How to Choose Interesting Research Paper Topics for College

If I were to tell you that you aren't in control of your own decisions, you might hotly refute that statement. Yet, the fact that students spend so much time choosing research topics instead of actually working on one reinforces that scary truth. 

Human beings spend a lot of time thinking and evaluating options only to end up making choices based on emotion.

When presented with an open research project, it is easy to get stuck for days or even weeks because you can’t make up your mind on what you want to work on.

This guide is going to help you do just that using both scientific and emotional techniques to break the mental block. The plan is to get ideas flowing, then choose one of them objectively and subjectively to make the best research project topic.

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From experience, we do understand that choosing the right research topic is the toughest thing to do.

We will explore the best approach to use when selecting a research project topic, the criteria of a good topic, and how to craft a concise research question.

Of course, we will also give you great examples to get you started.

What Makes  the Best Research Topics

A good research topic is the backbone of your research project. Choose a wrong one, and you’re doomed from the start. Get it right from the beginning, and you are very likely to ace it.

Therefore, it is paramount to understand what criteria is used to define a research project topic. From our experience, four major factors determine how good your project's topic is.

1. Clarity

Among all other factors, clarity has to be the most important. Your topic has to be simple and straight-forward from the beginning, with no chance of being misunderstood by your readers.

You should be clear in your mind and on paper on what you want to research, how you will approach it, and what direction you expect the research to take.

To give your topic clarity, only limit yourself to topics on which you are either familiar, or that have enough material you can use to thoroughly familiarize yourself with it.

If you must go for a highly technical subject, as usually happens in technology and science, define all terminology beforehand so that both you and the reader are on the same page. Even then, try to keep your language simple.

2. Definition

A well-defined research topic is half the battle won. The wording, usually expressed in the thesis statement or research question, should clearly set the scope and limits of the research without going too far afield or being too restrictive.

Defining the scope of your research project will be one of our key points in this article. For now, keep in mind that your topic should be simple, direct, and thorough.

While you will probably have to make a few changes to it as you go along, always make sure to keep it well defined and don’t be afraid to go back to your predefined limits if you feel yourself chasing rabbits.

3. Personal Interest

The way to make sure that you have lots of fun and enjoy the project you undertake is to choose a topic in which you have a personal interest.

It could be one that intrigues you, one you already know yourself to be an expert, or one you have a desire to know more about.

In the same breath, remember to think about your audience. In this case, your audience might be your instructor and classmates.

Think about what topics would interest them as well, and it will go a long way to get you good marks.

4. Relevance

Your research topic should be current in terms of world affairs, the global situation, and available knowledge base.

Choosing an obsolete topic will cause you sleepless nights caused by lack of material, only for it to be completely useless when complete.

Remember, the goal is to contribute something to the existing knowledge in your discipline.

Therefore, it pays to find an angle on current affairs. It should also be in your current area of study and within the scope of what you have already covered.

Examples of Research Topics: 30 Sample Topics to Get You Started

Here are some examples of great research topics you can start with. Keep in mind that these are not cut-and-dry, and you should not use them as such.

Rather, consider them springing boards to launch your search and hopefully inspire the right topic.

Technology 

Controversial Topics

Law and Ethics

Drugs

Education

Environment and Nature

As you will see, most of these topics are quite wide and obscure.

They don’t really fit the criteria of good topics, and this is done intentionally to avoid cut-and-paste scenarios. 

Instead, they require some refinement before you can use them. In the next few sections, we look into how you can do just that.

The 7 Simple Steps of Selecting a Good Research Topic

Most of the time, your instructor will save you some hassle and restrict you to one wide topic. For example, they might give you ‘mental health’ or ‘technology’ or even ‘global warming’ as a seed topic.

These topics are too wide to even start researching on, so you will have to start by narrowing them down.

Other times, however, you have a complete carte blanche on the subject matter of the project. It can be easy or tough to get started on such a project depending on circumstances.

Let us approach both scenarios at the same time. As always, start by giving yourself a timeframe within which you need to have your topic chosen and ready. This will help to prevent you from wasting time on irrelevant things by giving you a sense of urgency.

1. Brainstorm

If you are starting on a completely blank sheet, the first step is to brainstorm for ideas. You will likely find that easy to do if you already have a few potential ideas. Write these down, then talk to friends and professors for more.

You can always find more ideas by looking into your personal interests.

What do you like reading about, and where do your interests and area of study intersect? Is there something you are particularly keen to learn about? Is there a question you would like answered? Something in class you didn’t quite understand?

Write all the ideas down as they come, and by the end of this session you should have a healthy number.

For example, you might start with a few ideas on hazing, intelligence tests, workplace drug testing, online security, and parental monitoring during online browsing.

2. Narrow Down to a Few Ideas

Weed out the washed-out ideas from your list. Gun-control, legalization on drugs, and abortion are already cliché topics. Fresh ideas are exciting and are more likely to earn you points for originality.

However, remember that you can also give a fresh twist to a common topic. Some of the best research topics are discovered this way. If you believe that you have a fresh approach that will give a new twist to a topic, stick with it for a further exploration.

By the end of this stage, you should not have many possibilities left - about five will do.

From our original list, we might eliminate drug testing because we feel it is not relevant, online security because it is too general and common, intelligence tests because it is already covered exhaustively. Two remain: parental monitoring and hazing.

3. Do Background And General Research to Select One

With the topics you have, you now need to conduct light research on each to determine its suitability. You will be looking to find out which ones have adequate research material, checking for relevancy, and even just seeing if any will particularly appeal to your interest.

You can do this research in online sources, encyclopedias, and other general sources. You can also talk to your librarian - they will usually have all the answers you need about availability of material and ease of research.

For our example, a general research reveals the psychological foundation of hazing in the military, and parental browsing control through third-party apps.

If by now you haven’t narrowed down your list to one, proceed to step four. Otherwise, skip it and go to five.

4. Make a List of Keywords

The general research will have given you ideas about the scope of each idea.

You will discover keywords along the way related to the topic - write them down. Use the keywords to refine your search further and discover more information on each topic.

For our two remaining ideas, we might decide to go with parental monitoring of their children's digital and online activities.

5. Define the Topic

With the topic chosen, it's time to define it properly.

If it is still too wide, narrow it down further by changing your approach. If it is too wide, broaden the language to allow for more exploration.

The keywords you had picked out will help you do this more effectively. You can also do that by looking into previous work done on the same topic.

This is also the time to define your approach. What will be your interest in the topic? What are you trying to prove or disprove? What are your ideas on methodology?

For our topic, we can consider that parental monitoring for children under 13 is not enough to protect them from the dangers they experience online.

6. Read More on The Selected Topic

An in depth research into the topic follows. You need to familiarize yourself thoroughly with it if you are to come off as an authority.

As such, scour the library, online sources, and coursework material until you completely understand the subject.

As you research, keep a list of your references in proper citation. Pick out any ideas, quotes, and important messages you think will be of help to you later when you do the write up.

That way, you wouldn't lose your sources and it will help you to write your reference list later.

7. Formulate Your Research Question & Thesis Statement

With an in-depth knowledge of your topic, write down your research question.

This is the question that you are trying to answer in your research project.

It can also come in the form of a thesis statement, which is a statement or two narrowing down what your project is all about.

The question or thesis statement has to be simple yet exhaustive in defining your research. It should achieve that golden balance that avoids being either too broad or too specific.

However, leave some room for change and remain flexible as well. You might discover some new information later, and you should be ready to incorporate it into your research project.

For our particular case, a good research question might be:

That is all there is when it comes to choosing a good research topic. Now you can get to the real thing: methodology, analysis, and the final writeup. Hopefully, this article has helped you to get the right topic for the impending project. If not, we can still help.

Need Help With Your Research Project or Coursework Assignment?

While choosing a research project seems like a nightmare, the bulk of the work starts once you have one.

The expert team at Help for Assessments is skilled at all kinds of research projects, dissertations, theses, capstone projects, internal assessments, and many more.