The field of health psychology is one that is always on the cutting-edge of research because it is heavily dependent on the ever-changing medical field. Students choosing health psychology as a topic should have a particular field of medicine in mind as they begin to research. Health psychology can cover a wide variety of topics, most of which explore the relationship between physical health and emotional and cognitive well-being. For instance, possible topics include the effects of eating disorders on psychological well-being, how cancer affects psychological health or simply the relationship between various fitness levels and cognitive ability. The opposite approach can also be used by first exploring how psychology affects health. Topics might include how psychological attitudes affect physical health, how attitudes affect sports performance and the relationship between positive thinking and physical healing.
Another popular and emerging field in the field of psychology is that of forensic psychology. Forensic psychology is the discipline that uses psychology to understand the criminal mind and other applications within the legal system. Potential research topics might include psychological profiles of well-known serial killers, psychological characteristics of gang members, the relationship between children who bully other children and criminal activity in later life and possibly the statistical correlation between various psychological profiles and various crimes like murder, theft, hate crimes and even rape.
Abnormal psychology seeks to understand the psychological basis for various mental disorders such as schizophrenia, dementia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's disease and even post-traumatic stress disorder. Possible topics within the field of abnormal psychology can include attempts to understand the origins of these various disorders, statistical studies that show the correlation between psychological disorders and certain populations of people, the relationship between environmental factors and psychological problems, how various therapies help or hinder in the treatment of psychological disorders and even how certain psychological disorders affect the everyday life of the afflicted person.