Hi, Ollie here. Today I’ll be looking back at my first term of my third year.
In my first post of the term I mentioned that this final year differs from the previous years in that it counts for 60% of my degree mark and I’m doing an independently run research project (dissertation). As suspected, both of those factors have certainly added pressure, however there hasn’t been as much of a leap from second year as I thought there would be. Second year counted for 40% after all, and my research project – at least so far – hasn’t felt too dissimilar from the projects in our statistics modules from last year. However, I expect this is because this term I’ve only had to do the background reading for it and I anticipate it will be much harder work with the advent of my data next term.
I also said that my approach to studies in this final year will be to take a deeper dive into the material and literature so as to gain a full understanding of the subject but also to be up-to-date with the latest findings in the area. I’ll be honest, I’ve mostly just been trying to keep my head above water with the essential readings from my course, which I’ve prioritised because I have the assurance from my lecturers that they’re articles worth reading, plus they’re the articles I will be tested on in my exams after Christmas, which I’m currently revising for.
However, I have been doing my own independent research for my research project, using PubMed, PsycARTICLES and Google Scholar; and using Zotero to manage my articles of interest. I think the hardest parts have been staying focused and discerning which are the important articles which I should include in my project.
Overall, this year hasn’t been very different from last year, even vis-a-vis my research project, though I expect next term the research project will be much more demanding.
Let’s get social!