Junior interdisciplinary studies major, Alexis Jewell, will present a research project on how Harding students get their weather information at the Broadcast Education Association conference in Las Vegas on April 17-20.

Jewell began her research project, titled “Weather You Like it or Not,” for honors credit and entered it into the presentation competition at the Broadcast Journalism Association convention.

Jewell was certified through the National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research by taking an online training course called “Protecting Human Research Participants” in order to conduct research. She also had to study similar research done on the topic and meet with Dr. Jack Shock, professor of communications, for an hour every week. After giving out the survey, tallying the answers and crunching the numbers, she finished the project in November of 2015.

To accumulate the data for her project, Jewell said she collected surveys from classmates, who come from around the country, on how they receive their weather updates. According to Jewell, the topic was relevant due to changing technology.

“Seeing that it is doable to do that kind of research and get those kinds of answers at our level, it is really encouraging,” senior broadcast journalism major Kaleigh Evans said. “When she presented it to us last semester, I was just blown away by her.”

According to Jewell, the research results confirmed that Harding students check the weather once a day, compared to the average American who checks the weather 4.1 times a day. The research also confirmed that the majority of students check the weather to figure out what to wear.

Jewell said the information was easy to gather, and she enjoyed the project more than expected and plans on doing another this summer.

According to Shock, participating in research is beneficial to undergraduate students because they can show graduate schools or future employers that they can collect data, analyze it and use it.

“There is always room in the world for people that can generate new knowledge,” Shock said.

The convention in Las Vegas is April 17-20. According to Shock, students in the communications department attend the convention annually.

Junior interdisciplinary studies major, Alexis Jewell, will present a research project on how Harding students get their weather information at the Broadcast Education Association conference in Las Vegas on April 17-20.

Jewell began her research project, titled “Weather You Like it or Not,” for honors credit and entered it into the presentation competition at the Broadcast Journalism Association convention.

Jewell was certified through the National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research by taking an online training course called “Protecting Human Research Participants” in order to conduct research. She also had to study similar research done on the topic and meet with Dr. Jack Shock, professor of communications, for an hour every week. After giving out the survey, tallying the answers and crunching the numbers, she finished the project in November of 2015.

To accumulate the data for her project, Jewell said she collected surveys from classmates, who come from around the country, on how they receive their weather updates. According to Jewell, the topic was relevant due to changing technology.

“Seeing that it is doable to do that kind of research and get those kinds of answers at our level, it is really encouraging,” senior broadcast journalism major Kaleigh Evans said. “When she presented it to us last semester, I was just blown away by her.”

According to Jewell, the research results confirmed that Harding students check the weather once a day, compared to the average American who checks the weather 4.1 times a day. The research also confirmed that the majority of students check the weather to figure out what to wear.

Jewell said the information was easy to gather, and she enjoyed the project more than expected and plans on doing another this summer.

According to Shock, participating in research is beneficial to undergraduate students because they can show graduate schools or future employers that they can collect data, analyze it and use it.

“There is always room in the world for people that can generate new knowledge,” Shock said.

The convention in Las Vegas is April 17-20. According to Shock, students in the communications department attend the convention annually.