BSc · MSc · Sports and exercise science
50 research questions organised into 10 specialist areas, each paired with a study design, statistical method, dataset and a related university thesis.
50 Questions
10 Sub-fields
9 Datasets
5 Universities
2021–26 Thesis years
By Siddharth Gupta · Statssy
Sports science students usually plan a lab study. Then the lab is booked, the athletes are injured and the season is over.
In my 12 years of helping sports science students, small samples and lost data points have caused more stress than any test. A study with 12 people can still pass. It just needs the right design and the right test.
This collection offers options using exercise, fitness, wearable and sports performance data. Every question has a recommended method and an example thesis to review.
How to use this list Choose two or three questions from an area you train, coach or study. Review the dataset and its codebook to confirm the required measurements exist. Read the linked thesis and examine its approach to small or incomplete samples. Decide whether your question requires repeated measurements from the same participants. Take your shortlist to your supervisor or discuss it in a free meeting . Jump to a sub-field 01. Exercise physiology 02. Strength and conditioning 03. Sports nutrition and body composition 04. Sport and exercise psychology 05. Biomechanics, injury and recovery 06. Physical activity and public health 07. Wearables and sports technology 08. Performance analysis 09. Ageing and clinical exercise 10. Youth sport and physical education Research area 01 / 10
Exercise physiology Physiology topics compare how the body responds to different types of exercise. Wearable and gym datasets give you heart rate and energy data without a lab.
TOPIC 01 Does heart rate recover more slowly after aerobic sessions than after anaerobic ones? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Paired t-test Dataset Wearable Stress and Exercise (PhysioNet) Open TOPIC 02 Does workout type change average heart rate when session length is the same? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method ANCOVA Dataset Gym Members Exercise (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 03 Do heart rate and skin response change differently during stress and exercise sessions? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Linear mixed model Dataset Wearable Stress and Exercise (PhysioNet) Open TOPIC 04 Do men and women burn different calories doing the same workout type? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Two-way ANOVA Dataset Gym Members Exercise (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 05 Do fitter adults have lower resting heart rate and blood pressure? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted linear regression Dataset NHANES Open Research area 02 / 10
Strength and conditioning OpenPowerlifting holds results from thousands of meets. It is the largest free strength dataset you will find.
TOPIC 06 How does strength relative to bodyweight change with age in powerlifters? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Polynomial regression Dataset OpenPowerlifting Open TOPIC 07 Do raw and equipped lifters differ in total once bodyweight is accounted for? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method ANCOVA Dataset OpenPowerlifting Open TOPIC 08 How much do lifters improve between their first and later competitions? Study design Longitudinal Statistical method Linear mixed model Dataset OpenPowerlifting Open TOPIC 09 Does training frequency predict lower body fat percentage? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset Gym Members Exercise (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 10 Is the strength gap between men and women the same for squat, bench and deadlift? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Two-way ANOVA Dataset OpenPowerlifting Open Research area 03 / 10
Sports nutrition and body composition Body composition topics link diet, size and strength. NHANES adds lab-grade measures like grip strength and DEXA.
TOPIC 11 Is water intake linked to workout length and calorie burn? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Pearson correlation and regression Dataset Gym Members Exercise (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 12 Is protein intake linked to muscle strength in older adults? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted linear regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 13 Is body fat linked to grip strength in children? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Multiple linear regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 14 Have athletes’ height and weight changed over a century in each sport? Study design Trend analysis Statistical method Linear regression with year by sport interaction Dataset 120 Years of Olympic History (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 15 Does BMI differ by preferred workout type among gym members? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Kruskal-Wallis test Dataset Gym Members Exercise (Kaggle) Free login Research area 04 / 10
Sport and exercise psychology Psychology topics ask why people move, and what moving does for the mind. Active Lives includes wellbeing and motivation questions.
TOPIC 16 Do adults who enjoy exercise meet activity guidelines more often? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open TOPIC 17 Is physical activity linked to lower anxiety in adults? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Ordinal logistic regression Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open TOPIC 18 Do stress sessions raise heart rate as much as moderate exercise? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Repeated measures ANOVA Dataset Wearable Stress and Exercise (PhysioNet) Open TOPIC 19 Is regular physical activity linked to fewer depressive symptoms? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted logistic regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 20 Does feeling able to exercise predict activity levels in disabled adults? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open Research area 05 / 10
Biomechanics, injury and recovery Injury and movement topics need sensor or health survey data. Accelerometer files and NHANES pain questions are a good place to start.
TOPIC 21 Does wrist acceleration differ between aerobic and anaerobic sessions? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Paired t-test Dataset Wearable Stress and Exercise (PhysioNet) Open TOPIC 22 Are adults with low back pain less physically active? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted logistic regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 23 Do adults with arthritis who stay active report fewer daily limits? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted logistic regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 24 Does a short night’s sleep predict lower activity the next day? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Linear mixed model Dataset Fitbit Tracker Data (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 25 Do football players commit more fouls late in matches? Study design Event data Statistical method Poisson regression Dataset StatsBomb Open Data Open See the downloadable PDF section
Research area 06 / 10
Physical activity and public health Population activity topics are perfect for Masters students. Active Lives and NHANES are both free and very large.
TOPIC 26 Which groups in England are least physically active? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open TOPIC 27 How closely does self-reported activity match device-measured activity? Study design Method comparison Statistical method Bland-Altman analysis Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 28 Did activity levels in England recover after the COVID-19 lockdowns? Study design Trend analysis Statistical method Interrupted time series Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open TOPIC 29 Is sitting time linked to metabolic syndrome even in people who exercise? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted logistic regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 30 Does living in a deprived area predict lower sport participation? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Multilevel logistic regression Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open Research area 07 / 10
Wearables and sports technology Tracker data gives you minute-by-minute records. It suits repeated measures and mixed models well.
TOPIC 31 How many extra calories does each 1,000 steps add for tracker users? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Linear mixed model Dataset Fitbit Tracker Data (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 32 Does activity drop on weekends among tracker users? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Paired t-test Dataset Fitbit Tracker Data (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 33 Can wrist sensor data tell exercise apart from stress? Study design Prediction model Statistical method Random forest compared with logistic regression Dataset Wearable Stress and Exercise (PhysioNet) Open TOPIC 34 Is tracked sleep duration linked to sedentary time? Study design Repeated measures Statistical method Repeated measures correlation Dataset Fitbit Tracker Data (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 35 Does session heart rate predict calories better than session length? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Hierarchical regression Dataset Gym Members Exercise (Kaggle) Free login Research area 09 / 10
Ageing and clinical exercise Ageing topics link fitness to function and health. NHANES includes older adults, strength tests and chronic disease data.
TOPIC 41 Does grip strength predict survival in older adults? Study design Retrospective cohort Statistical method Cox proportional hazards regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 42 Is daily activity linked to fewer physical limits in older adults? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted logistic regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 43 How fast does strength decline per decade in masters lifters? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Piecewise regression Dataset OpenPowerlifting Open TOPIC 44 Is regular exercise linked to better blood sugar control in adults with diabetes? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted linear regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 45 Is physical activity linked to better cognitive scores in older adults? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted linear regression Dataset NHANES Open Research area 10 / 10
Youth sport and physical education Youth topics look at how children start, enjoy and drop out of sport. Active Lives has a separate children and young people survey.
TOPIC 46 Do children who enjoy PE do more activity outside school? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open TOPIC 47 Does parents’ activity predict how active their children are? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Logistic regression Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open TOPIC 48 Do active teenagers have healthier heart and metabolic markers? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Survey-weighted linear regression Dataset NHANES Open TOPIC 49 Are the youngest Olympians clustered in certain sports? Study design Retrospective Statistical method Chi-square test Dataset 120 Years of Olympic History (Kaggle) Free login TOPIC 50 Do girls drop out of sport earlier than boys? Study design Cross-sectional Statistical method Logistic regression with an age by sex interaction Dataset Sport England Active Lives Open See the downloadable PDF section
Printable sports science resource
Get all 50 topics in one PDF Download the complete 23-page Statssy sports science guide with all 50 research questions, study designs, statistical methods, dataset access details and related university thesis references. Includes clickable sources, Statssy website and WhatsApp contact links.
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