By Day 4

There are four key concepts that determine a scholarly article. Purpose which means that the article was written for a specific reason. Audience, or who the article is intended for. Presence of bias that determines whether or not we have a specific viewpoint on the topic within the article. Lastly, there is quality of evidence that applies scientific-based findings and logic to the article, making authors present facts and truthful arguments about the topic (Laureate Education, 2016). These concepts are important because it allows our audience to learn more about the article’s topic without the authors persuading them to think a certain way. Additionally, these concepts can help authors develop a sense of professional and scholarly writing (Laureate Education, 2012)

In the article by Gallant, Thibault, Hebert, Gunnell, & Bélanger (2020), the authors demonstrate each of the four key elements. Firstly, the purpose of the article is found within the abstract and the authors come right out with describing the objective of the article and why they did the research. The object of this article was to determine how well children and youth stuck to physical activity, sleep, and screen time to enhance healthy habits as guided by Canada’s 24-hour movement guidelines. Additionally, this article also sought to estimate the relationships between physical activity, screen time, and sleep through eight years of life in children to adolescence (Gallant, F., Thibault, V., Hebert, J., Gunnell, K., & Bélanger, M. 2020).

While the authors do not express the intended audience for this article, it is published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. It would be seen by an audience of mostly professionals and psychologists who intended to learn more about the correlation between physical activity, screen time, and sleep. These scientists may intend to replicate this study to find more evidence on the effectiveness of the movement. Furthermore, it could also be important for the leaders of the 24-hour movement in Canada to have access to the authors’ findings to determine the effectiveness of the movement.

The authors in this article do not share their opinions on the usefulness or effectiveness of Canada’s 24-hour movement. In the discussion section, where the authors further explain their findings, the authors only fully describe what the numbers and the data are telling them. The authors do not come right out and say if the movement is working for the participants or not, but they do highlight the important of further research on the topic in order for a more accurate representation of the population. The authors also cross-examined their findings with results from other studies to determine the accuracy of their study. At the end of the discussion section, the authors state that while their study is the first of longitudinal analyses for the 24-hour movement, their findings are consistent with other studies done that it is uncommon for youths to follow the 24-hour movement guidelines (Gallant, F., Thibault, V., Hebert, J., Gunnell, K., & Bélanger, M. 2020). Because these statements are supported with data and evidence from multiple studies, it cannot be determined as biases.

To add on to the previous statement, the authors only use facts and data presented to them by reliable and peer-reviewed articles to support their findings and their hypothesis. Specifically, they focus on the data they collected from their own study to further back up claims made by the other studies. The evidence they are presenting are factual and true and supported by the findings from their study.

Gallant, F., Thibault, V., Hebert, J., Gunnell, K. E., & Bélanger, M. (2020). One size does not fit all: Identifying clusters of physical activity, screen time, and sleep behavior co-development from childhood to adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 17(58). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-00964-1

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012). Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, audience, and evidence [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Laureate Education. (2016). Study notes: Introduction to scholarly writing: Purpose, Audience, and Evidence. Retrieved from https://content.waldenu.edu/content/laureate-academics/wal/instances/ms-fpsy/fpsy-6002-210830-210802/week-03.html