Summery of an article - Research Paper Example

The formulation of the research study was based on the hypothesis that low carbohydrate diets had more significant impacts on weight loss and general physiological health of obese adult individuals. This was in comparison with the effects of conventional weight loss diets that are based on calorie and fat restriction (Stern et al, 2004). A previous research study had established that low carbohydrate diets had insignificant impacts on weight loss and diabetes on the long term. Thus, this necessitated the formulation of research study meant to confirm or repudiate these claims by carrying out the study over an extended timeline.

Stern et al (2004) also included individuals with diabetes and /or metabolic syndrome as part of the participating sample group in the study (Stern et al, 2004). The research study design was a randomized trial where individuals were randomly selected as long as they satisfied the thresholds significant to the purpose of the study. The research study was faced with the challenge of participants removing themselves from the study before it was concluded which can be termed as an internal confound.

This phenomenon was addressed by ensuring that the number of participants exceeded the number recommended by the threshold set by the study. The number of participants was 132 to cater for those who dropped out and to ensure that the dropout rate did not affect the set threshold of 100 participants (Stern et al, 2004). The inclusion of diabetic participants and those with metabolic syndrome could have affected the results of the study. This is because the researchers relied on the use of diabetes medication and historical fasting glucose levels to identify individuals with diabetes.

Diabetes medication has been known to have significant impacts of the weight of individuals. This could have negative impact on the projected outcome of the study in the study participants because the medication negated the influence of the experimental treatments. The study used various measures to establish the characteristic of the study participants’ health and suitability for the study. The Friedewald formula was used to calculate and determine the levels of Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (Stern et al, 2004).

The Body Mass Index (BMI) was used to determine the severity of participant obesity, which also helped in establishing the exclusion criteria for choosing the participants. According to Stern et al (2004), the quantitative insulin sensitivity check (QUICK) index was used to check for insulin resistance. The study indicated that weight loss was the dependent variable (DV) while the two treatments were indicative of independent variables (IV). The interventions employed by the researchers included weekly counseling sessions of four weeks followed by eleven monthly sessions.

This can be contrasted to the previous research study that formed the precedent for the one conducted by Stern et al (2004). This is because the previous study did not employ counseling sessions as an interventionist maneuver, which led to massive dropout rates by the participants negating the findings of the study. This is unlike the one conducted by Stern et al (2004) which used counseling as an interventionist maneuver to instill a sense and perception of self-help and motivation to lose weight.

There was the use of stratified randomization, with blocking