Effects of a Regular Exercise Program on Police Officers - Research Proposal Example

In the process of going through a car accident, it is also possible for some of them to accidentally endanger the lives of innocent people walking on the sidewalk (Vila & Kenney, 2002).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to examine the positive impact of implementing a regular exercise program for police officers who are working permanently on the midnight shift. Upon examining the positive impact of implementing a regular exercise program for police officers who are working on the graveyard shifts, the health benefits and possible improvements in the work performance of police officers will be tackled in detail.
With regards to implementing exercise programs as a standard operating procedure, this study is important in determining new strategic ways to cut down the incidence of controllable physical injuries and deaths while police officers are working in the field.

Research Question
The following research questions will be used as a guide in completing the research study:
1. Does implementing a regular exercise program among the police officers who are working on a midnight shift prevent or lower the cases of road accidents?
2. What are the physical health and psychological benefits of exercise programs on the part of police officers?
3. What kind of exercise program suits the specific needs of police officers regardless of age?
Literature Review
As much as 65% of working individuals do not get a normal eight-hour sleep (National Sleep Foundation, 2001). Considering the short- and long-term negative impact of sleep deprivation on the physiological well-being of each police officer, it has been reported that there are a lot of them working midnight shifts who are constantly complaining about having to work without getting sufficient sleep (CNN Interactive, 1997).
The problem with lack of sleep is highly associated with memory problems, errors made while working, and slow physical movements which could lead to serious road accidents and decreased work performance. Aside from road accidents, sleep deprivation could lead to many health-related problems like cardiovascular disease, increased blood pressure, digestive problems, cancer, physical function disorders, stress, negative emotions like anxiety, anger, or depression, and errors in making good judgment while working on the field (National Sleep Foundation, 2001). This makes the job of police officers who are working the midnight shift very difficult.
Research Methodology
Information gathered for the literature review will be completed using Google and yahoo search. Terms used for locating valid sources of information include: ‘police officer midnight shift’, ‘police officer midnight shift sleep deprivation org’, and ‘sleep deprivation health consequences.
Proposed Research Design and Proposed Method of Measurements
An actual experiment will be conducted to fulfill the main purpose of this study. Because of the age differences between the police officers, the exercise program designed for the police officers includes five to ten minutes of stretching includes the following: (1) neck rolls; (2) Achilles tendon and hamstring stretches; (3) side, forward and seated forward stretches; (4) windmills exercise; (5) upper and lower back stretching exercise; and more (Exercise Goals, 2009). After engaging a group of police officers who are working on a midnight shift to participate in an exercise program, each of the research participants will be requested to fill up the research survey form.
Valid and reliable research survey instruments will be used in collecting research survey data. With regards to measuring the quantitative research survey result, simple statistics will be computed using the excel software.
Site Setting, Population, and Sampling Size
Heir et al. (1998) stated that “increasing the sample size always produces greater
power….” (p. 11). In line with this, a total of 100 research participants will be gathered from a nearby police station in _____.
Qualified research participants are police officers who are working a midnight shift. Police officers who are working in the daytime will automatically be disqualified from participating in the research study.

In line with the data gathering, it is ethical on the part of the researcher not to include misrepresented data gathered in the measuring of data results. For example: In casbiasedbias answer was gathered in the survey form, it is best not to include the data entry on the official statistical measurements. Instead, the researcher should take note or mention in the research and data analysis section that such an error has occurred in the research process. Read More