psychology dissertation ideas

[nunu]

hey everyone
i'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, mods feel free to move it.

some of you know that i'm in my last year at university studying psychology. For my final year i have to do a project which counts 60% towards my degree. I have to carry out a study and write a full on report with subtypes such as introduction, method, results and a conclusion section. It has to be between 7000-10000 words EEEEK! I have no idea which area in psychology to research! and everytime i find something my supervisor doesn't agree with me

. Do you guys have any ideas on what i could do a study on? I'm intrested in counselling psychology, so i'm thinking of carrying out a study on whether psychology students are intrested in majoring in counselling. My other idea was to look at how male/female look at counselling, interms of if it is effective or not..my supervisor didn't like that though because it too broad. So i'm still thinking of other things i can research

thanks for reading. I would love to hear any ideas you guys have got, it would be a great help!

Edit: I would prefer it if the ideas that you give me can be tested on university students around campus.

 

[Hilly]

how about the effects of ritalin and suicide/psychosis thoughts?

 

[nunu]

OMG Hilly you are a star!! thanks!

 

[Hilly]

no prob...if u need any further info or whatever, let me know

 

[frocher]

......

 

[nunu]

thanks soo much i really appreciate it

 

[BinkysBaby]

How about social influence and stigmas.
You could design a study that has a set of students in rags and dirty and another group in high end designer clothes and then reverse it.
You can test how much our behaviors and thoughts are influenced by our peer groups.

 

[nunu]

what do you guys think of this idea "students perception of their counselling services and willingness to seek help"? the problem with this is that there aren't many articles out there for me to base it on. My introduction should be about 3000 words :s. I have to do something with counselling because they already allocated me with a lecturer who is in the departement counselling psycholoy and i am worried that if i do find a different area i want to do my research in (like social psychology, criminal or developmental) that it would be too late to refer me to a different lecturer who is specialised in that feild.

 

[Simply Elegant]

I think your last idea is good. Lots of people delay getting help so maybe include those obstacles. I would specify it even more. Maybe help for depression or anxiety since those are very common.

If you can, use PSYCinfo. I find the most important articles on there most times.

 

[GreekChick]

I agree with using the PSYinfo database. Also, make sure the studies are no more than 6-7 yrs old max, and the majority of them are done in North America.

 

[nunu]

just an update, i met my supervisour yesterday and we came out with 3 ideas that i have to research during the weekend to see whether i have enough literature to get on with my project and start my ethics form.
these are the 3 ideas:
The first 2 studies are going to be tested on psychology students.
1) Personality and choices of which part of psychology they want to study. Basically what are their opinions on counselling and whether they will study it as a subject.

2) Experience and choice of which part of psychology they want to study. This means does their experience of dealing with a counseller or knowing someone who have seen a counseller makes them want to study counselling.

3)The willingness of students from all the faculties of university to seek counselling services provided by the university.
I like this idea best and i think it's going to be beneficial for me because my supervisour has done a study simmilar to it.

So my homework this weekend is to research for articles/studies that mentioned any of the above.

what do you guys think?
xoxo

 

[ms_bloom]

Hi Nunu, what stage of psych study are you at? Sounds like end of a three or four year degree from the word length? Here in Australia we have a six year degree structure (or four years + two years supervised practice). I'm at the end of my fifth year and currently doing my masters in organisational psychology. I still vividly remember Honours!

Some tips - firstly that the topic is not as important as the process, unless you are doing your final (PhD or Masters) dissertation which can direct (the beginning of) your career path (me very soon!). If I'm correct in my assumption of what stage of study you are at, you should be looking for a topic with some substantial research already published, to make not only researching and writing the literature review component of your report easier, but also because you will be unable to write up a completely new study in less than 10,000 words. What you would looking to do is an extension of something that has already been done, say, considering new mediating or moderating factors, repeating something in a local context, considering new co-variates, changing how treatments are conducted to see if the overall result generalises.

In terms of picking topics, I'm not sure how intensive your thesis will be (ours was crazy, I did the smart/slow thing and went part-time), but you will likely get sick of it. I picked a topic that I knew I wouldn't want to investigate any further but was still interesting (the link between social and physical pain with attachment style and hurt proneness as moderators), and most importantly, a supervisor who was young, fun, and supportive (that's probably too late for you, though).

Other tips ... get your ethics application in ASAP so you can start collecting data RIGHT AWAY. This is surprisingly time-consuming, particularly if you do what I did (never again), an experiment where I could only run a maximum of 4 people at a time, that is, when the first years showed up (they get credit for research participation at my uni). You also want to design your study with the data analysis you want to do in mind, this will make analysis much, much easier. Oh, and stick up for yourself if you and your supervisor disagree about what stats you should run. Grrr.

Hope this helps even a little! I am a week away from finishing up for the year and need to spend my summer holidays deciding on my thesis topic too

 

[nunu]

Hey ms_bloom!

thanks a lot for your help. I'm doing my third year now and it's my final year

you are a star! wish you all the best!

 

[ms_bloom]

You're welcome! What are you going to be doing after you finish your degree? Do you need to do post-graduate study or supervised practice to become a registered psychologist in the UK like we do in Australia?

I forgot to say, for research these days, Google Scholar has replaced searching via PsycLit and PsycInfo for me; it indexes all the same journals and if I search via my university library website, clicking on the link takes me directly to the article. Also depending on how many references you end up with, get friendly with a reference/bibliographical manager of your choice (I use EndNote but want to look into BibDesk).

Let me know how it goes, and if you have any more questions about your thesis (now or later on).

 

[nunu]

Hello

just to update you guys on my dissertation!
I'm soo stressed out at the moment with my dissertation and i've got another deadline coming up!
Wouldn't we just love School if we didn't have to do any assignments or have any exams?? LOL
anyways yes so i desided my dissertation would be on the "willingness to seek counselling and the factors that help inhibit the seeking of counselling in undergraduate students"
I kind of like it because 1)i can test students from all around the campus, 2) i would be investigating students attitudes towards counselling, 3) i can look at the factors that would let them NOT seek help (relying on friends and family, feeling uncomfortable talking to a stranger etc) we all know that students feel unconfident getting into a University environment because it can be an overwhelming experience (stress on academic things and social life). 4) i can see the willingness of them to seek help either in campus or off campus (which do they prefer). 5) my results would indicate which faculty are most likely to seek or not seek help! ....
I'm really excited about carrying out this study i just hope my ethics clear out (which means the ethics people can let me carry out my study!). I will know about that in 2 weeks time!! I will be nervous during these two weeks!

thanks for reading!!!

 

[Simply Elegant]

I think it sounds really good. Most of the time you'll have to make a couple of changes anyway but it still sounds like a great idea.

 

[nunu]

thank you!

 

[chocodcocoa]

weee all the psych people

I'm in my third year of the four year honors specialist degree

not as interested in clinical as I am in social cognition though...
I'd love to hear how your study goes!

 

[nunu]

thank you!!

i'll let you know how it goes!

 

[mika100]

Hello nunu, I hope youre dissertation idea went well, This is exactly what Im doing for mine however have know idea how to conduct it, my dead line on is on Wednesday for ethics and proposal and im stressing so much. I dont know what to do. Could you please me, did you find questionniares ?

Thankyou
Mika