The economy affects just about everything from unemployment numbers and retail sales to how much money people bring home in their weekly paychecks. Using readily available government data on the Internet to dig through the numbers locates specifics like unemployment in a particular community or region of the country and what industries suffer the worst numbers at any given time. Topics also include analyzing what areas of the retail sector do poorly and why, taxes and the American family and looking into peoples' spending habits provide great research opportunities. In an economic slowdown, examining the lack of philanthropy and how it affects nonprofit organizations would allow writers to study both government data and to hear the stories of those most affected.
Writing about a foreign country allows students to learn about a new culture and language. Aside from writing about cuisine and tourist sites, concentrate on areas such as unemployment numbers, religion, healthcare, education and mass transit. Looking into a country's exports and the popularity of American imports also give writers many areas to investigate. Choosing a country where family immigrated from, a country on the list of places to visit and a country constantly in the news provide good areas to begin. If possible, try interviewing someone who lives in this country via email to get their opinions on current topics and trends.
From advertising to social media, writers can focus on a number of areas within the mass media to write and interesting paper topic. In the advertising field alone, topics include advertising effects on children, using testimonials effectively, Internet advertising and public service announcements. Social media lets writers look into issues about the effects of posting personal pictures online, finding old classmates and growing a business. Advancing technology is changing the way people read books thanks to new electronic devices while forcing some bookstores to close. The audiences of the "Big 3" networks continues to decline, and writing about how they will still remain relevant in the next decade allows writers to examine things like news coverage and entertainment.
Ethical issues in business, healthcare and journalism allow writers to examine current topics and how each of these fields deals with ethical issues on a daily basis. In business, writers can examine issues like insider trading, trade secrets and money laundering. In the healthcare field, students can write about topics like stem cell research, bioethics and end of life issues. The journalism field places ethical issues like plagiarism, paying sources for information and taking gifts in exchange for stories seriously; analyzing how major news organizations handled these events in the past make great paper topics. Regardless of the field, many organizations now post their "codes of ethics" online for all to see, and writing a paper comparing and contrasting the differences gives readers much insight into ethical practices.