Freedom Of Choice: Selecting A Great Topic For Research Paper

When you get assigned a topic for a research paper it may seem boring and unfair. If you are to write, then you would prefer to have a choice on what to write. But here you are, with a task to pick your topic and write about it. Excited? Nope. Confused and lost at best. So whether you are assigned a topic and left with freedom to choose it, each situation has its pros and cons.

In this piece we will help you to act in a situation when you are required to find your own topic and make it interesting and relevant. To begin with, it is much easier to write when you understand what you write about and are interested in this topic. It will keep you motivated and focused, and that’s a prerequisite for good writing.

But if you have little to no time at all, we can offer you one more solution. We can do the task of selecting a relevant topic and writing a good paper for you, in the shortest terms and in compliance with all requirements. We know well how picky professors of today are and will do our best to impress them with well-crafted and thoroughly researched work.

How to build an impressive college paper

A good research paper is usually not descriptive.  It argues, debates, proves, disproves and does a lot of other tricks to persuade readers in something. So while selecting a topic pay attention if it has this debatable aspect. It will add to the appeal and depth of your research paper and will leave your professor with feeling that you are a gifted student with capacity for research.

So while writing be careful not just to describe, but to analyze, put facts together and get a new picture, make assumptions and test them, use facts and evidence to show that your belief is right.

Your topic should be visible in all parts of the paper: in introduction, more so in the thesis, in main part and in the conclusion. Each paragraph of main body should add to the topic development, so it should include facts, scholarly explanations, then your ideas and conclusions and connections that you found. Do not make your paper one whole reflection or an opinion piece. Show that you have researched, prove it and only then introduce your opinions supported by your findings.

Be sure to mention what sources you use, both in text and on the reference page. When you say that some scholar has researched the topic and rely on his or her research it makes your paper look really academic and valid. So do not forget to pepper the txt here and there with title of magazines or author’s names.

But to begin with, you still need a topic.

Selecting a cool topic to work on

So first think about questions that interest you, than hit the web and read news headlines, and then put it all together.

Love Instagram? Following celebs but worry that you spend too much time on it? Explore the topic of how social networks catch us and how you can reduce their impact in your life.

Fashion? Perfect. Consider ethical side, rights of workers, ecological impact or just ponder on how fashion runs in cycles.

Tech? A whole range to write on. How startups are born and why they succeed or fail, what is the future of web advertising, VR and its potential, AI, Amazon vs. retails, and what’s not.

Every topic is worth exploration. The only task is to find enough academic materials to answer your questions and support your assumptions.

So selecting a topic is usually a two-step process:

• Outline a preliminary topic
• Research it (at least do brief Googling).

If you find books or scholarly articles at once, your job will be easy. If no – research more or tweak the topic to fit the available sources.

If you have no time to browse or are not sure about what interests you, consult your professor. He or she may not be willing to invent the topic for you but they will push you in proper direction and will point towards potentially good topics. Then you will have to narrow them down or choose one.

Or else: search lists of topics current in 2019 and pick one steaming hot and interesting. Below are just the lists you may need. They cover different areas of science and offer fresh look at seemingly known phenomena. Or just point you to aspects that may have overlooked.

Lists of cool and current topics to write about

So read through and pick the one that appeals to you. Or maybe you will tweak it and devise your own topic on the basis of offered ones. Anyway, we’d be glad if you make use of them.      

History topics

• Ancient Minoan civilization and culture;
• Elizabeth I and her reign;
• Cultural revolution in China;
• The Great Depression and its historical roots;
• Reforms of Akhenaten in Egypt;
• The French Encyclopedia and its role in the French Revolution;
• The Cold War and its elements in the current international affairs;
• How Kosovo came to be;
• History of slavery from 1600s to its end;
•  Iran back in 1960s and 70s – a secular state with great prospects.

Science topics

• Genetically modified baby: what’s wrong with this?
• Have we reached the point of no return in climate change?
• Essential oils as an alternative to antibiotics in wounds treatment;
• Should we reconsider our attitude to ‘not to interfere with wild beings’ rule even in emergencies if we have already substantially and carelessly interfered with the planet and their habitats and food supplies?
• Lab grown meat: ethics, practical application, prospects;
• New missions of NASA and their purposes;
• What prevents us from finding cure for the most dangerous diseases?
• New epidemics and our inability to counter them;
• The secret life of lichens: three kinds of species instead of two fused together;
• The greater threat: carbon emissions or overflowing landfills.

Sociology topics

• Social cues as subconscious guidelines for human behavior;
• Hidden Poverty of the Middle Class;
• Social lifts in the USA now and then: what have changed;
• Facebook data use as an example of sociological profiling;
• Should volunteering replace governmental functions in certain areas?
• Social responsibility of business: what was meant, what is actually done and how it can be improved;
• Organization as a subject of global interactions and competition;
• Social stereotypes students are exposed to and social stereotypes they perpetuate themselves;
• Ethical public relations – are they possible?
• Monitoring of internal formal and informal processes of organizations as a tool to prevent unwanted behavior. 

Topics in Psychology

• Milgram experiment and its dismantling: implications for science;
• Kohlberg’s dilemmas and stages of moral development;
• Dunning and Kruger syndrome;
• Psychology behind motivation;
• Popularity of fake facts as psychological phenomenon;
• When famous experiments do not bear replicating: what does that mean for science?
• Overcoming traumas: ways of healing;
• Support groups as a tool of psychological treatment;
• Does group therapy helps to reduce aggressive/abusive behavior patterns?
• Is there ever such thing as victim behavior?

Criminology and Justice topics

• How Criminal justice borrows on psychology and behavioral research;
• Juvenile delinquency: punishment or prevention?
• Costs of imprisonment and growing number of private prisons: possible hidden connections;
• Racial disparity in incarceration rates;
• Systemic bias at work in courtrooms;
• The 18th century justice, the Bloody Code of England and surprising lessons it can teach the contemporary America;
• Crime of libel and hate speech vs. free speech;
• Political crimes and implicit impunity of high rank politicians;
• Public defender vs. private defender;
• Should the criminal’s background and circumstances be taken into account if a crime is committed by an underage person?

Economics topics

• Business ideas for small/family ventures;
• Do social platforms and online shops boost or hinder traditional idea of sales?
• Governmental shutdown: exploring unexpected economic outcomes and troubles;
• Crisis management: handling of 2008 crisis in the USA and alternative solutions;
• Following the lead of a client or telling them ‘what they want’ – is any approach inherently better?
• Advertising in the age of social media and Internet;
•  Sharing economy – why did it fail in China and can it be done better?
• Why do most startups fail?
• Budget balancing as a goal in itself;
• Stabilization fund and its possible application.

Topics in MBA

• Disruption, innovation and corporate culture;
• Investment risks, assessment, mitigation and handling;
• Shareholders vs. company: whose interests should prevail and why?
• Public and private partnership as a kind of business deal;
• Investors, creditors, own funds: what source and when to use;
• Long-term planning vs. disruption: how they interact in real-life situations;
• The era of fake companies and startups: how to tell them from real ones;
• Scalability and change of management structure;
• Leader vs. follower: what kind of employees is better?
• Investment projects structuring and management.

Accounting and Finances topics

• Tax havens as a response to perceived unfairness of laws;
• Chartered accountants as an institution;
• Understanding financial statement of a company;
• Accounting policies in retail;
• Construction companies and their accounting policies;
• Security of accounting programs and databases;
• Inventory and its structure;
• Listing off-budget funds;
• Tax return and its analogues across the world;
• Controlling costs in modular manufacturing vs. controlling costs in integrated production.

Final tip on topic selection

So all in all, finding a topic is about knowing what interest you. But besides that, you should realize your academic capacity and never take topics that are far beyond your skills. Better take a simpler topic and research it thoroughly and carefully that take a fashionable theme and turn in a slapdash piece not even worth reading.

Take a bit that fits your skills and work on it with all efforts. It is a key to being a successful writer, after all. Good luck!