The Research Experience @ Bridgewater

Dear Esteemed Supporters,

Thank you very much for your generous support.

My name is Jared Nichols, and I am a junior at Bridgewater College. I am an honors student majoring in business administration. I am also pursuing a marketing concentration and a minor in leadership and community engagement. Alongside my academic studies, I play football at Bridgewater. First and foremost, I would like to thank you for supporting this experience for students like me at Bridgewater College. This program has given me the opportunity to learn invaluable research skills, as well as discover some very interesting marketing lessons.

During my summer research project, I worked alongside a professor, Dr. Nuhu. Together, we embarked on a research journey to unearth pivotal themes concerning customer loyalty among Ford owners in Virginia. Employing a blend of quantitative and qualitative methods such as surveys, interviews, and a focus group, we unearthed several key themes that underpin customer perceptions of the Ford Motor brand.

As we begin polishing and finalizing our report, we plan to have our research published in an academic journal. In addition to this, Dr. Nuhu and I plan to attend the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) conference in January 2024. The research has presented me with so many great opportunities like this. Not only have I learned invaluable skills and information, but also this research program has presented Dr. Nuhu and me with the opportunity to attend this conference and present our research, as well as network with other scholars within our field of study. I cannot fully express how influential this project has been in my life, and I cannot thank you enough for funding this project. Thank you immensely for making this project possible.

Sincerely,
Jared Nichols

To the Supporters of The Research Experience at Bridgewater College,

I would like to start by saying thank you for the funding that enabled me to have the experience of a lifetime. I applied for the research project with high hopes that I would get selected as a suitable student to conduct research over the summer at Bridgewater. I am a junior majoring in health and exercise science and also on the baseball team. I am very committed to my academics, and I cannot express how grateful I am to be a part of the research experience at Bridgewater College. Two potential career paths I may pursue include the fields exercise physiology and biomechanics. The research gave me hands-on experience in the field of exercise physiology that I would not have been able to receive anywhere else. The project was truly an amazing learning experience for me. It taught me much about the research process, and it gave me an introduction to thesis and dissertation work that would occur during graduate training.

The experimental research study contained three groups with a repeated measures design. Each subject completed one control trial and two experimental trials, conducted in a counter-balanced randomized order to ensure outcomes were not confounded by a learning effect. Furthermore, the beginning of the project involved ascertaining materials available for use from the school and what purchases were needed to perform the research. Much of the first two weeks were preparation that allowed the study to be conducted with minimal errors. I learned that diligent planning and preparation is paramount to conducting quality research.

After the preparation stage, subject recruitment and trials were completed, along with obtaining the informed consent of the subjects with the supervision of Dr. Shute. The goal of the project was to determine the impact of cold and hot water immersion prior to exhaustive exercise. This was done by having subjects submerged in a whirlpool with cold water (68⁰), hot water (104⁰) or no water as a control group. The subject would then complete a VO2max on a stationary bicycle.

The important independent variables attained from the research were largely due to the metabolic cart and EMG sensors used to collect data during the trials. The metabolic cart allowed us to assess oxygen consumption, substrate utilization, and cycling efficiency. The EMG sensors allowed for assessment of muscle activation and fatigue threshold. Other devices used for data collection included an SPO2 monitor, blood pressure cuff, skin fold caliper, and tympanic thermometer. The results of our data present trends, but more trials must be completed to provide the potential to detect significant differences in key independent variables. Furthermore, more work must be done in the processing of the EMG data, which could lead to stronger conclusions with the overarching theme of the project. This project allowed me to have hands-on experience with this equipment during the project, as well as analyze the data collected from these devices, which may not have happened with just classroom learning.

The research project is something I will never forget. It has taught me life lessons in that no matter how large the challenge may first seem, with enough hard work and diligence problems can be solved. Not only has the research project benefited me in learning about research and exercise physiology, but it has provided additional experience that may aid my applications for graduate programs

Thank you again for the opportunity,
Lucas Bauer