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Picking a Topic: Sample Topics

This guide will help you to choose a topic for your research paper.

Narrowing topics

The boxes below give sample topics in a variety of fields. Often these topics will be too broad for your assignment. To narrow the topics, think of selecting:

  • A sub-topic
  • A particular person or group of people
  • A particular time period
  • Focus on a place

Topics in Business

  • ROI of Facebook marketing
  • History of a company
  • Effective leadership
  • Effect of ride-sharing on taxi companies
  • The Gig economy
  • Starting your own business
  • Market research of a specific industry
  • Company SWOT analysis
  • Outlook of a specific industry
  • Effect of taxes on purchasing power
  • E-commerce
  • Doing business in China
  • Outsourcing
  • Corporate taxation

Controversial Topics

  • Universal health care
  • Roe v Wade
  • Freedom of speech and social media
  • Ethics of cloning humans
  • The US military and the arms trade
  • Cultural appropriation
  • Censorship in China
  • Political corruption
  • Animal testing
  • Workplace automation
  • Internet privacy
  • Income inequality
  • Technology and police tracking
  • Military use of drones
  • Globalism vs isolationism
  • Socialism vs capitalism
  • Birthright citizenship
  • Offshore drilling
  • Domestic surveillance
  • Universal basic income
  • Foreign interference in elections
  • Police shootings
  • Effectiveness of political protests
  • Internet activism
  • Biofuels
  • Microplastics in the ocean
  • Soda tax

Topics in Health

  • Stem cells in cancer treatments
  • Use of robots to care for the elderly
  • Nanotechnology in health care
  • Universal health care
  • Genetic testing during pregnancy
  • Extended lifespans
  • Intermittent fasting
  • Sleep deprivation and mental illness
  • Gut-brain connection
  • Autism and education
  • Effect of drugs on long-term health
  • Brain trauma and youth sports
  • Emotional support animals
  • Prescription drug prices
  • What is the healthiest diet?

Topics in History

  • Causes of the American Civil War
  • The Holocaust
  • The Effects of Colonialism
  • Silk Road
  • Japan's Warring States Period
  • Everyday life during the Great Depression
  • America's involvement in World War II
  • The Relationship between the United States and Russia
  • Ancient Egyptian burial practices
  • Confederate Monuments in the United States
  • The Crusades
  • French Revolution
  • Role of women in World War II
  • Japanese internment camps in the US
  • Abolitionist movement
  • Organized crime in the US

Topics in Science

  • Effect of climate change on endangered species
  • Science denialism
  • Life on Mars
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Space-X and NASA
  • Algae blooms
  • Ecotourism
  • Invasive species
  • Desalinization plants
  • Rising ocean levels and coastal cities
  • Climate change and extreme weather
  • Nanotechnology
  • Honeybee populations
  • Hacking and its effect on society
  • Datamining

Social Issue Topics

  • Marijuana sentencing and minorities
  • Sexual consent and gender relations
  • Reparations
  • Political disenfranchisement of minorities
  • Income inequality
  • Pay gap between women and men
  • Bullying of LGBTQ+ teens
  • Suicide rates of young men
  • Gentrification
  • Homelessness
  • Social media and teen depression
  • Social media and the spread of misinformation
  • The American dream