Title: The effect of the work-family conflict, subjective socio-economic status, and physical
activity on the perceived quality of life of working women in Iran: The mediating role of quality
of work life
Version: 1 Date: 02 Nov 2024
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS:
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a testable research
question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear objective)?
No - there are minor issues
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for
the objective?
No - there are major issues
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor to allow
confidence in the results?
No - there are major issues
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
Not sure - I am not able to assess the statistics in this study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not
overstated?
No - there are major issues
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work technically
sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically sound?
Maybe - with major revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS:
GENERAL COMMENTS: The study tackles a timely and important topic that has not
been adequately researched especially withinh the context of Iran. The focus on working
women adds significance to this study. Examining the relationship between work life balance,
sociaoeconomic status, and physical activity on the quality of life of working women is also
quite novel.
In terms of improvement, the authors did not include a clear and focused objective statement.
The study is not guided by a clear theoretical framework that explains the relationsip between the
different variables.  The methodology of the study is brief and would need to provide additional
details. For example, no clear sample size calculation was included. Not much is known about
data collection and how the privacy and confidentiality of employees was guaranteed.
The authors state on page 7 of the manuscript that "A significant inverse correlation was
observed between the WFC and PA, indicating that an increase in sports scores leads to a
reduction in the WFC level (r = -0.261, p-value < 0.001,)". The design of the study is cross
sectional and would not support the establishment of causality not the directionality of the
relationship. Thus, the statement or similar statement are inaccurate.
The authors need to avoid getting back to literature review under the discussion section, e.g. the
second paragraph under discussion.
The discussion on some of the results is quite generic and did not adequately capture the context.
For example, when  discussing physical activity, we need to better understand the enabler and
barriers within the context. This is to anchor recommendations and make them more applicable.
The discussion needs to be better structured to better generate contextual evidence based policy
and practice recommendation.  The study needs to be revised for typographical and grammatical
errors.
REQUESTED REVISIONS:
The study tackles a timely and important topic that has not been adequately researched especially
withinh the context of Iran. The focus on working women adds significance to this study.
Examining the relationship between work life balance, sociaoeconomic status, and physical
activity on the quality of life of working women is also quite novel.
In terms of improvement, the authors did not include a clear and focused objective statement.
The study is not guided by a clear theoretical framework that explains the relationsip between the
different variables.  The methodology of the study is brief and would need to provide additional
details. For example, no clear sample size calculation was included. Not much is known about
data collection and how the privacy and confidentiality of employees was guaranteed.
The authors state on page 7 of the manuscript that "A significant inverse correlation was
observed between the WFC and PA, indicating that an increase in sports scores leads to a
reduction in the WFC level (r = -0.261, p-value < 0.001,)". The design of the study is cross
sectional and would not support the establishment of causality not the directionality of the
relationship. Thus, the statement or similar statement are inaccurate.
The authors need to avoid getting back to literature review under the discussion section, e.g. the
second paragraph under discussion.
The discussion on some of the results is quite generic and did not adequately capture the context.
For example, when  discussing physical activity, we need to better understand the enabler and
barriers within the context. This is to anchor recommendations and make them more applicable.
The discussion needs to be better structured to better generate contextual evidence based policy
and practice recommendation.  The study needs to be revised for typographical and grammatical
errors.