GoudieWilliams1

Introduction
Youcomehometofindyourhousehasbeenbrokeninto.Asyourunup,you
hearpanickedyellingfrominside.Fivemaskedmenburstoutyoursidedoorwithlarge
bagsslungovertheirbacks.Yourecognizetheshapeofyourgrandmothersporcelain
doll,crudelywrappedinbubblewrap,peekingoutofoneofthebags.Themenrun
towardthestreetjustasacarzoomsuptothecurb.Themenpileinwhileyourun
towardsthem,tryingtogetyourphoneouttotakeapictureofthethieves.Astheydrive
off,youtrytomemorizetheirlicenseplatenumber,butthereisnolicenseplate,andthe
carhasallofitsmarkingsthattellwhattypeofcaritisremoved.Youarenowleftwith
closetonothing.Theonlyevidenceleftbehindisafewfootprints.
Often,footprintsareleftbehindatacrimescene.Withtheresearch,policecan
narrowdownthelistofsuspects.Theresearchwillmakeitpossibletofindthe
approximatehipheightandhipwidthusingthestridelength.Basedonhipheightand
widthwecanassumeApersonsbodytype.Theresearchwasfoundbymeasuringthe
volunteershipheightandhipwidth,andthenmeasuringtheirstridelengthwalking
usingvideocaptureandtheLoggerPro3system,whichisavideoanalyzingprogram.
Herearesomeproblemsintheresearch.Peoplewiththinnerhipsandhigherhipstend
tohavealongerstridelength.Ofcoursetherearedifferentvariationswithpeople.
Marchingbandmemberstendtohaveshorterstridelengthsbecauseofpracticingroll
stepsformarchingband.Thepracticecarriesovertotheiractualgait.Peoplethat
constantlyrunfortrackorexercisetendtohavelongerstridelengthsbecausethey
constantlytrytoextendtheirstridelengthswhilerunninginordertobefaster.The

GoudieWilliams2

researchwasconductedinthehopesofbeingabletocatchcriminalsusingcrime
evidencefastersothatlesscrimetakesplace.
TheonlinewebsiteDinosaurLocomotionusedsimilarresearchtofindthe
speedofacreatureorhuman.Thedifferenceisthattheresearchusedhipheightand
hipwidthtofindthestridelength,wheretheyusedhipheightandstridelengthtofind
thevelocity(
DinosaurLocomotion).Anothersitethatusedsimilarresearchis

Dinosaurs:AConciseNaturalHistory
,byDavidFastovsky.Thisbookhasinformation
onanimalstridelengthsandthemanyfactorsthataffectananimalsstridelength.Itis
differentbecauseitincludesalotofvariablesnotusedintheresearch.

ProblemStatement
Problem:
Howtofindthestridelengthofapersonbymeasuringthepersonshipheight
andhipwidth.
Hypothesis:
Apersonwithahigherhipheightandathinnerhipwidthwillhavealongerstride
length.Apersonshipheightiswhatwillaffecttheexperimentthemost.
DataMeasured:
Theindependentvariablearethemanypeoplethatagreedtobemeasured..The
dependentvariablewouldbethelengths(incentimeters)ofeachpersonshipheight
andwidth.Thehipheightwillbemeasuredbyfindingthetopofthehipandmeasuring
itsdistancetothefloor.Atapemeasurewillbeusedintheprocess.Thehookedend
willbeplacedontopofthesubjectshipboneandtherestwillbestretchedtothefloor.

GoudieWilliams3

Thehipheightwillbefoundbyusingthetapemeasureandtwotsquares.Thetwo
tsquareswillbesetontopofthesubjectshipandthenthetapemeasurewouldbe
usedtofindthedistancebetweentheTsquaresends.Thesubjectwillbetenboysand
tengirls.Allofthesubjectswillbeninthgraders.

ExperimentalDesign
Materials:
23footTsquares
Measuringtapewithcentimeters
Pencil
Calculator(TInspire)
20
Homosapiens
:10male,10female
Camera
ComputerwithLoggerPro3

Procedure:
GatheringData
MEASURINGVOLUNTEERSHIPHEIGHT:
1.

Findthehighestpointofthevolunteershipandplacethemeasuringtapeend
thatthemeasuringtapecomesoutofatthehighestpoint.

2.

Placethehookedendofthemeasuringtapeonthesubjectshipandrecordits

distancefromtheground

GoudieWilliams4

MEASURINGVOLUNTEERSHIPWIDTH:
3.

PlacetheTendoftheTsquareononeofthevolunteerships.

4.

PlacetheotherTsquarethesamewayontheoppositehip.

5.

AlignthetwoTsquares

6.

Usingthemeasuringtape,measurethedistancebetweenthetwoTendsofthe
Tsquaresandrecordthemeasurement.

MEASURINGVOLUNTEERSSTRIDELENGTH:
7.

Findaspacewhereitispossibletorecordonthecamerathevolunteerswalking

8.

Placeametersticksothatitisvisibleintherecording

9.

Recordthevolunteerswalkingatacomfortablewalkingpaceinacrossthe
predeterminedspace.

10.

UsingLoggerPro3.6(andthetutorials),findthestridelengthofeachvolunteer
andrecordthem.

FINDINGTHEBONEFOSSILSLENGTH:
11.

TakeonesideofaTSquareandsetitattheproximalend

12.

TaketheotherTsquareandputitatthedistalendofthebone

13.

Lineupthe2Tsquaresrulerends.

14.

CarefullyholdtheTsquarestogethersotheydonotshiftandmovethemtoaflat

area.
15.

Onceonthegrounduseametersticktomeasurethedistancebetweentheflat
edgesofthetwoTsquares.

GoudieWilliams5

DataandObservations
Data
Table1
DOEValues
HipHeight(cm)
()

HipWidth(cm)

Standard

8797.5

(+)

()

98109

Standard

2328

(+)

2934

Table1showsthevaluesofthevariablesusedthroughoutourexperiment.The
rangesaresettofitthemeasurementsmeasuredfrom20volunteersthatarethesame
age.Thehipheightlowis87to97.5cm,whilethehighis98to109cm.Thelowis23to
28cm,whilethehighis29to34cmforhipwidth.
Table2
Results
HipHeight(cm)
()

HipWidth(cm)

Standard

(+)

11

()

Standard

(+)

13

Table2isthenumberofpeoplethatfallwithineachrangeoutofthe20same
agedvolunteers

Table3
Stridelength(cm)
HipHeight(cm)

HipWidth(cm)

GoudieWilliams6

()

Standard

164.5

(+)

()

174.9

168.8

Standard

(+)

170.7

Table3.Stridelength(cm)
Table3istheaveragestridelengthforHipHeightandHipWidth.Thiswasfound
byseparatelyaddingtogethereachofthepeople'smeasurementsandthendividingby
theamountofpeople.

Observations
Stridelengthalsodependsonthewayapersonwalks,whichcanbevery
differentamongvolunteers.Thosewhoattendedtracktendtohavelongerstrides,while
thosewhowereinmarchingbandhaveshorterstrides.

DataAnalysisandInterpretation

Table1
FactorsusedinExperiment.
HipHeight(cm)
()

Standard

8797.5

HipWidth(cm)
(+)

98109

()
2328

Standard

(+)

2934

Table1showsthatfactorswerechosentoseewhatfactorsaffectapersons
stridelength.Theheightofapersonship,measuredincentimeters,andhipwidth,also
measuredincentimeters.Thetablesshowthelows,highs,andstandardsforeach

GoudieWilliams7

factor.Thevaluesforhipheightareasfollowing:87to97.5cm(low)and98to109cm
(high).Thevaluesforhipwidthareasfollowing:23to28cm(low)and29to34cm
(high).Wedidnotusestandardsbecauseifwedidwewouldnotbeabletousealotof
theinformation

Table2
AverageStrideLength

Average(cm)
(+,+)

(+,)

173.7

(,+)

176.1

167.6

(,)
161.4

Table2showstheresultsforthestridelengthofthepeoplethatfitintothe
combinationsofeachcategory.Thegrandaverageisallfouroftheaveragesadded
togetheranddividedbyfour.Inthisexperimentthegrandaverageis169.7cmforthe
stridelength.
Table3
EffectofHipHeight
EffectofHipHeight(cm)
()

(+)
167.6

173.7

161.5

176.1

Avg.164.5cm

Avg.174.9

GoudieWilliams8

Table3showsthesubjectsaveragestridelengthwhenthesubjecthipheight
wasappliedItgivesbothhighandbothlowamounts,aswellasanaverageforboth.
Whenthehighheightrangewasapplied,theaveragewas174.9cm.Whenthelow
heightrangewasapplied,theaveragewas164.5cm.

Figure1:EffectofHipHeight
Figure1showstheeffectofthehipheight.Theeffectofhipheightisfoundfrom
subtractingthelowaverage,164.5,fromthehighaverage174.9.Theeffectofhip
heightis10.4cm.Thismeansthatasthehipheightincreases,thestridelength
increasesby10.4cm.Thisshowsthathipheighthelpsthestridelengthverymuch.Hip
heightisstatisticallymoreeffectivethanhipwidth.Thisdatawillbeusedtofindthe
interactioneffectlateron.
Table4
EffectofHipWidth
EffectofHipWidth(cm)

GoudieWilliams9

()

(+)
176.1

173.7

161.5

167.6

Avg.168.8cm

Avg.170.7cm

Table4showstheaverageofboththehighrangeandlowrangeofthesubjects
hipwidth.Italsoshowsbothofthesevaluesaveraged.Whenthehighwidthrangewas
taken,anaverageof170.7cmstridelengthwasfound.Whenthelowwidthrangewas
taken,anaverageof168.8cmstridelengthwasfound.

Figure2:EffectofHipWidth

Figure2showstheeffectofhipwidth.Theeffectofhipwidthisfoundfrom
subtractingthelowaverage,168.8cm,fromthehighaverage,170.7cm.Theeffectof
hipwidthis1.9cm.Thismeansthatasthehipwidthincreases,thestridelength

GoudieWilliams10

increasesby1.9cm.Thisshowsthathipwidthaffectsthestridelengthlessthanhip
heightdoes.Howeveritisstillstatisticallylessimportantthanhipheight.

Table5

InteractionEffect
Figure3:InteractionofHipHeightandHipWidth

HipHeight(cm)

()

(+)

SolidSegment

(+)

167.6

173.7

DottedSegment

()

161.4

176.6

HipWidth(cm)

GoudieWilliams11

Table5isacomparingthetotalaveragesbetweenthehipheightandhipwidth
wheninteractingwithoneanother.

Figure3:InteractionofHipHeightandHipWidth

Figure3showstheinteractioneffectbetweenhipheightandhipwidth.Thesolid
segmentrepresentsthehighamountforhipwidthandthedottedsegmentrepresents
lowamountforhipwidth.Theslopeofthesolidsegmentis4.5.Theslopeofthedotted
segmentis6.15.Knowingthesefactors,theinteractioneffectcanbefound.Onthe
graphtheredoesntseemtobeaninteractionbut,theinteractioneffectofthesefactors
is1.65.Thisisfoundbysubtractingtheslopeofthedashed(low)segmentfromthe
slopeofthesolid(high)segment.
Itshouldbenotedthatwhenthehipwidthisheldhigh,onitsown(SeeFigure4),
astridelengthof170.7cmwasaveraged.Lookatthesolidsegmentabovewhichalso
representshipwidthalongwiththeinteractionofhipheight.Noticethatwhenhipwidth.

GoudieWilliams12

isheldlow,thehighamountofhipheight.yieldsastridelengthof170.7cmonaverage,
whichisequaltostridelengththatwasearlierestimated.Also,whenhipheightishigha
stridelengthof174.9cmwasmeasuredonaverage.Thisishigherthantheestimated
amount.Hipheightseemstoincreasethestridelength.
Further,whenhipwidthisheldlow,onitsown(SeeFigure2),168.8cmwere
estimatedtobemeasuredonaverage.Lookatthedottedlineabovewhichalso
representshipwidthheldlowwiththeinteractionofhipheight.Noticethatwhenhip
heightislow,thelowamountofhipwidthyieldsastridelengthof161.4cmonaverage,
whichislowerthantheestimatedstridelengthof107.7.Also,whenhipheightishigh,a
stridelengthof174.9isexpected.Thehipheightincreasestheexpectedstridelength,
butitseemsthataddingthehipwidthdecreasesthestridelength.Fromthisdata,itis
shownthathipheightraisesapersonsstridelength.Hipwidthlowersit.

Y=169.7+5.2(h)+0.95(w)0.825(hw)+
noise
Figure6:ParsimoniousPredictionEquation
Figure6showstheparsimoniousequation.Thedifferencebetweenthisandthe
predictionequationisthatonlythesignificanteffectsareused.Everythingissignificant
sincethereisnorangeofstandards,soeverythingisincludedisincluded.

Interpretation
Theheighthelpedraisestridelengthandhipwidthlowerthestridelength.Thisdata
couldbeusedtohelppolicecatchacriminalwherethemostoftenevidenceare

GoudieWilliams13

footprints.Alsoitcouldhelpwithgaminggraphics.Thebetterweunderstandhowa
personmoves,themorerealwecanmakegameslookreal.

Conclusion
Theoriginalexperimentwastoworkwithdinosaursandtrytocreateaformula.
Thehypothesiswasthatpeoplewithhigherandthinnerhipswouldhavelongerstride
lengths.Thepeoplewithshorterandwiderhipshadshorterstridelengths.The
hypothesishasbeenaccepted.
Originallydinosaurfossilswerethecenteroftheexperiment.Theinformation
fromthedinosaurstibiafemurandmetatarsalswouldbetakenandaformulawouldbe
formedforthedinosaursstridelength.Theinformationchangedastheideabehindthe
experimentshiftedtowardspeopleinstead.Informationsuggestedbyanotherperson
changedourexperimentagain.Insteadofthelengthsoftibias,femurs,andmetatarsals,
theinformationbecamehipheightandwidth.Thisdecisionwasmadebecausethe
currentexperimentwouldhavenotfitintoaDOE.Theinformationfromthisfinal
experimentwasacceptedbyhowpeopleassume.Higherhipselongatedthestride
lengthalongwiththinnerhips.Peoplewithshorterandwiderhipsdidnothavethe
longerstridelengththatpeoplewithhigherandthinnerhipsdid.
Thisdataisrelatedtomanyotherresearches.Aswementionedearlier,thisdata
hasbeenusedtogetanideaofwhatasuspectsbuildisbyusingthesuspects
footprints.Anotherwaythisdatahasbeenusedistouseittoidentifythesizeofan

GoudieWilliams14

ancientcreatureusingitsfootprints.ThewebsiteDinosaurTracksandTrackwayhas
includedthevariableofgaittotheformulaforspeed.Gaitaffectstheoverallstride
length.Theresearchisdifferentbecauseitfocusesonvelocityinsteadofstridelength.
DinosaurTracksandTrackwaysAnotherwebsitethatusedsimilarresearchwas
DinosaurSpeedCalculator.Itusesstridelengthandfootlengthtofindvelocity.Its
differentbecauseitsresearchwasusingstridelengthtofindvelocityinsteadoffinding
thestridelength."DinosaurSpeedCalculatorattheSorbyGeologyGroup.Yetanother
websitethatusedsimilarresearchwas"Title:DinoLongLegs:AStudyofTracks."This
sitewassetuptobeaclassroomactivityforfindingtherelationshipbetweenstride
lengthandleglength.Itisdifferentbecauseitdoesnthavethevariableofhipwidth.
ThedatahasbeenusedsimilarlyonthewebsiteDinosaurTrackways.Itusesthedata
andexplainshowadinosaurfootprintiscreatedandhowitispreserved.Itisdifferent
becauseitfocusesonthefootprintinsteadofthestridelength.
Thisdatahasbeenused
tofindwhichpersonisphysicallyabletobethebestforacertainsport.Thewebsite
ScienceofRunningusedsimilarresearchtofindwaystomakeyourselfabetter
athlete.Itworksonmaximizingtheyourstridelengthandstridefrequency.Itisdifferent
becauseitworkswithstridefrequencyandvelocityinsteadofhipheightandhip
width.
"ScienceofRunning:UnderstandingStrideRateandStrideLength."
Someconstraintsneedtobeaddedtothisexperiment.Oneoftheseconstraints
istonotusemarchingbandmembers.Theyhaveshownmultipletimestohaveshorter
stridelengthsthanwhatwasexpectedintheexperiment.Thereasonisassumedtobe
becauseofthelongamountsoftimethattheypractice,whatisknownas,arollstep.

GoudieWilliams15

Thisstepisusedtoshortenhowfarapersonstepsinordertostayinlinewithother
marcherswhilemarching.Anotherconstraintistonotusetrackrunners.Unlike
marchingbandmembers,trackrunnersareconstantlytryingtoelongatetheirstride
lengthmore.Thisissotheyarefaster.Speedisdependentonstridelengthandstride
frequency.
Inthisexperimenttheresearcherswerenotawareoftheseconstraintideasyet.
Bothmarchingbandmembersandtrackrunnerswereusedintheexperiment.Thisis
oneoftheflawsintheexperiment.Anotherflawintheexperimentisdimensionswere
notusedinthemeasuringthestridelength.LoggerPro3wasusedtofindthesubjects
stridelengths.Thisprogrammeasuresasetmeasurementforastandard.Thisstandard
wassetinthebackofthevideo.Thesubjectswalkedaboutfourtofiveinchesaway
fromwherethestandardwasset.ThisaffectedthemeasuredamountinLoggerPro3.
Todothisexperimentagain,theconstraintsmentionedearlierwouldneed
tobeused.Alsothedimensionswouldneedtobeadded.Awidervarietyofpeople
couldbeusedto.Insteadoften9thgradeboysandten9thgradegirls,five9th,grade
boysfive9thgradegirls,five10thgradeboys,five10thgradegirlsandsoonto12th
gradecouldbeused.Thiswillhelpforawidervarietyofpeopleanddata.
Oneoftheapplicationsfromthisexperiment,likestatedearlier,wouldbefor
crimescenes.Therearemanytimesatcrimesceneswheretheonlyvisibleevidence
arefootprints.Officersanddetectivescanusetheinformationfromthisexperimentto
findapersonsbodytype.Thewiderapartthefootstepsarefromeachotherthewider
thecriminalshipscanbeassumed.Alsothefartheraparttheyare,themorethe

GoudieWilliams16

detectivescanassumethecriminalshipheightis.Somewithfarapartfootstepscanbe
guessedtobetallerandskinnier.Anotherapplicationofthisresearchisingame
movement.Gamingproducerscanusethisresearchtomaketheirgamingavatars
movemorelikeanactualperson.Thisraisesthegraphicsstandardsforabetterlooking
game.

Acknowledgements
ThankyoutoMrs.Hilliardforfinetuningthisexperiment.
ThankyoutoMr.SupalforlettingusborrowyourTSquares.
ThankyoutoMrsGravelforlettingusborrowhersupplies.
Thankyoutoalltheallthepeoplewhoallowedustousetheminourexperiment.
Workscited

DinosaurLocomotion
.EnchantedLearning,n.d.Web.4Feb2014.Harwood,
Richard.Dinosaur
Trackways.RichardHardwood,02Aug2012.Web.4Feb2014.
Fastovsky,David.
Dinosaurs:AConciseNaturalHistory
.CambridgeUniversityPress,
n.d.Web.4Feb2014.Harwood,Richard.
DinosaurTrackwaysDinosaur
and

Tracks

Trackways
.UniversityofBristol.Web.18Mar2014.

DinosaurSpeedCalculator.
SorbyGeologyGroup.
TheUniversityofSheffield.2010.
Web.6February2014.

GoudieWilliams17

Magness,Steve."ScienceofRunning:UnderstandingStrideRateandStrideLength."
ScienceofRunning:UnderstandingStrideRateandStrideLength
.N.p.,n.d.
Web.14Mar.2014.