Ideas to research or form arguments around can come out of the news on television, on the Internet and in newspapers. Suggestions include a look at airport security and the questions surrounding it in light of terrorism, or examination of the war-torn countries of Africa or the Middle East and the roots of conflicts there. Other topics making the news that provide deep research possibilities include racist or hate crimes, school bullying incidents and resulting rules and laws, and health-care insurance and the politics of that issue.
Society has battled with ethical questions throughout time, and timely ones can provide fodder for in-depth research papers. Some ideas to try include questions about censorship of media or books, and laws regarding same-sex marriage. The ethics of cloning humans presents a broad subject to explore, as do the arguments over making English the official language in the United States and illegal immigration. Animal rights also provides a topic with clear sides to review, as do laws regarding adoption and surrogate mothers.
As society changes, questions about Internet security, use of pornography and the flow of the 24-hour news cycle present interesting questions that a student could develop into a research paper. Other ideas stemming from societal changes include minimum wage laws, sex and violence on television and in video games, labor union issues, such as allowing teachers the right to strike, and privacy rights of public and private citizens. Delving into all the ways technology has hurt or helped society, such as cell phone use, the Internet, social media and texting, could form the basis of several papers.
Students can examine issues right in their own school or college campus for a research paper idea that strikes close to home. These include whether college athletes should get the right to endorse products or if high school teams should profit from gifts of equipment from corporations. A look into the ways schools grade students or the benefits and drawbacks of testing also could provide a strong research idea.