Health care topics can include a number of specific topics on patient care, ethics and the proposed government-run health care system. In papers about patient care, students can focus on the doctor/nurse shortage that affects hospitals in certain parts of the country, especially in rural or poor areas; thinking outside the United States, students can include foreign countries as well. Ethics papers can focus on issues such as legal challenges to physician-assisted suicide, abortion and birth selection. Specific topics about the proposed government-run health care system can focus on the need in specific states, how it will affect smaller physician practices and the impact on senior citizens.
Researching specific topics about education can focus on curriculum development and education funding. Specific topics on curriculum can include concepts to teach fourth-grade math, standardized tests, art projects for middle school students, photography classes for high school and games to learn science for elementary school students. Funding topics can include using corporate grants to fund programs, eliminating taxes for those who send their children to private school, rising tuition costs for community colleges and analyzing the best books to use for specific subjects such as math, English, foreign languages and history. Research can also involve ethics topics such as academic dishonesty at the college level, cheating on standardized tests and plagiarism in high school.
Choosing a specific research topic on the environment allows students to analyze areas such as legislation, current environmental issues and the economy. Students can include legislation to protect a specific endangered species, laws to protect lands threatened by development in a certain part of the country and ordinances to prevent dumping in streams and rivers that can poison drinking water. Focusing on current environmental topics, students can research the history of natural disasters in their area such as tornadoes, floods and hurricanes; they can also research landfills and their effect on the community. Topics on the economy and the environment can include jobs created by drilling offshore for oil, running nuclear power plants and making environmentally friendly products.
Research topics in mass media and communication can focus on broadcast media, media effects and major changes in media. Specific research topics about television can include comparing the portrayal of women in television series from the 1960s to 2000, the evolution of television technology from black and white to high-definition and cable television's effect on the big three networks. Specific media topics can address advertising to children, violent video games and learning effects for young children. Major changes can focus on the resurgence of AM radio, HD radio and the impact of satellite television.