zur Verarbeitung. Allerdings entspricht der in Amerika zu
Cigaretten verarbeitete Tabak nicht unmittelbar den in Europa
bekannten schwarzen Tabaken, sondern es werden vorzugsweise
Virginia-Tabake verbraucht, die ursprünglich wie alle anderen
amerikanischen Tabake charakteristische Pfeifen- oder
Cigarrentabake sind, aber durch bestimmte Prozesse für den
Konsum in Cigarettenhülsen zubereitet werden. Diese
Virginiacigaretten sind in Deutschland aus dem Jahre 1919
besonders unter der Bezeichnung »englische Cigaretten« bekannt,
denn sie wurden vorzugsweise von englischer Seite aus in
Deutschland durch das »Loch im Westen« eingeführt. In England
selbst nimmt der Verbrauch von Virginiacigaretten ebenfalls einen
großen Raum ein, da er durch die dortigen klimatischen Verhältnisse
begünstigt wird. Außerdem gibt es in England, vor allem auf Grund
der guten Beziehungen zum Orient und besonders zu Ägypten, auch
sehr wertvolle Orientcigaretten, die sich jedoch bei weitem noch kein
so großes Publikum verschafft haben wie die entsprechenden
Fabrikate in Deutschland.
Nach den Gepflogenheiten des deutschen Rauchers können wir die
Orienttabake als eigentliche Cigarettentabake glatt von sämtlichen
anderen Tabaken abtrennen, da die letzteren innerhalb Deutschlands
fast ausschließlich für Pfeifen und Cigarren verwendet werden. Zu
diesen Pfeifen- und Cigarrentabaken gehören auch die Erzeugnisse
des deutschen, überhaupt des westeuropäischen Tabakanbaues.

Mangels einer größeren Einfuhrmöglichkeit von Orienttabaken

während des Krieges wurden vielfach Versuche gemacht, die
Restbestände an wirklichen Orienttabaken durch deutsche Tabake
usw., also sogenannte schwarze Tabake zu strecken oder auch
ausgesprochene Surrogate zu verwenden. Die außerordentliche
Abneigung, die diese Cigaretten bei dem Raucherpublikum gefunden
haben, hat noch bis heute die Meinung bestehen lassen, daß der
Qualitätsgrad einer Cigarette an der hellen Farbe des Tabaks erkannt
werden kann. Wenn es auch richtig war, daß der Raucher seinen
Augen trauen konnte, sobald er in den Zeiten der Zwangswirtschaft
an der dunkleren Färbung einheimischer oder amerikanischer Tabake
die Minderwertigkeit eines Fabrikats erkennen wollte, so trifft diese
Farbgraduierung keineswegs zu, sobald es sich um eine Kritik
innerhalb verschiedener Sorten wirklich echter Orientcigaretten
handelt. Es gibt sehr wertvolle Orienttabake, die dunkel gefärbt sind;
andere sind wiederum rötlich, und das eigentümliche Mittelding
zwischen dem echten Orienttabak und den amerikanischen
Pfeifentabaken, nämliche der Virginiatabak, hat gerade eine
besonders helle Farbe, ohne daß er an Qualität auch nur im
entferntesten mit irgendeinem echten Orienttabak verglichen werden
kann. Abgesehen von einer Feststellung der Verwendung von Misch-
oder Ersatztabaken, die man sehr wohl noch dem Auge zutrauen
kann, ist es ganz außerordentlich schwer, bereits beim Anblick einer
Cigarette ein Urteil abgeben zu können. Die Anhaltspunkte zur
Beurteilung sind allzu gering. Neben Erwähnung der Farbe hört man
häufig für dieses oder jenes »Format« plädieren. Aber auch ein
Format kann niemals für die Qualität einer Cigarette
ausschlaggebend sein, denn es steht in den weitaus meisten Fällen
in unmittelbarer Abhängigkeit von der Art der verwendeten Tabake
und ihrem Mischungsverhältnis. Wenn es sich um schwere und
gehaltvolle Tabake handelt, so wird das Format relativ schmal und
klein sein müssen. Ist der Tabak leicht und sehr milde, so wird das
Format der Cigarette sehr voll sein müssen, damit die größere
Brandfläche, die jeweils dem Querschnitt der Cigarette entspricht,
einen volleren Geschmack auslöst. Je wertvoller und je sorgfältiger
Cigaretten hergestellt werden, desto bestimmter wird das
entsprechende Format festgelegt werden müssen. Die Abhängigkeit
von Tabak und Tabakmischung vom Format und umgekehrt ist so
weitgehend, daß ein und dieselbe Füllung in dem einen Format fast
ungenießbar sein kann, dagegen in einem anderen Format einen
überraschend schönen Charakter zur Geltung bringt.
Die einzige wirkliche Möglichkeit zur Beurteilung einer Cigarette ist
eine gewissenhafte Rauchprobe, und selbst dann sind noch eine
Anzahl Umstände zu beachten, deren Einwirkung häufig unterschätzt
wird.
Man stelle sich beispielsweise die Stimmung vor, in der man sich
nach einem guten und reichlichen Essen, zu allen edlen und schönen
Dingen bereit, einer fast körperlich übertriebenen Behaglichkeit
hingibt. Würde man sich dann eine Cigarette anzünden, die sehr
aromatisch und auf Grund einer gewissen Herbigkeit sehr anregend
wirkt, so würde man zweifellos sehr enttäuscht sein und diesen
Mißklang zur augenblicklichen Stimmung zu einer Verurteilung der
Cigarette umbiegen. Die meisten Menschen benötigen in einer
solchen behaglichen Stimmung eine weiche, milde, aber sehr volle
und blumige Cigarette, die den durch das Essen bereits gewonnenen
seelischen Ausgleich erhöht und jegliche Aufregung verhindert. Man
stelle sich jedoch andererseits einen Geistesarbeiter vor, der
nächtelang über kniffligen Problemen sitzt, und dessen unbedingt
zur Arbeit erforderliche Konzentration durch langsames Ermüden
nachläßt. Wenn er dann zu einer milden, weichen, versöhnlichen
Cigarette greifen wollte, so würde gerade das Gegenteil der
beabsichtigten Wirkung eintreten, und die erhoffte Spannung würde
sich ganz auflösen. In solchen Augenblicken benötigt er eine herbe,
kräftig-aromatische Cigarette von momentaner anregender Wirkung
und möglichst kurzer Brenndauer, da die Muße für einen langen und
stillen Genuß des Tabaks nicht vorhanden ist.
Es gibt Cigaretten, die man eigentlich nur in einem bequemen
Sessel richtig genießen kann, und die an anderer Stelle,
beispielsweise auf der Straße einfach deplaziert wirken. Es gibt
andere Cigaretten, die den hastigen, kurzen Augenblicken einer
Konzert- oder Theaterpause angepaßt sind, wieder andere, die nach
langen Anstrengungen körperlicher Art eine erfrischende, anregende
Wirkung auslösen, usw.
Neben diesen verschiedenen Wirkungsmöglichkeiten, die der
raffinierte Raucher kennt, gibt es natürlich für jeden einzelnen eine
eigentliche Leib- und Magencigarette, die man als die typische
Gewohnheitscigarette bezeichnen kann. Da die Menschen mit ihren
Bedürfnissen außerordentlich verschieden sind, sind natürlich auch
die Cigaretten verschieden, die den jeweiligen individuellen
Bedürfnissen entsprechen sollen. Wat den enen sin Uhl, is den
annern sin Nachtigall. Eine süße Smyrna-Cigarette, die dem einen
den ganzen Tag über ein immerwährendes Vergnügen bereitet,
würde dem andern völlig unerträglich werden können. Natürlich sind
dies Differenzierungen, wie sie nur der sehr verwöhnte Raucher
kennt, aber bei der Beurteilung von Cigaretten ganz allgemein spielt
der ganz persönliche Geschmack eine so große Rolle, daß man
häufig ein sehr schlechtes Urteil über eine Cigarette erleben kann
trotzdem diese eigentlich nur den jeweiligen
Geschmacksforderungen widerspricht, aber im übrigen qualitativ
unantastbar ist. Ein extremes Beispiel ergibt die bereits erwähnte
Cigarette mit sogenanntem schwarzem Tabak, die von manchen
Ausländern als die einzig mögliche Cigarette bezeichnet wird, und
die der größte Teil der deutschen Raucher mit dem besten Willen
nicht verträgt, ohne daß man deshalb sagen dürfte, die Cigarette
wäre an sich schlecht.
Die Schwierigkeit für das Auffinden einer richtigen Leib- und
Magencigarette beruht vor allen Dingen in der Gefahr der
Geschmacksübermüdung. Je wertvoller die Tabake sind, desto
charakteristischer sind sie in ihren Geschmackseigenarten, und es ist
eine sehr schwere Aufgabe des Fabrikanten, die
Geschmackseigenarten derart abzudämpfen, daß eine
Geschmacksübermüdung bis zu einem gewissen Grade ausgeschaltet
bleibt. Ganz und gar wird sich die Gefahr nicht beseitigen lassen,
denn es dürfte wohl überhaupt kein menschliches Genußmittel
geben, das nicht doch hin und wieder eine Abwechslung erfordert.
So haben sich bereits viele Raucher daran gewöhnt, mit bestimmten
gegeneinander abgeglichenen Cigaretten hin und wieder
abzuwechseln, um sich die Lebendigkeit der Wirkung zu erhalten
und eine Übermüdung zu vermeiden. Andererseits kann man sich
allerdings auch an eine bestimmte Cigarette oder einen bestimmten
Cigarettencharakter so gewöhnen, daß man kaum noch in der Lage
ist, anderen Arten Gerechtigkeit widerfahren zu lassen. Jede wirklich
wertvolle und eigenartige Mischung verlangt auch ein gewisses
Einleben, und man kann sich manchmal an eine anfangs abgelehnte
Cigarette durch gewissenhaftes Nachprüfen so gewöhnen, daß man
gegen diese wiederum keine andere eintauschen möchte. Man kann
eben manchmal erst langsam auf den richtigen Geschmack kommen.
Die einzige Anforderung, die man bei Voraussetzung
unterschiedlichster Arten an eine Cigarette immer stellen muß, ist
die jeweilig ihrer Art entsprechende wirkliche Reinheit und Qualität.
Wenn jemand an den Genuß reiner Orientcigaretten gewöhnt ist,
wird er stets sofort auch den minimalsten Prozentsatz der
Verwendung unedlerer Tabake feststellen können. Außerhalb reiner
Qualitätsfragen ist ein Streit nicht möglich. De gustibus non est
disputandum.
 In erster Linie hängt der Charakter einer Cigarette von der Art der
verwendeten Tabake ab. Aber mindestens ebenso wesentlich sind
die Mischungsprobleme. Es ist heute noch wenig bekannt, daß auch
der denkbar edelste Tabak (und zwar je edler, desto weniger) allein
verarbeitet nicht rauchbar ist. Erst durch Mischung verschiedener
Tabake nach bestimmten Gesichtspunkten entsteht das
Tabakmaterial für eine Cigarette. Die Regeln und Rezepte für
Mischungen sind sehr komplizierter und variabler Art, da jeder
Tabak, der verwendet wird, seinen besonderen Eigenarten
entsprechend gemischt werden muß. Es werden immer wieder neue
Variationen erfunden, denen zahllose Experimente vorhergehen. Die
Mischungsgeheimnisse d. h. wertvolle Mischungsrezepte sind ein
sehr wesentliches Besitztum eines Fabrikanten.
Die Begründung der Unrauchbarkeit einzelner Tabaksorten für sich
allein ist darin zu suchen, daß jeder Tabak von Charakter
geschmacklich zu einseitig ist und seinen Charakter übermäßig
aufdringlich zur Geltung bringt. Die Absicht des Mischers ist es nun,
diejenigen Tabake gegeneinander abzuwägen, die sich gegenseitig
ausgleichen und dadurch ihre jeweilige Geschmackseinseitigkeit
verlieren, um dieses oder jenes feine Aroma oder diesen oder jenen
feinen Geschmacksakkord den jeweiligen Anforderungen gemäß
mehr oder weniger unaufdringlich auswirken zu lassen. Die
Mischungsforderung ist ähnlich wie bei weitaus den meisten Speisen,
die für sich genossen schal und leer schmecken würden und ihren
Wert eigentlich erst durch entsprechende Gewürze wie Salz usw.
offenbaren. Die Gewürze selbst wiederum können nicht allein
genossen werden. Erst der fein abgewogene Zusammenklang und
Ausgleich verschiedener Eigenarten ergibt die Genußmöglichkeit.
Deshalb unterscheidet man genau so wie bei vielen anderen
gastronomischen Materialien Tabake, die als Gewürze verwendet
werden und daher Würztabake genannt werden können, und
Tabake, die eine möglichst ruhige Basis ergeben, und auf denen sich
die Mischungen von Würztabaken frei entwickeln können. Da es sich
bei Tabaken nicht um Nahrungsmittel, sondern Genußmittel handelt,
sind natürlich die Würztabake die wichtigsten und wertvollsten. Die
zur Basis verwendeten Tabake kann man als Fülltabake bezeichnen.
Es sind dies vorzugsweise Tabake sehr ruhiger und unaufdringlicher
Geschmacksarten, die auf Grund der Bezeichnung durchaus nicht mit
Tabaken verwechselt werden dürfen, die man zu Zeiten der
Zwangswirtschaft als Füllsel für Cigarettenhülsen unter teilweiser
Beimischung echter Orienttabake verwendete. Wenn die Fülltabake
auch durch den Wert der edelsten Würztabake übertroffen werden,
so liegt doch gerade in der Auswahl, Verwertung und Dosierung von
Fülltabaken der Kern des ganzen Mischungsproblems. Durch
weitgehende Kenntnis, welche Fülltabake und Fülltabakmischungen
diesen oder jenen Würztabaken oder Würztabakmischungen die
harmonisch ausgleichende Basis geben können, kann ein Fabrikant
allen mit ihm im Wettbewerb stehenden Unternehmungen qualitativ
den Rang ablaufen. Die Geheimnisse der Fülltabake werden als
persönlichste Erfahrungen ängstlich gehütet. Die Schwierigkeiten der
Auswertung bestehen aber gerade darin, daß man jeweils nur unter
den auf dem Markt zur Verfügung stehenden Tabaken die Auswahl
hat und immer wieder neue Rezepte aufstellen muß, da gleichartig
geratene Sorten nur selten wieder aufzutreiben sind. Eine
grundsätzliche Unterscheidung zwischen Würztabaken und
Fülltabaken steht für den Tabakmarkt nicht fest, da in dieser oder
jener Mischung dieser oder jener Fülltabak auch als Würztabak
dienen kann. Weiterhin gibt es auch sehr wertvolle Sorten, die
eigentlich als Würztabake bezeichnet werden können, aber einen
Geschmacksausgleich bereits untereinander finden, ohne daß ein
gegensätzlicher Fülltabak benötigt wird.
Die Bauern der Ursprungsländer des Tabaks sind nicht so
empfindlich gegen starke und sehr herbe Cigaretten wie die
Europäer. Der türkische Bauer kann Mischungen rauchen, die nach
unserem Empfinden sehr einseitig gewürzt sind. Aber trotz der
gewissen Einseitigkeit der Mischungen für die Einwohner der
Tabakländer, die sich aus der bevorzugten oder ausschließlichen
Verwendung der örtlich vorhandenen Tabake ergibt, sind die dort
verwendeten Rauchtabake doch immer wieder Mischungen, in denen
ein Ausgleich wenigstens bis zu einem gewissen Grade gesucht wird.
Die Mischungsprobleme sind ganz außerordentlich diffizil und
setzen eine Geschmackskritik voraus, die Nichtfachleuten geradezu
märchenhaft erscheinen muß. Es gibt Orientalen, die beim Rauchen
einer Cigarette sofort die zehn oder zwanzig maßgebenden
Würztabake aufzählen, die in einer Mischung enthalten sind.
Infolgedessen werden auch in den europäischen Fabriken von Rang
die Mischungen fast ausschließlich von Orientalen ausgeführt oder
zumindest angeregt. Es ist sehr eigenartig und charakteristisch, daß
solche Mischer immer wieder die Tabaksorten ihrer engeren Heimat
besonders vorziehen und in diesen Sorten allein genügend
Differenzmaterial für Mischungen finden zu können glauben. Im
allgemeinen werden jedoch zu Mischungen für Europäer so ziemlich
alle Gebiete herangezogen, die als Ursprungsländer edler Tabake in
Betracht kommen, um damit Differenzierungen zu schaffen, die den
vielseitigen Anforderungen entsprechen können.

Die Mischungsaufgaben ergeben sich aus den jeweils zur

Verfügung stehenden Provenienzen, denn die Eigenarten
verschiedener Tabake, denen entsprochen werden muß, sind
unbegrenzt variabel. Für diese Geschmackseigenarten ist in erster
Linie die Pflanzenart bestimmend. Dazu kommt die
Bodenbeschaffenheit und die Lage der Anbaugebiete mit ihren
jeweils eigentümlichen klimatischen Verhältnissen. Weiterhin spielt
die Höhenlage und die Sonnenlage eine so große Rolle, daß schon
geringe Höhenunterschiede angebauter Flächen und kleine
Abweichungen in der Lage dieser Flächen zur Himmelsrichtung auch
bei sonst gleichartigen Voraussetzungen deutlich bemerkbar werden.
Selbstverständlich ist außerdem jeder Jahrgang, jede Ernte
unterschiedlich, denn die verschiedene Zahl der Sonnentage, der
Niederschläge, der Temperaturen usw. in verschiedenen Jahren
ergibt sehr verschiedene Tabake.
 Man kann also, abgesehen von öfteren weitgehenden
Ähnlichkeiten verschiedener Tabakpartien, behaupten, daß genau ein
und derselbe Tabak nie zweimal auf dem Markt erscheint.
 Liegen die benötigten Tabake nach Einkauf, Verzollung usw. in den
zur Fabrik gehörigen Lagerräumen zur Verfügung, und liegen die
obig besprochenen Mischungsrezepte für die jeweils vorhandenen
und zur Verarbeitung gelangenden Provenienzen fest, so ist der
weitere Fabrikationsvorgang bis zur Cigarette mehr ein Problem der
Präzision, der Sauberkeit, Zweckmäßigkeit und kaufmännischen
Rentabilität als ein maßgebender Faktor für die Geschmacksqualität
der Cigarette.
Da die zur Verfügung stehenden Provenienzen kaum in gleicher
Geschmackseigenart nachzubekommen sind, da aber andererseits
das Bedürfnis besteht, eine einmal eingeführte Cigarettenmarke von
bestimmter Geschmacksrichtung möglichst lange auf dem Markte zu
erhalten, werden die für den Geschmack maßgebenden Partien
jeweilig in sehr großen Mengen erworben, so daß möglichst auf
Jahre hinaus die gleichbleibende Qualität und Geschmackseigenart
einer Cigarette gesichert ist. Weiterhin bemüht man sich, möglichst
viele verschiedene Tabakarten zu Mischungen zu verwenden, so daß
der durch neue Ernten bedingte Ausfall dieses oder jenes
Mischungsteiles durch einen möglichst ähnlichen Tabak ergänzt
werden kann, ohne daß diese minimalen Differenzen dem Raucher
auffallen können, vor allem, wenn der Grundcharakter und die
Qualitätsstufe der Cigarettenmarke voll erhalten bleibt.

Das Tabaklager der großen Cigarettenfabriken steht unter dem

Tabakmeister, der die Tabake fachtechnisch behandeln muß, die
Mischungsrezepte in Vorschlag bringt und die Mischungen selbst
überwacht. Diese Stellung ist wohl ausschließlich Orientalen
vorbehalten, da selbst die verwöhnteste Zunge eines Europäers nicht
in der Lage ist, die minimalen Geschmacksdifferenzen praktisch zu
bestimmen. Trotzdem ist es natürlich, daß ein Tabakmeister, so
bedeutsam seine Stellung auch sein mag, keineswegs für die
Qualitätsstellung der Fabrik, für die er arbeitet, maßgebend sein
kann. Hierfür ist und bleibt die eigentliche Firmenleitung durchaus
maßgebend. Selbst bei den besten Beamten muß eine auch nur
etwas mangelhafte Fachkenntnis der Firmenleitung in Tabak- und
Mischungsfragen sehr verhängnisvoll werden. Denn an dieser Stelle
wird Qualitätswille, Stil und Geschmacksforderung maßgebend
festgelegt.

Die Tabake werden in den Ballen, in denen sie aus dem Orient
ankommen, in den Fabrikationsgang gebracht. In der ersten Station
werden die Ballen geöffnet, aufgeteilt, die eng aneinander gepreßten
Blätter werden einzeln auseinander genommen und sortiert. Nach
der Sortierung werden die Blätter (nach ihren Provenienzen
geordnet) in große Holzkisten gefüllt und erwarten in dieser Form
den Mischungsvorgang. Die nächste Station ist der Mischungsplatz,
auf dem aus den Holzkisten in dem angegebenen Verhältnis der
Mischungsrezepte die Tabake der verschiedenen Provenienzen
schichtweise übereinander gelegt werden. Es ist dies ein ziemlich
großer Platz, auf den der Inhalt der Kisten gekippt und von Arbeitern
in gleichmäßigen Lagen auf der ganzen Fläche verteilt wird. Bei
diesem Prozeß wird der Tabak den jeweiligen unterschiedlichen
Anforderungen entsprechend mehr oder weniger angefeuchtet.
Dann wird das Gemisch in große Boxen gebracht, wo es einige Tage
lagert.
Die nächste Station ist die Tabakschneiderei. Das Tabakgemisch
wird großen Schneidemaschinen zugeführt, die die Blätter in feine
Strähnen zerschneiden. Der von den Messern herunterfallende Tabak
wird auf Transportbändern in eine Entstaubungsanlage gebracht, die
als nächste Station die Aufgabe hat, den Tabak von dem bitteren
Tabakstaub gründlich zu reinigen. Aus der Entstaubungstrommel
wird der Tabak wieder in große Holzkisten gefüllt und neuerlich
einem Zwischenlager zugeführt.