The dissertation process

I’m now almost four months into my final year project and dissertation write up. Even at this point in the process, it’s fair to say I totally underestimated how much I would genuinely enjoy the journey and the experience. From reading the original paper which inspired the idea behind my project, to the nitty gritty of data analysis, I have really become invested in the entire project. It helps that I truly believe in the benefit of the use of physical activity as a means to improve quality of life, so I really want this research to prove points. Not to mention, I want to create a piece of research that I am proud of and get meaningful feedback on. Here is an insight into my experience so far:

I read the paper which inspired my project (linked above) back at the start of 2021, but as I was still in the midst of third year academic coursework at that time, I sort of ‘parked’ the idea until fourth year projects became the talking point in class. I submitted a draft proposal of a study loosely based on the one which I had read, with the added variable of personality type, to try to assess whether certain personality traits influence the relationship between change in physical activity and change in mental wellbeing, social participation, and sleep quality during and after a strict COVID-19 lockdown in the UK.

I didn’t hear back from the university over the summer break, and it was only when I returned for the start of the academic year in September that I chased it up and received some feedback on my proposal. It was accepted at the start of November 2021, and I immediately commenced data collection by recruiting fellow Abertay students using our in-house recruitment methods, as well as a wider sample of UK-based over 18 year olds via advertising the study on social media. By the end of December 2021, I had recruited enough participants to satisfy power thresholds, and I closed the survey.

Since the start of January 2022, I have been running several statistical tests and, as of today, I am pleased that the data analysis has finally concluded! I wanted to really challenge myself with this project, and without the support of my supervisor it simply wouldn’t have been possible to analyse the data in the way I have done. Most of the analyses I conducted are not part of the undergraduate curriculum for BPS psychology degrees, but these analyses were meaningful in terms of the hypotheses I proposed, so I taught myself how to conduct them and interpret the output with the support of my supervisor. While some of my hypotheses are not supported by the data, I am so proud that I have conceived the idea for the project and seen it through right to the results stage. I am really excited to get started on my discussion now, to further investigate what my findings represent in a real-world context.

If anyone want to get in touch with me about any of my research, please do reach out either on Twitter or via email.