Non-biased controversial research topics on education can include issues covering curriculum and funding. Topics about curriculum can cover teaching creationism, lengthening the school day (or year), sending children to charter schools, homeschooling and using technology to help students learn. Topics about funding can discuss teacher pension plans, the use of tax money for education and the amenities to add to new schools. Topics can also include controversial issues in higher education such as ways to pay for school for immigrants or so-called diploma mills. Arguments from both sides can include policy groups, politicians and teachers who work at the most basic levels of education.
Controversial health topics can focus on patient care and the proposed government-run health care system. Research topics about patient care can include surgeries to help people lose weight, insurance companies paying for plastic surgery, stem cell research, physician-assisted suicide and abortion. Topics about the proposed government-run health care system can include funding, stressing out the current system and conducting controversial procedures with the government paying. Researchers can find non-biased research in scholarly journals, government data and statistics and from some doctor groups. Students may also choose to analyze the positions of religions and religious leaders.
Topics about social problems exude controversy often by their very nature because of the different viewpoints on treating the problem. Topics such as the war on drugs, homelessness, unemployment, welfare and bullying can work as good topics for research. Students can research trends on the problems, government help, success stories and the importance of nonprofits. Research might also involve interviewing people with first hand knowledge and including their stories as either a backdrop or key component of the paper; writing about how "the system" affected people in various ways can help keep researched balanced.
Controversial environmental research topics can include policy, at both the nation and global level, that affect the environment. Research can center on issues in offshore oil drilling, land development in rural America, natural gas exploration on federally owned land, and rights and restrictions in hunting and fishing. Research can include the controversial policies and laws legislators enact regarding each issue. Including a good sample of scientists, politicians and community activists can make a controversial topic well-balanced. Researchers can find them in universities, nonprofits and lobbying groups.