Topic: Why is the nutritional practices of elite athletes so important within their sport?

Order Description
This is a single research paper which consists of 3000 words. The question I am proposing to answer is ‘Why is the nutritional practices of elite athletes so important within sport?’.

If you can think of a better question or change the wording to narrow it down further for better marks, I am happy for you to do that. Ideally the tutor would like me to engage in a more critical discussion within the research paper so that I can get higher marks. So not being descriptive and being more critical. Also if you can try keep the assignment narrow and not too broad and descriptive.

The primary focus of this project is to evaluate the importance of nutrition management in sport and how nutrition affects the performance of an athlete.
The structure of the essay is as follow on the guidance sheet:

Abstract
The abstract is a summary of the Single Research Project and should be no more than 200 words in length. It should include an outline of the topic, the themes emerging from the academic literature review, key issues emerging from the analysis and discussion and the conclusions. It is not an introduction but should provide a succinct view of what the study reveals rather that what it intends to find. Note that the abstract is not included in the word count.

Introduction
The introduction provides the relevant background and context for the study, in other words it ‘sets the scene’. You should start by outlining in two or three paragraphs the broad topic area and write a little about the aspect of it that interests you. You should state your motivation for doing the research – why it is worth doing and you should also state the purpose and aims of the study – what you are planning to do and how you intend to do it. Most importantly, you must also clearly state either your research question or your research hypothesis. The research question is the question that your research will answer, while the research hypothesis is the proposition that you aim to test.

Academic literature review
In this section, you need to review the academic literature relevant to the broad topic area. The review should highlight the relevant theories and concepts used in the current and previous research and assess the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of these studies. The weaknesses and limitations are particularly important as this provides justification for your own research.

You need to review the academic literature critically rather than simply describe who said what. Quotations may be useful here but keep these to a minimum and only include them when you have a clear rationale for doing so. The examiners are more interested in your arguments than in your ability to copy down what others have written.

Analysis and discussion
Here you must present the material you have collected in a logical sequence and analyse it in depth. You should identify core issues stemming from the analysis and discuss the key arguments arising, relating them all to the academic literature you have already reviewed. Where applicable, you may wish to comment on any practical and policy implications. If you wish to include any photos or diagrams, tables or graphs, they should be embedded near the text that makes reference to them, NOT put into the Appendix.

Conclusion