The research group “Physical Activity, Education and Society” has been working together since 1997, when a core group of professors with common interests founded the former Research Group UV 0657 (transferred to the Office of the Vice-Principal for Research).
The research activity resulting from this group was an important piece in the development of an emerging field of knowledge in the Spanish context. Educational research on curricular innovations in Physical Education, research on prisons and their link with physical exercise and sport, and the evaluation of scientific production and dissemination in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences stand out.
Over the years, new members and external collaborators have joined and contributed to consolidate this initial activity. In recent years, research has focused on vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities, teenagers and transgender people, among others. Likewise, the research methodology used encompasses both qualitative and quantitative methodology.
The work of the group is aimed at:
- To study social phenomena in the field of physical activity and physical education.
- To create knowledge in relation to vulnerable groups in the field of physical activity.
- To disseminate and transfer research results aimed at social transformation.
On the other hand, the group carries out an important task of research training, participating in the direction, coordination and operation of the “Master’s Degree in Research and Intervention in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences”, the “Master’s Degree in Secondary Education Teacher Training”, the “Master’s Degree in Research in Specific Didactics”, the “Doctoral Programme in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences” and the “Doctoral Programme in Specific Didactics”.
The group has research staff in training, and regularly receives students from other universities, both national and foreign who carry out research stays. This way, the group endorses its ability to give continuity to its lines of research and to transfer scientific knowledge to the academic and professional community.
The present research group is a group that was created after having been collaborating previously, in some cases, for more than a decade. In general, this has already resulted in the production of several doctoral, master's and degree theses, as well as many other scientific papers presented at international congresses. It is worth mentioning that its members are currently jointly undertaking research projects obtained from public calls for research proposals. It also should be noted that, as a result of the hard work of its researchers, hundreds of articles have been published and indexed in the Journal Citation Reports.
The research activity of this group focuses on the analysis and development of conditioning and physical exercise protocols and activities that can have positive effects on health, and its preservation, in different groups, i.e., from athletes to sedentary people.
The concept of health analysed in this group is one that integrates the holistic conception of the human being, i.e. it contemplates the physical, psychological and social dimensions, addressing how physical exercise can prevent illness and promote health in such different social segments and in all types of populations, such as population with special needs (physically, mentally and sensorially disabled, people with metabolic, pulmonary, osteomuscular, psychological dysfuncctions, etc.), as well as human beings in their different evolutionary stages, such as childhood, adolescence, adulthood (special processes such as pregnancy, pre- and post- menopause) and old age.
Important milestones to be evaluated, which are already being studied, are the influence of physical exercise and sport, as well as their absence, on oxidative stress, the immune system, the lipid profile, the perception of well-being, cognitive, social and personality deterioration, acute and chronic pain, body composition (fat, muscle mass and bone mass), and motor and functional performance. In addition to these milestones, the research action also aims to evaluate what kind of programmes, materials and aspects of dietary supplementation could be more effective and safe to improve overall health and motor performance.
In addition to all these milestones, and as mentioned above, the research group already has extensive scientific experience. As a result, numerous scientific and informative papers have been published, as well as active participation in committees, conferences and seminar of international relevance. In fact, several social media outlets have highlighted our findings and several private companies are collaborating in several ways to support our research work.
This research group is interested in the analysis of human movement related to motor control and physical activity from a health perspective. Therefore, its interest is focused both on the dynamic, kinematic and electromyographic analysis during the performance of activities such as static balance and gait and the analysis of the amount of physical activity (voluntary movement) performed by people and the relationship of this with their health. On the other hand, the group also conducts research in other areas related to physical exercise, applying advanced data analysis techniques (e.g. neural networks, text mining, data mining). During the last 5 years the research group has published around 40 articles indexed in JCR, of which we highlight the following 5 for their importance in the opinion of the members of the group:
- González, L.-M., García-Massó, X., Pardo-Ibañez, A., Peset, F., & Devís-Devís, J. (2018). An author keyword analysis for mapping Sport Sciences. PLOS ONE, 13(8), e0201435. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201435
- García-Massó, X., Ye-Lin, Y., Garcia-Casado, J., Querol, F., & Gonzalez, L.-M. (2019). Assessment of haemophilic arthropathy through balance analysis: A promising tool. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 22(4), 418-425. https://doi.org/10.1080/10255842.2018.1561877
- González, L.-M., Devís-Devís, J., Pellicer-Chenoll, M., Pans, M., Pardo-Ibañez, A., García-Massó, X., Peset, F., Garzón-Farinós, F., & Pérez-Samaniego, V. (2021). The Impact of COVID-19 on Sport in Twitter: A Quantitative and Qualitative Content Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), 4554. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094554
- Maitre, J., Noé, F., González, L.-M., García-Massó, X., & Paillard, T. (2021). The tightening parameters of the vibratory devices modify their disturbing postural effects. Journal of Biomechanics, 126, 110624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110624
- Pellicer-Chenoll, M., Pans, M., Seifert, R., López-Cañada, E., García-Massó, X., Devís-Devís, J., & González, L.-M. (2021). Gender differences in bicycle sharing system usage in the city of Valencia. Sustainable Cities and Society, 65, 102556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102556
This research group aims to promote interdisciplinary research on different topics related to physical activity and health. The group's lines of research focus on the study of physical activity patterns in different populations, especially in young people, as well as on the analysis of the correlates and determinants of physical activity behaviour. The research group is also interested in the study of the psychological processes associated with physical practice, as well as in the analysis of physical education and the school environment in the promotion of health.
The UIRFIDE research group has been working since 1995 in the 3 main classic lines that make up the world of physical and sporting performance. Sport and Physical Activity Management, where research is carried out and specific interventions are proposed on problems such as those related to the quality of sports services or event management (from small local events to large international events).
Sports Performance, where again research is carried out and interventions are proposed related to the needs of athletes with a view to improving their performance, whatever their starting level and their stage of development.
And finally, on the world of Physical Activity and Health, focusing especially on those populations with greater adaptation needs in physical and sporting practice, such as older adults or people with disabilities.
