Reflections on undertaking a qualitative group undergraduate dissertation project

Abstract

During the final year of studying for a psychology undergraduate degree at Middlesex University, students select whether they would like to undertake either a group project or an independent research-based dissertation. We both decided to carry out our dissertations as a qualitative group project composed of six students. We describe our experiences of the process, with a focus on both the benefits and disadvantages of the involvement of us as team members. The main advantages we have highlighted were the fact that we greatly saved time through delegation of responsibility and that there was a way to interact with others who were interested in the subject, which is not possible when working on individual projects. The key weakness was the lack of communication by other team members, which caused stress levels and feelings of aloneness. However, we both remain strongly glad we chose to execute our dissertations through a qualitative group project, displayed through the benefits exceeding the drawbacks.