When picking an analytical research paper topic in the humanities, try narrowing down the topic from places or time periods to exact events or locations. For example, instead of writing about life in 18th century France, pick a topic that is more specific, such as economic development in Paris from 1700 to 1750. In sociology issues, for example, don't just pick "feminism" as a topic, but be specific, such as American feminism in the 1960s.
Another analytical research paper idea is to write about an individual in one's field of study. The individual does not necessarily have to be real figure or a researcher in the field. For example, a literary paper might focus on a literary character, and a historical paper might focus on an important or conflicted individual. To focus a topic on an individual, analyze and explicate the actions of the individual. Also, explore the person's actions in a larger historical context.
Contemporary topics are especially useful when it's hard to find an untouched historical topic. Contemporary topics can be events that are occurring now or have recently happened. When writing an analytical paper on contemporary topics, you can gather information from surveys or news articles. One can even link new phenomena with older theories or understandings. For example, compare Facebook to older theories of social grouping.
Scientific analytical research paper topics are ideas based on experiments that you can conduct, or you can formulate another theory based on already conducted experiments. For college students, it is better to write about an experiment done by scientists than conduct your own, especially in harder sciences like genetics and biomedical engineering. Be specific in your title, for example, considering health and nutrition, write on whether high-protein diets are healthy.