Researchindicatesthathighlevelsofsedentarybehavior(sittingorlyingwithlowenergyexpenditure)areadverselyassociatedwithhealth.Akeyfactorinimprovingourunderstandingoftheimpactofsedentarybehavior(andpatternsofsedentarytimeaccumulation)onhealthistheuseofobjectivemeasurementtoolsthatcollectdateandtime-stampedactivityinformation.OnesuchtoolistheactivPALmonitor.Thisthigh-worndeviceusesaccelerometer-derivedinformationaboutthighpositiontodeterminethestartandendofeachperiodspentsitting/lying,standing,andstepping,aswellassteppingspeed,stepcounts,andposturaltransitions.TheactivPALisincreasinglybeingusedwithinfield-basedresearchforitsabilitytomeasuresitting/lyingviaposture.WesummarisekeyissuestoconsiderwhenusingtheactivPALinphysicalactivityandsedentarybehaviorfield-basedresearchwithadultpopulations.ItisintendedthatthefindingsanddiscussionpointsbeinformativeforresearcherswhoarecurrentlyusingactivPALmonitorsorareintendingtousethem.Pre-datacollectiondecisions,monitorpreparationanddistribution,datacollectionconsiderations,andmanualandautomateddataprocessingpossibilitiesarepresentedusingexamplesfromcurrentliteratureandexperiencesfrom2researchgroupsfromtheUKandAustralia.
