Community College Looks for Link Between Umbrellas and Rain

When people head out to work in the morning or plan on running some errands they usually make the quick decision to take an umbrella with them, but researchers are trying to figure out if the number of people who take umbrellas with them on chores

Seattle, WA (prHWY.com) September 20, 2012 - When people head out to work in the morning or plan on running some errands they usually make the quick decision to take an umbrella with them, but researchers are trying to figure out if the number of people who take umbrellas with them on chores effects whether or not it rains. The statistics and research department at Cleveland Community College decided to tackle this very question.

"Yes, we realize that when the weatherman says it'll rain people take their umbrella", explained James Madison head of the research project. "What we want to know is if someone takes an umbrella with them without hearing the weather does it change whether or not it will rain."

The project requires that people conduct their daily business as they normally would but make one change - not watch the weather. These people had to make a decision on if they should take an umbrella or not.

"We had a lot of people who would look outside see it was sunny out and still take an umbrella", explained Madison. "We don't know what these people saw in the weather or clouds, but it almost always tended to rain when these people took an umbrella out."

The project looked at 500 people. Those 500 people were asked to complete a questionnaire every week. It asked them if they took an umbrella out, what the weather was like and if they had known it was going to rain.

"We got all types of responses", said Madison. "Some people said that they could tell by the clouds that it would rain, others said they could feel it in their bones. And then there were people who could never get it right. If they took an umbrella it didn't rain, if they didn't it did. We sort of felt sorry for these people."

Cleveland Community College will be reporting their overall findings at the local Weather Convention that is held every year. The findings so far have been kept secret. Only those that have worked closely with the project know what the results will show.

"I think it was really cool to be a part of this project", said Sammy Trues. "I know some people are thinking what the results could be used for, and I really don't know. However, I do know that this is one of those things that you learn about and store away as a fun fact. That was why I choose to be a part of this project."

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Tag Words: umbrellas

Categories: Fashion

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