A Framework to Guide Decision-Making about Sex and Gender Selection for Sport and Exercise Investigations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.450Keywords:
sex, gender, framework, selection, exercise, sport, researchAbstract
Historically, males have been preferentially selected as participants in sport and exercise research, resulting in a large sex and gender bias in almost every aspect of our evidence base. Awareness of the potential implications of this bias is prevalent, and there appears to be a willingness to solve the problem. It can, however, be challenging to make an informed decision on whether to recruit males, females, or mixed cohorts for individual studies. Decisions are frequently made with uncertainty of how biological sex- or gender- specific factors, such as the menstrual cycle, differences in baseline characteristics and response, or societal and cultural perceptions and norms, may influence research findings. Here we propose a framework to guide the decision to recruit males, females or mixed cohorts to sport and exercise studies. The framework comprises a series of conditional branching questions regarding the aims of the research study and the potential influence of sex or gender on outcomes of interest. The questions include: 1) whether the research question centers on a sex or gender specific topic; 2) whether sex or gender specific factors are likely to introduce noise to the outcomes of interest; 3) whether baseline or response differences between sexes or genders are likely to influence the outcomes of interest; and 4) what to do when insufficient data are available to inform answers to questions 2 and 3. We present and discuss examples that may influence the response to each of these branching questions. In many situations, definitive answers may not exist, and the intention of the framework is not to dictate or prescribe the participant group that individual researchers should work with. Instead, the framework is presented to engage with sample recruitment in a structured and systematic way, thereby facilitating informed and evidence-based decision-making, with the ultimate goal of contributing toward a sport and exercise evidence base that is less affected by sex and gender bias.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Eimear Dolan, Gabriel P. Esteves, Paul A. Swinton (Author)
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