Totally stunted: picking an undergraduate senior thesis topic?

[gohogwild]

From some of my browsing, it seems that the main consensus surrounding undergrad senior thesis' is that they aren't a huge deal, but could be a good learning experience and a big point of discussion in interviews. So, my hope is to find a good topic that comes off the right way, the end goal being a clinical psych PhD program.

I've been scouring google scholar this past week and cannot find a topic I'm satisfied with. The expectations of this project is that it be 100% independent, with virtually no resources. I've entertained doing something related to gender minorities, because I am one (not that'd you know meeting me, necessarily), but I don't know how conservative the programs I am applying to would be and don't want to write myself off immediately if it were to be conservative, and if it's not, it could be something to enhance my diversity statement. But.... Is a subject that would sustain my interest.... But could come off as self indulgent/too personal.... But it could be well executed because I'm familiar with the community & I'd be kind of an "in", rather than 'infultrating' another. Mind my neuroticism.

TLDR - I'd be interested and grateful to hear: what your independent undergrad thesis was, any ideas (or ways to find ideas) you got for me that can be accomplished with limited resources, or even what could raise red flags for adcoms in this regard (what topics disgust & offend, what the avg undergrad is clueless about when completing something like this).

Thank you.

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[Temperance]

What data do you have available to you? Are you in a lab whose data you can use? Failing that, there are many publicly available data sets that you can sift through, like those hosted by ICPSR. Google also has a data set search tool.

I don't know how conservative the programs I am applying to would be and don't want to write myself off immediately if it were to be conservative

I did want to offer some thoughts about this as someone who is a gender minority. For something as long and as stressful as a Ph.D., you would strongly benefit from being in a program (and, super important, being with an advisor) that is willing to support and welcome you as you are. That kind of support can be the difference between thriving in a program and leaving without a degree.

 

[gohogwild]

What data do you have available to you? Are you in a lab whose data you can use? Failing that, there are many publicly available data sets that you can sift through, like those hosted by ICPSR. Google also has a data set search tool.


I did want to offer some thoughts about this as someone who is a gender minority. For something as long and as stressful as a Ph.D., you would strongly benefit from being in a program (and, super important, being with an advisor) that is willing to support and welcome you as you are. That kind of support can be the difference between thriving in a program and leaving without a degree.

Yes, I was thinking that I would need an accepting advisor just as I was typing that up. Hard to accept. Thank you for the data resources, I hadn't thought of that. There are no active labs at my school, I am a part of a lab at an outside institution, but when I mentioned doing a project them I got a hesitant "we'll see", which is understandable, since I am a new addition to the lab.

 

[Sanman]

Pick something you enjoy (because this is going to take some time) and is easily done given you available resources. Topic will not matter that much compared to showing them that you are capable of completing a thesis.

Remember, done is better than perfect. I know people stuck writing their magnum opus of a dissertation that have not learned that lesson. Best to learn it now.

 

[gohogwild]

Pick something you enjoy (because this is going to take some time) and is easily done given you available resources. Topic will not matter that much compared to showing them that you are capable of completing a thesis.

Remember, done is better than perfect. I know people stuck writing their magnum opus of a dissertation that have not learned that lesson. Best to learn it now.

Solid advice, thank you.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Pick something you enjoy (because this is going to take some time) and is easily done given you available resources. Topic will not matter that much compared to showing them that you are capable of completing a thesis.

Remember, done is better than perfect. I know people stuck writing their magnum opus of a dissertation that have not learned that lesson. Best to learn it now.

100%. I saw one person tank their career because of an unrealistically ambitious dissertation--eventually finished but never got licensed or did anything related to psych post-PhD.

 

[foreverbull]

People in my grad program sometimes picked research that directly related to their own experiences (veterans, infidelity, ethnic minorities, transgender/non-binary identity, bisexual men, etc.).

So yes, absolutely you can research a part of your experience or identity if it interests you.

Gender minority/non-binary and also transgender research have been hot topics/popular topics in psychology research in the past decade or so (more so in the past 5 years though), so I can’t imagine that would hurt your grad school chances. I came from a counseling psychology program but our program was very supportive of different types of diversity, so much so that we felt like we were in a protected bubble of multicultural-minded people for the most part throughout grad school. I can’t speak for clinical programs since they have a different philosophical foundation, but I doubt this would be an issue there either, especially if they are a good program.

 

[ccool]

Yes, I was thinking that I would need an accepting advisor just as I was typing that up. Hard to accept. Thank you for the data resources, I hadn't thought of that. There are no active labs at my school, I am a part of a lab at an outside institution, but when I mentioned doing a project them I got a hesitant "we'll see", which is understandable, since I am a new addition to the lab.

Hi, I saw you mentioned in your original post that the expectations of this project is that it be 100% independent. Combined with the bolded statement above, I just want to clarify that this thesis is sanctioned by your university? That is, that there is some kind of institutionalized program with the honors college or however it’s managed where you minimally have some kind of explicit faculty mentor.. even if you are actually advised by a graduate student or even if your faculty mentor is minimally supportive?

I ask because from what you’ve written, it is unclear to me whether you have independently taken it upon yourself to embark upon an undergraduate thesis project because you learned it may increase the competitiveness of a future phd application or whether you are pursuing it given that it is sanctioned by your university and regardless whether you have a minimally supportive advisor.

Your work seeking experience in an outside lab suggests that you take initiative and are committed to your setting yourself up well in the future. My suggestion to you would be to take advantage of the opportunities in your new lab and maximize your ability to learn about research tasks and the various aspects of running and competing a research project. It is completely understandable that they may be initially hesitant to support your completion of a thesis with them, especially if this is one of your first experiences with research beyond a class. Theses are usually complete research projects inclusive of data collection and analysis, and not simply a literature review. As you get more familiar with the lab and data, you will be better positioned to start asking your own research questions. You can ask for support or experience co-authoring a project using data from the lab for poster presentation at a regional or national conference. Even if the research being conducted in your new lab is not of ultimate interest to you, the experience of engaging in various research tasks and developing and completing a product(e.g. poster) in an established lab with some mentorship will likely serve you better than pursuit of an undergraduate thesis with limited support.

Of course, if you are being supported and simply are reaching out to this forum for help whittling down a topic, do both by all means. But in my experience, what makes one competitive for a psych PhD is evidence of clear understanding and commitment to what psychology research entails. So while it is true that a research product (or a few) provides great evidence of that, those products can look like different things depending on your experience and resources available to you.

As a final note, as long as humans are involved in the conduct of science, whether as the investigator and/or the subject of inquiry, it is not and cannot be “objective.” We may use empirical means to answer questions, but everyone comes to everything with their own experiences and biases and perceptions. As such, all topics of inquiry are valid and inquiry into understudied phenomena, particularly that which affects the health and well-being of people from historically or systemically marginalized groups, is especially needed!

 

[gohogwild]

Hi, I saw you mentioned in your original post that the expectations of this project is that it be 100% independent. Combined with the bolded statement above, I just want to clarify that this thesis is sanctioned by your university? That is, that there is some kind of institutionalized program with the honors college or however it’s managed where you minimally have some kind of explicit faculty mentor.. even if you are actually advised by a graduate student or even if your faculty mentor is minimally supportive?

I ask because from what you’ve written, it is unclear to me whether you have independently taken it upon yourself to embark upon an undergraduate thesis project because you learned it may increase the competitiveness of a future phd application or whether you are pursuing it given that it is sanctioned by your university and regardless whether you have a minimally supportive advisor.

Your work seeking experience in an outside lab suggests that you take initiative and are committed to your setting yourself up well in the future. My suggestion to you would be to take advantage of the opportunities in your new lab and maximize your ability to learn about research tasks and the various aspects of running and competing a research project. It is completely understandable that they may be initially hesitant to support your completion of a thesis with them, especially if this is one of your first experiences with research beyond a class. Theses are usually complete research projects inclusive of data collection and analysis, and not simply a literature review. As you get more familiar with the lab and data, you will be better positioned to start asking your own research questions. You can ask for support or experience co-authoring a project using data from the lab for poster presentation at a regional or national conference. Even if the research being conducted in your new lab is not of ultimate interest to you, the experience of engaging in various research tasks and developing and completing a product(e.g. poster) in an established lab with some mentorship will likely serve you better than pursuit of an undergraduate thesis with limited support.

Of course, if you are being supported and simply are reaching out to this forum for help whittling down a topic, do both by all means. But in my experience, what makes one competitive for a psych PhD is evidence of clear understanding and commitment to what psychology research entails. So while it is true that a research product (or a few) provides great evidence of that, those products can look like different things depending on your experience and resources available to you.

As a final note, as long as humans are involved in the conduct of science, whether as the investigator and/or the subject of inquiry, it is not and cannot be “objective.” We may use empirical means to answer questions, but everyone comes to everything with their own experiences and biases and perceptions. As such, all topics of inquiry are valid and inquiry into understudied phenomena, particularly that which affects the health and well-being of people from historically or systemically marginalized groups, is especially needed!

Hi ccool, thank you for such a detailed response. I got so much out of it!

To answer your question, the project IS sanctioned by my college. I go to a stupidly small (but reasonably well respected) liberal arts college that I pay nothing for. There is ONE psych professor. I had a terrible high school experience and despite my 3.9~ GPA I left with truancy officers on my heels and no SAT/ACT, so this is who accepted me (I applied to one college, idk) & here I am! That said, everyone must do a senior project. In the past, most students have done lit reviews, but our college is pushing that we do (mostly qualitative?) research.

With the lab that I am in, they have A LOT of their people graduating very soon and were pretty eager to have me through the summer & the rest of my college career (I am halfway through my third year and will likely need a research year between because, you're right, this is my first research experience). I don't want to say I have "leverage" per se, but I think that with less people there will be in to take on "increasingly complex roles" and maybe get my name on something. I get good vibes from the PI, but am not sure how soon I should bring this up. Also, thank you for your point about creating a poster out of the already collected data, I didn't know you could do that & will be keeping my eyes peeled for local conferences.

Again, thank you for taking the time to be so thorough.

 

[ccool]

Hi ccool, thank you for such a detailed response. I got so much out of it!

To answer your question, the project IS sanctioned by my college. I go to a stupidly small (but reasonably well respected) liberal arts college that I pay nothing for. There is ONE psych professor. I had a terrible high school experience and despite my 3.9~ GPA I left with truancy officers on my heels and no SAT/ACT, so this is who accepted me (I applied to one college, idk) & here I am! That said, everyone must do a senior project. In the past, most students have done lit reviews, but our college is pushing that we do (mostly qualitative?) research.

With the lab that I am in, they have A LOT of their people graduating very soon and were pretty eager to have me through the summer & the rest of my college career (I am halfway through my third year and will likely need a research year between because, you're right, this is my first research experience). I don't want to say I have "leverage" per se, but I think that with less people there will be in to take on "increasingly complex roles" and maybe get my name on something. I get good vibes from the PI, but am not sure how soon I should bring this up. Also, thank you for your point about creating a poster out of the already collected data, I didn't know you could do that & will be keeping my eyes peeled for local conferences.

Again, thank you for taking the time to be so thorough.

Glad it was helpful and thanks for clarifying.

It sounds to me like your university’s thesis isn’t necessarily the thing, on its own, that will be super critical to your success. Given your positioning and timing and so forth, I’d really reiterate to stay humble and open-minded and to learn as much as you can in your lab. You will likely have to “earn” access to the data for the sake of your own project but there is definitely no harm in letting the PI know your general goals and in taking initiative in ways that make sense based on your level of experience. Plus, you need experience in the lab and with the tasks to get a meaningful grasp of the concepts, measures, methodology, and implications.

It sounds like your goal may be to apply to grad school during your senior undergrad year. Keep in mind that it’s ok if you take some post-bac time to gain more research experience. I don’t remember whether you said you’re interested in a clinical PhD or otherwise, but if you’re truly interested in a more research-oriented career, I think it’s worthwhile to get a nice grasp of what doing psychology research really entails. Don’t be discouraged if that takes more time and effort than you originally thought.

Good luck on your journey.