Abstract

Background: Individuals who identify as deaf and hard of hearing are overlooked or excluded from public health research, surveillance, and outreach and education programs. Studies have shown that there is a connection between motor skill development in children and their participation in physical activities. Generally, deaf children lag in motor skill development when compared to their hearing peers, and these developmental discrepancies can be minimized with increased participation in physical activity and sports. Purpose: This project involved the creation and validation of a survey that retrospectively assessed how both parental hearing status and the number of barriers experienced by a deaf individual impacts their level of activity while in college. The goal of this research is to use the end survey to gain knowledge in this field. Methods: This study utilized both student participants and expert participants. Experts reviewed, graded, and gave suggestions to ensure content validity of the survey. Student participants were recruited through email, and data was gathered through think aloud interviews and anonymous survey completion. Results: Based on the kappa results, 31 out of 32 questions were ranked as excellent and all questions were relevant to the study. The probability of chance agreement for five questions were each 0.3125, and 0.0313 for the remaining 27. Twelve students took the survey anonymously; however, ten out of the 12 were excluded based on age or hearing status. Discussion: Overall, the survey scored well, but it is imperfect. Expert review of the survey anonymously; however, ten out of the 12 were excluded based on age or hearing status. Discussion: Overall, the survey scored well, but it is imperfect. Expert review of the survey showed excellent content agreement, however, only one was from a physical education background. The ratio of experts from both disciplines (physical education and deaf studies) should have been obtained. Also, the number of student survey participants needs to occur to allow for a Cronbach alpha calculation. There were only three interview participants utilized in this study, and all were male, meaning struggles experienced by individuals of other genders were not included. There is not enough data to show that the created survey is useful and adequately assesses how both parental hearing status and number of barriers experienced affects a deaf individual’s level of physical activity during their college years.

Publication Date

12-13-2021

Document Type

Master's Project

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Health and Well-being Management (MS)

Advisor

Zachary Bevilacqua

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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