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One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

  • Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
  • Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
  • How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
  • How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
  • How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
  • How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

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Current Events

  • What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
  • How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
  • How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
  • Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
  • What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
  • What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
  • How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
  • How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
  • How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
  • What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
  • What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
  • What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
  • Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
  • Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
  • Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
  • Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
  • Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
  • Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
  • How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
  • What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
  • Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
  • What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
  • How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
  • What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
  • Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
  • Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
  • Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
  • How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
  • Should graduate students be able to form unions?

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  • What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
  • How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
  • Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
  • Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
  • How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
  • How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
  • Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
  • Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
  • Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
  • Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
  • Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
  • Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
  • Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
  • Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
  • Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
  • What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
  • How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
  • How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
  • What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
  • What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
  • Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
  • What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
  • What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
  • Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
  • Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
  • How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
  • Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
  • What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
  • How does stress affect the body?
  • Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
  • What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
  • Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
  • How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
  • What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
  • What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
  • Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
  • What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
  • What were the causes of the Civil War?
  • How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
  • Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
  • What caused Hitler's rise to power?
  • Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
  • What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
  • How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
  • What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

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  • Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
  • Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
  • How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
  • How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
  • What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
  • What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
  • How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

  • How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
  • How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
  • Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
  • Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
  • How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
  • How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
  • What are the pros and cons of fracking?
  • What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
  • What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
  • How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
  • Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
  • Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
  • What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
  • What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
  • How are black holes created?
  • Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
  • How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
  • Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
  • How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
  • Has social media made people more or less connected?
  • What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
  • Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
  • What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
  • How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
  • When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
  • Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

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How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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100 Interesting Research Paper Topics for High Schoolers

What’s covered:, how to pick the right research topic, elements of a strong research paper.

  • Interesting Research Paper Topics

Composing a research paper can be a daunting task for first-time writers. In addition to making sure you’re using concise language and your thoughts are organized clearly, you need to find a topic that draws the reader in.

CollegeVine is here to help you brainstorm creative topics! Below are 100 interesting research paper topics that will help you engage with your project and keep you motivated until you’ve typed the final period. 

You can’t have a good research paper without a good research paper topic. “Good” is subjective and different students will find different topics interesting; however, what’s important is that you find a topic that makes you want to find out more and make a convincing argument. Maybe you’ll be so interested that you’ll want to take it further and submit your paper to a competition!

A research paper is similar to an academic essay but more lengthy and requires more research. This is bittersweet: although it is more work, you can create a more nuanced argument, and learn more about your topic area. Research papers are a demonstration of your research ability and your ability to formulate a convincing argument. How well you’re able to engage with the sources and make original contributions will determine the strength of your paper. 

Introduction

The introduction to a research paper serves two critical functions: it conveys the topic of the paper and illustrates how you will address it. A strong introduction will also pique the interest of the reader and make them excited to read more. Selecting a research paper topic that is meaningful, interesting, and fascinates you is an excellent first step toward creating an engaging paper that people will want to read.

Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is technically part of the introduction—generally the last sentence of it—but is so important that it merits a section of its own. The thesis statement is a declarative sentence that tells the reader what the paper is about. A strong thesis statement serves three purposes: present the topic of the paper, deliver a clear opinion on the topic, and summarize the points the paper will cover.

An example of a good thesis statement of diversity in the workforce is:

Diversity in the workplace is not just a moral imperative but also a strategic advantage for businesses, as it fosters innovation, enhances creativity, improves decision-making, and enables companies to better understand and connect with a diverse customer base.

The body is the largest section of a research paper. It’s here where you support your thesis, present your facts and research, and persuade the reader.

Each paragraph in the body of a research paper should have its own idea. The idea is presented, generally in the first sentence of the paragraph, by a topic sentence. The topic sentence acts similarly to the thesis statement, only on a smaller scale, and every sentence in the paragraph with it supports the idea it conveys.

An example of a topic sentence on how diversity in the workplace fosters innovation is:

Diversity in the workplace fosters innovation by bringing together individuals with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, which stimulates creativity, encourages new ideas, and leads to the development of innovative solutions to complex problems.

The body of an engaging research paper flows smoothly from one idea to the next. Create an outline before writing and order your ideas so that each idea logically leads to another.

The conclusion of a research paper should summarize your thesis and reinforce your argument. It’s common to restate the thesis in the conclusion of a research paper.

For example, a conclusion for a paper about diversity in the workforce is:

In conclusion, diversity in the workplace is vital to success in the modern business world. By embracing diversity, companies can tap into the full potential of their workforce, promote creativity and innovation, and better connect with a diverse customer base, ultimately leading to greater success and a more prosperous future for all.

Reference Page

The reference page is normally found at the end of a research paper. It provides proof that you did research using credible sources, properly credits the originators of information, and prevents plagiarism.

There are a number of different formats of reference pages, including APA, MLA, and Chicago. Make sure to format your reference page in your teacher’s preferred style.

  • Analyze the benefits of diversity in education.
  • Are charter schools useful for the national education system?
  • How has modern technology changed teaching?
  • Discuss the pros and cons of standardized testing.
  • What are the benefits of a gap year between high school and college?
  • What funding allocations give the most benefit to students?
  • Does homeschooling set students up for success?
  • Should universities/high schools require students to be vaccinated?
  • What effect does rising college tuition have on high schoolers?
  • Do students perform better in same-sex schools?
  • Discuss and analyze the impacts of a famous musician on pop music.
  • How has pop music evolved over the past decade?
  • How has the portrayal of women in music changed in the media over the past decade?
  • How does a synthesizer work?
  • How has music evolved to feature different instruments/voices?
  • How has sound effect technology changed the music industry?
  • Analyze the benefits of music education in high schools.
  • Are rehabilitation centers more effective than prisons?
  • Are congestion taxes useful?
  • Does affirmative action help minorities?
  • Can a capitalist system effectively reduce inequality?
  • Is a three-branch government system effective?
  • What causes polarization in today’s politics?
  • Is the U.S. government racially unbiased?
  • Choose a historical invention and discuss its impact on society today.
  • Choose a famous historical leader who lost power—what led to their eventual downfall?
  • How has your country evolved over the past century?
  • What historical event has had the largest effect on the U.S.?
  • Has the government’s response to national disasters improved or declined throughout history?
  • Discuss the history of the American occupation of Iraq.
  • Explain the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
  • Is literature relevant in modern society?
  • Discuss how fiction can be used for propaganda.
  • How does literature teach and inform about society?
  • Explain the influence of children’s literature on adulthood.
  • How has literature addressed homosexuality?
  • Does the media portray minorities realistically?
  • Does the media reinforce stereotypes?
  • Why have podcasts become so popular?
  • Will streaming end traditional television?
  • What is a patriot?
  • What are the pros and cons of global citizenship?
  • What are the causes and effects of bullying?
  • Why has the divorce rate in the U.S. been declining in recent years?
  • Is it more important to follow social norms or religion?
  • What are the responsible limits on abortion, if any?
  • How does an MRI machine work?
  • Would the U.S. benefit from socialized healthcare?
  • Elderly populations
  • The education system
  • State tax bases
  • How do anti-vaxxers affect the health of the country?
  • Analyze the costs and benefits of diet culture.
  • Should companies allow employees to exercise on company time?
  • What is an adequate amount of exercise for an adult per week/per month/per day?
  • Discuss the effects of the obesity epidemic on American society.
  • Are students smarter since the advent of the internet?
  • What departures has the internet made from its original design?
  • Has digital downloading helped the music industry?
  • Discuss the benefits and costs of stricter internet censorship.
  • Analyze the effects of the internet on the paper news industry.
  • What would happen if the internet went out?
  • How will artificial intelligence (AI) change our lives?
  • What are the pros and cons of cryptocurrency?
  • How has social media affected the way people relate with each other?
  • Should social media have an age restriction?
  • Discuss the importance of source software.
  • What is more relevant in today’s world: mobile apps or websites?
  • How will fully autonomous vehicles change our lives?
  • How is text messaging affecting teen literacy?

Mental Health

  • What are the benefits of daily exercise?
  • How has social media affected people’s mental health?
  • What things contribute to poor mental and physical health?
  • Analyze how mental health is talked about in pop culture.
  • Discuss the pros and cons of more counselors in high schools.
  • How does stress affect the body?
  • How do emotional support animals help people?
  • What are black holes?
  • Discuss the biggest successes and failures of the EPA.
  • How has the Flint water crisis affected life in Michigan?
  • Can science help save endangered species?
  • Is the development of an anti-cancer vaccine possible?

Environment

  • What are the effects of deforestation on climate change?
  • Is climate change reversible?
  • How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect global warming and climate change?
  • Are carbon credits effective for offsetting emissions or just marketing?
  • Is nuclear power a safe alternative to fossil fuels?
  • Are hybrid vehicles helping to control pollution in the atmosphere?
  • How is plastic waste harming the environment?
  • Is entrepreneurism a trait people are born with or something they learn?
  • How much more should CEOs make than their average employee?
  • Can you start a business without money?
  • Should the U.S. raise the minimum wage?
  • Discuss how happy employees benefit businesses.
  • How important is branding for a business?
  • Discuss the ease, or difficulty, of landing a job today.
  • What is the economic impact of sporting events?
  • Are professional athletes overpaid?
  • Should male and female athletes receive equal pay?
  • What is a fair and equitable way for transgender athletes to compete in high school sports?
  • What are the benefits of playing team sports?
  • What is the most corrupt professional sport?

Where to Get More Research Paper Topic Ideas

If you need more help brainstorming topics, especially those that are personalized to your interests, you can use CollegeVine’s free AI tutor, Ivy . Ivy can help you come up with original research topic ideas, and she can also help with the rest of your homework, from math to languages.

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500 Good Research Paper Topics

Bonus Material: Essential essay checklist

Writing a research paper for a class and not sure how to start?

One of the most important steps to creating a great paper is finding a good topic! 

Here’s a hand-drafted list from a Princeton grad who has helped professors at Harvard and Yale edit their papers for publication and taught college writing at the University of Notre Dame and .

What’s more, we give you some foolproof formulas for creating your own paper topic to fit the requirements of your class.

Using these simple formulas, we’ve helped hundreds of students turn a B- paper topic into an A+ paper topic.

Keep reading for our list of 500 vetted research paper topics and our magic formulas for creating your own topic!

Of course, if you want help learning to write research papers tailored to your individual needs, check out our one-on-one writing coaching or academic writing workshop . Set up a free consultation to see how we can help you learn to write A+ papers!

Jump to paper topics in:

European & Mediterranean History

African history, asian history, history of the pre-columbian americas.

  • Latin American History

History of Science

Politics & public policy, education & education policy, political theory, science policy.

  • Health Sciences & Psychology

Download the essential essay checklist

What is a research paper?

In order to write a good research paper, it’s important to know what it is! 

In general, we can divide academic writing into three broad categories:

  • Analytical: analyze the tools an author uses to make their point
  • Research: delve deeply into a research topic and share your findings
  • Persuasive : argue a specific and nuanced position backed by evidence

What’s the difference between an analytical paper and a research paper? For an analytical paper, it’s okay to just use one or two sources (a book, poem, work of art, piece of music, etc.) and examine them in detail. For a research paper, however, the expectation is that you do, well . . . research .

student writing research paper

The depth of research that you’re expected to do will depend on your age and the type of class you’re taking.

In elementary or middle school, a “research paper” might mean finding information from a few general books or encyclopedias in your school library. 

In high school, your teachers might expect you to start using information from academic articles and more specific books. You might use encyclopedias and general works as a starting point, but you’ll be expected to go beyond them and do more work to synthesize information from different perspectives or different types of sources. You may also be expected to do “primary research,” where you study the source material yourself, instead of synthesizing what other people have written about the source material.

In college, you’ll be required to use academic journals and scholarly books, and your professors will now expect that you be more critical of these secondary sources, noticing the methodology and perspectives of whatever articles and books you’re using. 

In more advanced college courses, you’ll be expected to do more exhaustive surveys of the existing literature on a topic. You’ll need to conduct primary research that makes an original contribution to the field—the kind that could be published in a journal article itself.

For a walkthrough of the 12 essential steps to writing a good paper, check out our step-by-step guide .

student writing research paper

Working on a research paper? Grab our free checklist to make sure your essay has everything it needs to earn an A grade.

Get the essential essay checklist

What makes a good research paper topic?

One of the most important features of a research paper topic is that it has a clear, narrow focus. 

For example, your teacher may assign you to write a research paper related to the US Revolutionary War. Does that mean that your topic should be “the US Revolutionary War”? 

Definitely not! There’s no way to craft a good paper with in-depth research with such a broad topic. (Unless you’re in elementary or middle school, in which case it’s okay to have a more general topic for your research paper.)

Instead, you need to find a more specific topic within this broader one. There are endless ways that you can make this narrower! Some ideas generated from this one broader topic might be:

  • Causes of the US Revolutionary War
  • Changes in military strategy during the Revolutionary War
  • The experiences of Loyalists to England who remained in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War
  • How the Revolutionary War was pivotal for the career of Alexander Hamilton
  • The role of alliances with France during the US Revolutionary War
  • The experiences of people of color during the Revolutionary War
  • How George Washington’s previous military career paved the way for his leadership in the Revolutionary War
  • The main types of weaponry during the Revolutionary War
  • Changes in clothing and fashion over the courses of the Revolutionary War
  • How Valley Forge was a key moment in the Revolutionary War
  • How women contributed to the Revolutionary War
  • What happened in Amherst, Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War
  • Field medicine during the Revolutionary War
  • How the Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the Revolutionary War
  • How different opinions about the Revolutionary War were reflected in poetry written during that time
  • Debates over abolition during the Revolutionary War
  • The importance of supply chains during the Revolutionary War
  • Reactions to the US Revolutionary war in Europe
  • How the US Revolutionary war impacted political theory in England and France
  • Similarities and differences between the US Revolutionary War and the French Revolution
  • Famous paintings inspired by the US Revolutionary War
  • Different ways that the US Revolutionary War has been depicted in modern contemporary culture
  • The appropriation of the “Boston Tea Party” by US politicians in the 2010s

This list could go on forever!

good research paper topics about the US Revolution

In fact, any of these topics could become even more specific. For example, check out the evolution of this topic:

  • Economic causes of the Revolutionary war
  • The way that tax policies helped lead to the Revolutionary War
  • How tax laws enacted 1763–1775 helped lead to the Revolutionary War
  • How the tax-free status of the British East India Company helped lead to the Revolutionary War
  • How the 1773 tax-free status of the British East India Company helped lead to the Revolutionary War, as reflected in letters written 1767–1775
  • How the 1773 tax-free status of the British East India Company helped lead to the Revolutionary War, as reflected in letters written by members of the Sons of Liberty 1767–1775

As you advance in your educational career, you’ll need to make your topic more and more specific. Steps 1–3 of this topic might be okay in high school, but for a college research paper steps 4–7 would be more appropriate!

As you craft your research paper topic, you should also keep in mind the availability of research materials on your subject. There are millions of topics that would make interesting research papers, but for which you yourself might not be able to investigate with the primary and secondary sources to which you have access.

Access to research materials might look like:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the sources exist somewhere
  • The source isn’t behind a paywall (or you or your school can pay for it)
  • Your school or local library has a copy of the source
  • Your school or local library can order a copy of the source for you
  • The source is in a language that you speak
  • The source has been published already (there’s tons of amazing research that hasn’t been published yet, a frustrating problem!)
  • You can access the archive, museum, or database where the primary source is held—this might mean online access or travel! To access a source in an archive or museum you’ll often need permission, which often requires a letter of support from your school.

If you’re not sure about access to source materials, talk to a librarian! They’re professionals for this question.

Finally, pick a research topic that interests you! Given that there are unlimited research topics in the world and many ways to adapt a broad topic, there should absolutely be a way to modify a research topic to fit your interests.

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Insider tips to generate your own research paper topic

Use these formulas to generate your own research paper topics:

  • How did X change over a period of time (year, decade, century)?
  • What is the impact (or consequences) of X?
  • What led to X?
  • What is the role of X in Y?
  • How did X influence Y?
  • How did X become Y?
  • How was X different from Y?
  • How is X an example of Y?
  • How did X affect Y?
  • What were some reactions to X?
  • What are the most effective policies to produce X result?
  • What are some risks of X?
  • How is our current understanding of X incorrect? (advanced)
  • What happens if we look at X through the lens of Y theory or perspective? (advanced)

A good research paper topic often starts with the question words—why, how, what, who, and where. Remember to make it as specific as possible!

student writing research paper

Good research paper topics

These research paper topics have been vetted by a Princeton grad and academic book editor!

  • How did European rivalries (British vs French) impact North American history?
  • What was the role of British and French alliances with indigneous tribes during the Seven Years’ War?
  • Reactions to the 1754 Albany Congress among North American intellectual figures
  • How the Albany Plan served as a model for future attempts at union among the North American colonies
  • How did different religious identities (Calvinist, Catholic, etc.) play a role in the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War?
  • What were the consequences of the 1763 Treaty of Paris?
  • How did the Seven Years’ War impact British debt and colonial economics?
  • What were some causes of the US Revolutionary War?
  • How did military strategy change during the Revolutionary War?
  • What were the experiences of Loyalists to England who remained in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War?
  • How was the Revolutionary War pivotal for the career of Alexander Hamilton?
  • What was the role of alliances with France during the US Revolutionary War?
  • What were the experiences of people of color during the Revolutionary War?
  • How did George Washington’s previous military career pave the way for his leadership in the Revolutionary War?
  • What were the main types of weaponry during the Revolutionary War? How did that affect the options for military strategies?
  • How did clothing and fashion change over the courses of the Revolutionary War?
  • How was Valley Forge a key moment in the Revolutionary War?
  • How did women contribute to the Revolutionary War?
  • What happened in Amherst, Massachusetts (or any other specific location) during the Revolutionary War?
  • What was field medicine like during the Revolutionary War? 
  • How was the Battle of Saratoga a turning point in the Revolutionary War?
  • How were different opinions about the Revolutionary War reflected in poetry written during that time?
  • What were the debates over abolition during the Revolutionary War?
  • What was the role of supply chains during the Revolutionary War?
  • What were reactions to the US Revolutionary war like in Europe? What does that tell us about politics in England, France, the Netherlands, etc?
  • How did the US Revolutionary war impact political theory in England and France?
  • What are similarities and differences between the US Revolutionary War and the French Revolution?
  • What are some famous paintings inspired by the US Revolutionary War? What do differences between these paintings tell us about how the artists who created them saw the war?
  • What are some different ways that the US Revolutionary War has been depicted in modern contemporary culture? What does that tell us?
  • How was the story of the “Boston Tea Party” appropriated by US politicians in the 2010s, and why?
  • What was the difference between the Federalists and the Jeffersonians?
  • How did the 1797 XYZ Affair lead to the Quasi-War with France?
  • How were loans from European countries and companies (France, Spain, Dutch bankers) key to the early US?
  • What were reactions to the Constitutional Convention of 1787?
  • Why did the US remain neutral during the French Revolution?
  • How did the Alien and Sedition acts contribute to the election of Thomas Jefferson as president?
  • What was the US’s reaction to the Haitian revolution? Why did the US not recognize Haitian independence until 1862?
  • What were the reactions to John Jay’s Treaty of 1794?
  • How have the remarks made by George Washington in his Farewell Address inspired isolationist policies?
  • How did interpretations of the Monroe Doctrine change over the decades since its creation? 
  • How did the Roosevelt Corollary and Lodge Corollary change and expand the Monroe Doctrine?
  • How did the presence of US companies like the United Fruit Company affect US military interventions in Latin America? 
  • How was the Monroe Doctrine invoked in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962? 
  • How was US culture shaped by the Cold War?
  • How did ecology play a role in the rise of Ancient Egypt?
  • How did water management technologies impact Ancient Egypt?
  • How did bureaucracies function in Ancient Egypt?
  • How did Egyptian art influence Ancient Greek art?
  • Who could be a citizen in Athens in the 5th century BCE? What does this tell us about classical Athenian society?
  • What was the impact of the Peloponnesian War?
  • What was the impact of Alexander the Great’s attempt to create an empire?
  • How does the way that Alexander the Great is represented in art demonstrate conceptions about the relationship between the human and the divine?
  • Was there a conception of race in the ancient world? How were these ideas different from our own modern conceptions of race?
  • What was the role of debt slavery in the Roman republic? How were these policies ended, and what is the significance of the end of debt slavery? What kinds of slavery remained?
  • To what degree does the movie Gladiator accurately the Roman Empire in 176–192 CE?
  • What was the role of slavery in managing the large latifundia ?
  • How and why did the emperor Constantine I adopt Christianity?
  • How did patterns of urbanism in the latter Roman empire change? What does this tell us about challenges being faced at that time?
  • What do reactions to the Byzantine empress Theodora tell us about ideas of gender in 6th-century Byzantium?
  • How did scientific advancements in Islamic Spain influence the rest of Europe?
  • What was the relationship between Muslim, Christian, and Jewish populations in Islamic Spain? How does this compare to the experience of Muslim and Jewish populations in Christian Spain?
  • How did medieval troubadour poetry represent a new idea of romantic relationships?
  • What are similarities and differences between medieval troubadour poetry and lyric poetry in Ancient Greece? 
  • What do letters between women and popes tell us about gender, power, and religion in medieval Europe?
  • In what ways was Hildegard of Bingen groundbreaking for her time?
  • Who produced beer in medieval England, and what does this tell us about society?
  • How did the adoption of hops affect the production and distribution of beer?
  • How did beer production allow some women a way to be financially independent?
  • How was clothing used to mark religious and cultural identities in 15th- and 16th-century Spain?
  • How did print culture change relationships and courting in Georgian England?
  • How did churches function as social gathering spaces in Georgian England?
  • To what degree is Netflix’s Bridgerton series historically accurate?
  • How did ideas of love change in the 18th century? How did philosophy play a role in this?
  • When were Valentine cards first commercially available? What does that show us about cultural ideas of love and courtship?
  • What were the consequences of the desertification of the Sahara?
  • How did trade links on the Red Sea influence Nubian culture?
  • How did Carthage build power in Northern Africa around 600–500 BCE?
  • What was the impact of the Mercenary War (241–238 BCE) in Carthage?
  • How did the Roman province of Africa play a key role in financing the Roman Empire?
  • What were the consequences of the Donatist division in the 300s in Northern Africa?
  • What was the impact of the large-scale movement of Bedouins from the Arabian peninsula into the Maghreb?
  • How was Mande society organized in the Mali Empire? 
  • What was the role of the book trade in Timbuktu? What does this tell us about culture and learning in the Mali Empire?
  • How did Aksum use trade to build wealth and power? 
  • What do Nok terracotta sculptures tell us about Nok culture?
  • How did the Luba Empire create a centralized political system? How did the idea of spiritual kins ( balopwe ) play a role in this system?
  • How did tax collection work in the Lunda empire?
  • What does it mean to say that the Ajuran Empire was a hydraulic empire? How did control over water resources allow the Ajuran Empire to build and consolidate power?
  • What is the significance of diplomatic ties between the Somai Ajuran Empire and Ming dynasty China? 
  • How did the tribute system in the Kingdom of Kongo help to stimulate interregional trade?
  • What was the impact of the introduction of maize and cassava to the Kingdom of Kongo?
  • How did women wield influence in the Kingdom of Benin?
  • How did the Industrial Revolution in Europe help lead to the Scramble for Africa 1878–1898?
  • What were the consequences of the Second Boer War?
  • What happened in the Year of Africa (1960)?
  • How did the Han dynasty consolidate power in frontier regions? 
  • How and why did the Han dynasty nationalize the private salt and iron industries in 117 BCE?
  • What are the earliest records of papermaking, and what is the significance of this invention?
  • What was the role of Daoist religious societies in rebellions at the end of the Han dynasty (Yellow Turban Rebellion, Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion)?
  • What do tomb paintings tell us about ancient Chinese society?
  • What was the impact of the Sui dynasty’s standardization and re-unification of the coinage?
  • What was the role of standardized testing in Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty China?
  • Why is the Tang dynasty often regarded as a golden age of cosmopolitan culture in Chinese history?
  • What was the role of slavery in imperial China? 
  • How did the rise of jiedushi (regional military governments) undermine the civil-service system? What were the consequences of this?
  • How did Tang dynasty China exert power over Japan and Korea?
  • What was the Three Departments and Six Ministries system in imperial China and how did it work?
  • What does the appearance of Inca, Maya, and Aztec goods in North America (Utah, Canada) and the appearance of goods from the Great Lakes region in Maya and Aztec ruins tell us about trade in the Pre-Columbian Americas?
  • How did celebration of maize play a central role in Mesoamerican cultures?
  • How did the Aztec empire use relationships with client city-states to establish power? How did the Aztec empire use taxation to exert power?
  • How did the luxury good trade impact Aztec political power? 
  • How did the building of roads play a key role in the Aztec empire?
  • How and why has archaeology played a pivotal role in expanding our understanding of the pre-Columbian Americas?
  • What are some common misconceptions about the Americas in the year 1491? Why do these misconceptions exist?

Latin American History (post-1492)

  • How and why did the Spanish appropriate Aztec sites of significance (e.g. Mexico City at the site of Tenochtitlan)?
  • What were reactions among Latin American intellectuals (e.g. Luis MarĂ­a Drago, Alejandro Álvarez and Baltasar Brum) to the Monroe Doctrine?
  • How was the US’s involvement in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–1903 a pivotal turning point in the relationship between the US and Latin American countries?
  • What were the effects of the US’s involvement in the Cuban War for Independence?
  • How did the Roosevelt Corollary of 1904 benefit the US?
  • How did Simon Bolivar’s time in Europe affect his ideas about Latin American independence?
  • How did 19th century academic societies play a role in the advancement of scientific discoveries? Who was excluded from these societies?
  • How was music connected to the sciences in medieval thinking?
  • When was the concept of zero first used, and how was it instrumental for advancements in math?
  • What role did Islamic Spain play in the spread of scientific advancements in medieval Europe?
  • What role has translation between languages played in the development of sciences?
  • Why were Galileo’s ideas about astronomy controversial at the time?
  • What was the connection between art and advancements in human anatomy?
  • Why were Darwin’s ideas about natural selection controversial at the time?
  • To what degree does the film Master and Commander accurately depict the voyages of Charles Darwin?
  • How did the discovery of quinine and other medical innovations help to facilitate the European colonization of Africa?
  • How and why was the internet invented?
  • Does Virgil’s Aeneid celebrate the new Roman Empire or subvert it?
  • Why was the poet Ovid exiled from Rome?
  • What are the pagan influences in Beowulf ? What are the Christian elements in Beowulf ? What does that tell us about late Anglo-Saxon England?
  • How does Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales reflect gender roles in late medieval England?
  • How does Dante’s Inferno draw on book IV of Virgil’s Aeneid ? 
  • How are gender roles presented and subverted in Shakespeare’s plays?
  • To what degree did Henry David Thoreau live out the ideals he described in Walden in his own life?
  • How did the serialized publication of novels affect the way that they were written?
  • Does Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities accurately portray the French Revolution?
  • How did 18th-century novels propagate the idea of marrying for love?
  • What did contemporary readers think about Jane Austen and her novels?
  • To what degree do Jane Austen’s novels reflect economic realities for women in Regency England? What do they leave out?
  • How did Lord Byron’s personal life affect his poetry?
  • What do we know about the romantic life of Emily Dickinson?
  • What were the religious movements that influenced the writer George Eliot, and how do those influences appear in her novels?
  • In what ways were Walt Whitman’s writings new or different?
  • How did British poets react to the horrors of Word War I?
  • What do Tolkien’s letters reveal about the ways in which the two world wars influenced his writings?
  • How did the friendship between CS Lewis and Tolkien affect their respective writings?
  • What are the arguments for and against Catalonian independence from Spain?
  • What are the arguments for and against Scottish independence from the United Kingdom?
  • What are some risks of contact sports, especially for children?
  • What are the most effective policies for combating childhood obesity?
  • What are the most effective policies for reducing gun violence?
  • Which countries have the longest life expectancy and why?
  • What are some differences between the healthcare system in the US and in European countries? Which country has the most similar system to the US?
  • What policies for parental leave exist in different countries? What are some effects of these policies?
  • Has the drinking age in the US always been 21? What have been some different policies, and what were some consequences of them?
  • What is the debate around museum artifacts like the Elgin Marbles in London or the Benin Bronzes in Berlin?
  • How have politicians attempted to control population growth in different countries, either directly or indirectly? What have been some effects of these policies?
  • Which countries have the most gender parity reflected in national governments? How have they accomplished this?
  • How has public funding of K-12 education changed since the 1930s in the US? 
  • How has public funding of higher education changed in the US?
  • What is early childhood education like in different countries?
  • What are some effects of free or reduced-cost meals in schools?
  • How does access to menstrual products affect education outcomes for girls in different countries?
  • What was the impact of Rousseau’s writings on education?
  • How did Plato’s ideal forms of government reflect contemporary Athenian concerns about the unruly masses ( demos )?
  • How did Aristotle justify slavery?
  • How has wealth inequality increased in recent decades?
  • How is inflation calculated, and what are the implications of this methodology?
  • How have genetically-engineered crops changed the way that the planet feeds itself?
  • How has animal testing changed since 2000?
  • How is animal testing regulated differently in different countries?

Health Sciences and Psychology

  • How do different societies reflect the natural circadian rhythms of the human body?
  • How does secondhand smoke affect the human body?
  • How does lack of sleep affect the body?
  • How does stress affect the body?
  • What are some ways to reduce stress?
  • How have cancer treatments changed in the past 30 years?
  • Why is it hard to find a “cure” for cancer?
  • How has the Human Genome Project changed medical science?
  • How were the Covid vaccines developed so quickly? What is the difference between the various Covid vaccines that have been developed?

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Emily graduated  summa cum laude  from Princeton University and holds an MA from the University of Notre Dame. She was a National Merit Scholar and has won numerous academic prizes and fellowships. A veteran of the publishing industry, she has helped professors at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton revise their books and articles. Over the last decade, Emily has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay. 

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  • 10 Research Question Examples to Guide Your Research Project

10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project

Published on October 30, 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on October 19, 2023.

The research question is one of the most important parts of your research paper , thesis or dissertation . It’s important to spend some time assessing and refining your question before you get started.

The exact form of your question will depend on a few things, such as the length of your project, the type of research you’re conducting, the topic , and the research problem . However, all research questions should be focused, specific, and relevant to a timely social or scholarly issue.

Once you’ve read our guide on how to write a research question , you can use these examples to craft your own.

Note that the design of your research question can depend on what method you are pursuing. Here are a few options for qualitative, quantitative, and statistical research questions.

Other interesting articles

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

  • Sampling methods
  • Simple random sampling
  • Stratified sampling
  • Cluster sampling
  • Likert scales
  • Reproducibility

 Statistics

  • Null hypothesis
  • Statistical power
  • Probability distribution
  • Effect size
  • Poisson distribution

Research bias

  • Optimism bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Implicit bias
  • Hawthorne effect
  • Anchoring bias
  • Explicit bias

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McCombes, S. (2023, October 19). 10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project. Scribbr. Retrieved March 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-question-examples/

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Research Design | Step-by-Step Guide with Examples

Published on 5 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 20 March 2023.

A research design is a strategy for answering your research question  using empirical data. Creating a research design means making decisions about:

  • Your overall aims and approach
  • The type of research design you’ll use
  • Your sampling methods or criteria for selecting subjects
  • Your data collection methods
  • The procedures you’ll follow to collect data
  • Your data analysis methods

A well-planned research design helps ensure that your methods match your research aims and that you use the right kind of analysis for your data.

Table of contents

Step 1: consider your aims and approach, step 2: choose a type of research design, step 3: identify your population and sampling method, step 4: choose your data collection methods, step 5: plan your data collection procedures, step 6: decide on your data analysis strategies, frequently asked questions.

  • Introduction

Before you can start designing your research, you should already have a clear idea of the research question you want to investigate.

There are many different ways you could go about answering this question. Your research design choices should be driven by your aims and priorities – start by thinking carefully about what you want to achieve.

The first choice you need to make is whether you’ll take a qualitative or quantitative approach.

Qualitative research designs tend to be more flexible and inductive , allowing you to adjust your approach based on what you find throughout the research process.

Quantitative research designs tend to be more fixed and deductive , with variables and hypotheses clearly defined in advance of data collection.

It’s also possible to use a mixed methods design that integrates aspects of both approaches. By combining qualitative and quantitative insights, you can gain a more complete picture of the problem you’re studying and strengthen the credibility of your conclusions.

Practical and ethical considerations when designing research

As well as scientific considerations, you need to think practically when designing your research. If your research involves people or animals, you also need to consider research ethics .

  • How much time do you have to collect data and write up the research?
  • Will you be able to gain access to the data you need (e.g., by travelling to a specific location or contacting specific people)?
  • Do you have the necessary research skills (e.g., statistical analysis or interview techniques)?
  • Will you need ethical approval ?

At each stage of the research design process, make sure that your choices are practically feasible.

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Within both qualitative and quantitative approaches, there are several types of research design to choose from. Each type provides a framework for the overall shape of your research.

Types of quantitative research designs

Quantitative designs can be split into four main types. Experimental and   quasi-experimental designs allow you to test cause-and-effect relationships, while descriptive and correlational designs allow you to measure variables and describe relationships between them.

With descriptive and correlational designs, you can get a clear picture of characteristics, trends, and relationships as they exist in the real world. However, you can’t draw conclusions about cause and effect (because correlation doesn’t imply causation ).

Experiments are the strongest way to test cause-and-effect relationships without the risk of other variables influencing the results. However, their controlled conditions may not always reflect how things work in the real world. They’re often also more difficult and expensive to implement.

Types of qualitative research designs

Qualitative designs are less strictly defined. This approach is about gaining a rich, detailed understanding of a specific context or phenomenon, and you can often be more creative and flexible in designing your research.

The table below shows some common types of qualitative design. They often have similar approaches in terms of data collection, but focus on different aspects when analysing the data.

Your research design should clearly define who or what your research will focus on, and how you’ll go about choosing your participants or subjects.

In research, a population is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about, while a sample is the smaller group of individuals you’ll actually collect data from.

Defining the population

A population can be made up of anything you want to study – plants, animals, organisations, texts, countries, etc. In the social sciences, it most often refers to a group of people.

For example, will you focus on people from a specific demographic, region, or background? Are you interested in people with a certain job or medical condition, or users of a particular product?

The more precisely you define your population, the easier it will be to gather a representative sample.

Sampling methods

Even with a narrowly defined population, it’s rarely possible to collect data from every individual. Instead, you’ll collect data from a sample.

To select a sample, there are two main approaches: probability sampling and non-probability sampling . The sampling method you use affects how confidently you can generalise your results to the population as a whole.

Probability sampling is the most statistically valid option, but it’s often difficult to achieve unless you’re dealing with a very small and accessible population.

For practical reasons, many studies use non-probability sampling, but it’s important to be aware of the limitations and carefully consider potential biases. You should always make an effort to gather a sample that’s as representative as possible of the population.

Case selection in qualitative research

In some types of qualitative designs, sampling may not be relevant.

For example, in an ethnography or a case study, your aim is to deeply understand a specific context, not to generalise to a population. Instead of sampling, you may simply aim to collect as much data as possible about the context you are studying.

In these types of design, you still have to carefully consider your choice of case or community. You should have a clear rationale for why this particular case is suitable for answering your research question.

For example, you might choose a case study that reveals an unusual or neglected aspect of your research problem, or you might choose several very similar or very different cases in order to compare them.

Data collection methods are ways of directly measuring variables and gathering information. They allow you to gain first-hand knowledge and original insights into your research problem.

You can choose just one data collection method, or use several methods in the same study.

Survey methods

Surveys allow you to collect data about opinions, behaviours, experiences, and characteristics by asking people directly. There are two main survey methods to choose from: questionnaires and interviews.

Observation methods

Observations allow you to collect data unobtrusively, observing characteristics, behaviours, or social interactions without relying on self-reporting.

Observations may be conducted in real time, taking notes as you observe, or you might make audiovisual recordings for later analysis. They can be qualitative or quantitative.

Other methods of data collection

There are many other ways you might collect data depending on your field and topic.

If you’re not sure which methods will work best for your research design, try reading some papers in your field to see what data collection methods they used.

Secondary data

If you don’t have the time or resources to collect data from the population you’re interested in, you can also choose to use secondary data that other researchers already collected – for example, datasets from government surveys or previous studies on your topic.

With this raw data, you can do your own analysis to answer new research questions that weren’t addressed by the original study.

Using secondary data can expand the scope of your research, as you may be able to access much larger and more varied samples than you could collect yourself.

However, it also means you don’t have any control over which variables to measure or how to measure them, so the conclusions you can draw may be limited.

As well as deciding on your methods, you need to plan exactly how you’ll use these methods to collect data that’s consistent, accurate, and unbiased.

Planning systematic procedures is especially important in quantitative research, where you need to precisely define your variables and ensure your measurements are reliable and valid.

Operationalisation

Some variables, like height or age, are easily measured. But often you’ll be dealing with more abstract concepts, like satisfaction, anxiety, or competence. Operationalisation means turning these fuzzy ideas into measurable indicators.

If you’re using observations , which events or actions will you count?

If you’re using surveys , which questions will you ask and what range of responses will be offered?

You may also choose to use or adapt existing materials designed to measure the concept you’re interested in – for example, questionnaires or inventories whose reliability and validity has already been established.

Reliability and validity

Reliability means your results can be consistently reproduced , while validity means that you’re actually measuring the concept you’re interested in.

For valid and reliable results, your measurement materials should be thoroughly researched and carefully designed. Plan your procedures to make sure you carry out the same steps in the same way for each participant.

If you’re developing a new questionnaire or other instrument to measure a specific concept, running a pilot study allows you to check its validity and reliability in advance.

Sampling procedures

As well as choosing an appropriate sampling method, you need a concrete plan for how you’ll actually contact and recruit your selected sample.

That means making decisions about things like:

  • How many participants do you need for an adequate sample size?
  • What inclusion and exclusion criteria will you use to identify eligible participants?
  • How will you contact your sample – by mail, online, by phone, or in person?

If you’re using a probability sampling method, it’s important that everyone who is randomly selected actually participates in the study. How will you ensure a high response rate?

If you’re using a non-probability method, how will you avoid bias and ensure a representative sample?

Data management

It’s also important to create a data management plan for organising and storing your data.

Will you need to transcribe interviews or perform data entry for observations? You should anonymise and safeguard any sensitive data, and make sure it’s backed up regularly.

Keeping your data well organised will save time when it comes to analysing them. It can also help other researchers validate and add to your findings.

On their own, raw data can’t answer your research question. The last step of designing your research is planning how you’ll analyse the data.

Quantitative data analysis

In quantitative research, you’ll most likely use some form of statistical analysis . With statistics, you can summarise your sample data, make estimates, and test hypotheses.

Using descriptive statistics , you can summarise your sample data in terms of:

  • The distribution of the data (e.g., the frequency of each score on a test)
  • The central tendency of the data (e.g., the mean to describe the average score)
  • The variability of the data (e.g., the standard deviation to describe how spread out the scores are)

The specific calculations you can do depend on the level of measurement of your variables.

Using inferential statistics , you can:

  • Make estimates about the population based on your sample data.
  • Test hypotheses about a relationship between variables.

Regression and correlation tests look for associations between two or more variables, while comparison tests (such as t tests and ANOVAs ) look for differences in the outcomes of different groups.

Your choice of statistical test depends on various aspects of your research design, including the types of variables you’re dealing with and the distribution of your data.

Qualitative data analysis

In qualitative research, your data will usually be very dense with information and ideas. Instead of summing it up in numbers, you’ll need to comb through the data in detail, interpret its meanings, identify patterns, and extract the parts that are most relevant to your research question.

Two of the most common approaches to doing this are thematic analysis and discourse analysis .

There are many other ways of analysing qualitative data depending on the aims of your research. To get a sense of potential approaches, try reading some qualitative research papers in your field.

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population. Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research.

For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

Statistical sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population. There are various sampling methods you can use to ensure that your sample is representative of the population as a whole.

Operationalisation means turning abstract conceptual ideas into measurable observations.

For example, the concept of social anxiety isn’t directly observable, but it can be operationally defined in terms of self-rating scores, behavioural avoidance of crowded places, or physical anxiety symptoms in social situations.

Before collecting data , it’s important to consider how you will operationalise the variables that you want to measure.

The research methods you use depend on the type of data you need to answer your research question .

  • If you want to measure something or test a hypothesis , use quantitative methods . If you want to explore ideas, thoughts, and meanings, use qualitative methods .
  • If you want to analyse a large amount of readily available data, use secondary data. If you want data specific to your purposes with control over how they are generated, collect primary data.
  • If you want to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables , use experimental methods. If you want to understand the characteristics of a research subject, use descriptive methods.

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Research at Home: 11 Research Topics to Get You Started

Are you looking for topics that you can research at home to comply with the research requirements of your course? This article is for you. Explore the 10 research topics and develop your own. Read on to find out more about these research topics.

For students confined in their homes, research skills application during the pandemic due to COVID-19 poses quite a challenge. The quarantine forces them to look for research problems at home to start a meaningful research venture.

Expectedly, students turn to Google to seek possible research topics at home that they can do under quarantine. Given this assumption, I did look for research problems that students could work on in their homes to verify if there are answers to such questions.

However, after using several keywords that revolve around research at home due to the constraints of the pandemic, I could not find any straightforward answer. The nearest answer I could get is a person who answered the question on quora.com, saying there are many research topics at home that students can explore. But then he enumerated three research topics without even expounding on them.

Hence, I took the initiative of writing this article for students who need guidance along the  conceptualization stage  of their walk to understand how the world works. We walk the talk.

This article explores ten topics that students or young researchers can work on in the safety of their homes. While some research instructors would leave the task for students to fend for themselves, I saw the need to share what I think. Giving them a list of possible research topics that I can think of paves the way to student learning. I usually give examples to jumpstart the minds of my students, being a firm believer of the adage “Practice what you preach.” I demonstrate what I teach.

Of course, I know that I do not monopolize the ideas out there. And I know creativity resides in everyone. For budding researchers, they must develop their thinking skills and engage the creative part of their brain. After all, one of the  qualities of a good researcher  is to be creative in pursuing higher levels of learning.

Table of Contents

Research problems at home.

The following research problems at home settings can help you explore and apply your research knowledge and skills. These research topics cropped up in my mind while exploring areas of inquiry that my students can pursue even while under quarantine.

These research topics are suggestive, not prescriptive; meaning, you as a research student can adopt flexibility in your choice of research focus given these suggestions. Creativity and novelty are keys to a meaningful research venture.

In addition, I include those research problems that interest me but which are outside of my specialization. But I conduct simple researches on things out of curiosity and hunger for discovery, especially those research topics where I can use my knowledge and skills in statistics, systems modeling, and data visualization.

Physiological Effects of the Pandemic to Families

I have come across reports that some people have  insomnia  due to the threats of COVID-19. It would be interesting to know the reasons why people have difficulty sleeping. You can ask a family member who exhibits such a problem.

You may use the Case Study approach in this instance, focusing on the individual with the problem and recording the process. Some questions I could figure out are as follows:

  • How much time do you spend lying in bed before you are able to sleep?
  • Are there things that bother you that keep you from sleeping?
  • Do you engage in activities to ease your insomnia? What are these?
  • How do you feel if you have not slept the night before?
  • Are you taking medicines to remedy your sleeplessness?

Note that all these questions have answers that will lend themselves to some form of measurement scale. If you are able to quantify them, a study with more respondents will be possible. Consider the case study as a benchmark for a larger study on sleeplessness due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I found a useful android app, Sleep Monitor, to measure and monitor sleeping patterns. Researchers can use this simple app in lieu of costly polysomnogram or sleep study to assess a person’s sleeping behavior.

I have had sleep problems before but Sleep Monitor helped me identify the cause of my insomnia. I realized that I have sensitive ears, so I reduced the sources of noise in my room. I worked towards a sound intensity of less than 30 decibels. It helped a lot.

Children’s Behavior at Home

How children behave during a pandemic would be an interesting research topic. I would hypothesize that complete families (i.e., at least the father, mother, and child) would be happy to be together and establish a closer bond. Mothers are able to nurse their young kids, guide them in their assignments online any time of the day, play with them, among other things. Hence, kids perhaps would be happier in their homes while studying.

Really? Nobody knows.

Perhaps they may be more irritable as they could not be with their friends to play. Peer-to-peer interaction is limited. Sharing notes with colleagues about their experience would be worth a data to analyze. Problems of validating the data, however, would be a challenge in this research problem.

Nevertheless, I believe it’s worth pursuing.

Mini-Ecosystems at Home

As a research project in environmental science, you might want to study plants and animals living within and around your home. Microecosystems such as ponds, the garden, a mini-forest, or a grassy portion of your home can serve as study areas. You can poke, dig, and take photographs of insects, arthropods, reptiles, birds, and perhaps mammals.

Just at the back of our home, I took pictures of insects, moths, birds, and mammals and contribute to  Project Noah . You can add to the body of knowledge by giving information on the animal or plant species. Characterize them by giving details such as the location where you saw them, their feeding habits, reproductive behavior, nesting habits, among other things. We call this citizen science.

You might want to do morphometrics where you measure the different parts of the animal after you have captured them. You may employ a mark-recapture experiment of small animals that visit your home.

Read More : 5 Easy Science Experiments at Home

Challenges of Online Education

I heard that teachers face unique challenges while carrying out their duties to impart knowledge to their students. It’s a struggle for both teachers and students. Teachers who were unprepared for online activity get to construct their instructional modules in record time.

Read More : Choosing Best Online Resources for Kids

In my case, it didn’t matter much as I have designed instructional modules even before the pandemic. I already developed and maintained websites that house the contents of the subjects I teach.

If you are interested on how I implemented my online classes during the pandemic, you might want to see my original work titled  Blended Website Learning Model  to help enrich students’ learning.

research at home

At this point, I would say that the system I developed is quite effective in teaching and mentoring my students. And I would like to compare this system with other systems employed by other educational institutions.

Hence, I have come up with indicators that I measured during system implementation. During the last week of this semester, I plan to administer a questionnaire to get feedback from my students. The information I get will be helpful in further refining the instructional approach I employed in the model. Perhaps I can correlate student performance with the quality of their internet connectivity, the time they allocate for online work and fulfilling their assignments, among other related activities.

The questions I will ask will be something like the following:

  • Is there a relationship between the student’s quiz scores and their attendance in short online sessions?
  • Is there significant relationship between the student’s rating of internet connectivity and the length of time it takes them to submit their class outputs?
  • Is there a relationship between the student’s punctuality in the submission of class work and the type of digital gadget that they use to access the internet?

All these questions imply the use of variables that allow statistical analysis to take place. Variables may be nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio .

Household Coping Activities

Asking questions on how the household head copes with the food scarcity threat under quarantine would be worth knowing. Reporting the creativity of people due to lockdowns can help other people who struggle to make ends meet.

Assuming that households do not just rely on government support, the following questions can trigger an exploration:

  • What activities does the breadwinner do at home to meet or augment the food needs of the family?
  • What support do other members of the family give to the breadwinner?
  • Which coping activities work best?
  • How long can the present monetary resources support the family?
  • Do households conduct formal meetings with members of the family to cope with the pandemic? If there are, what strategies have they come up with?
  • What expenses do members of the family incur? Do they set a certain amount of money to specific items?

Read More : Mastering Your Money: 8 Amazing Personal Finance Tips to Build Wealth

Study the Backyard Pollinators

If you have a large lawn or you have considerable space in your backyard where trees, flowers, or vegetables are grown, observing the kinds of pollinators that visit your place might be worth looking at. Pollinators can range from birds, bees, insects, reptiles, and others that you might not expect.

Knowing the time these pollinators come, what plant species they visit, how many flowers they visit, among others you can figure out can be a good science discovery.

Specifically, some  statistical and non-statistical questions  to ask are as follows:

  • What types of pollinators are present in your yard?
  • Is there a one-to-one correspondence between the pollinator and the plants that they visit?
  • How many plant species does a specific pollinator visit?
  • Is there an association between the time of day and the appearance of pollinators?
  • How much time do bees (as pollinators) spend on each flower?

Higher level, relational questions may be asked by the researcher to reflect higher-order thinking skills. Doing so depends on the set of  research objectives  set forth at the beginning of the study. It all comes down to the level of complexity that you would want in your research at home. You need to review the literature before anything else to identify what has not been studied yet.

Compare stars at night to determine sky’s darkness

Gazing at the stars at night presents an opportunity to study the weather. Counting the visible ones at certain times of the season can help you compare good and bad weather days. More stars become visible if no clouds are found in the horizon.

If you can afford a good quality telescope, that would be the tool of the young astronomer in you. Telescopes have become affordable these days. If you still can’t afford it, count the stars with your naked eye.

Study the ingredients of canned goods as your research at home

You can look at the ingredients of canned and other packaged goods stocked in your homes to avoid getting out and buying the family’s food needs. Many of the food items that last contain preservatives to extend shelf life.

Here’s a video by Eleanor Nelsen on how preservatives work.

Although preserved foods can keep you alive for an extended time period, it would be wise to consider other means to get your food in a healthy way. At the beginning of the pandemic, I explored different ways to grow food. In the process, I discovered an interesting gardening method called  lithic mulching .

Without much ado, I started planting vegetables and bought seeds on rare occasions of buying the groceries. My harvest sure helped a lot in keeping the family safe from the clutches of COVID-19. Plus, of course, the healthy diet the greens can give to the body.

The gardening activity posed challenges because I encountered pests and plant diseases. These problems are areas of interest that one can add to their list of research problems at home.

Time and Motion Study

You may conduct a time and motion study in your home using the video camera of your cellphone. Although this research method is applied to improve work systems in organizations, banks, schools, and other offices, it may be interesting to see how people spend their time at home.

You might want to study members of your family to find out how much time they spend on a task and what tasks they are working on. That will be an excellent research at home that you can report to your teacher, compare notes with your classmates, and get insights from them. Sharing the findings with your family might help improve their behavior towards tasks that they need to do at home.

Just make sure the subjects are not aware that they do not know you are doing it. If they are aware that you are studying them, they will change their behavior. We call that the  Hawthorne Effect .

Experimental Study on Renewable Energy

Given that more energy will be consumed when you spend your time at home most of the time, exploring ways to generate electricity through renewable energy innovations will help you on the bill payments.

Build a simple wind turbine and see how much energy it can generate. Compare its electrical output with other alternative energy generating innovations like solar panels, or a mini-hydroelectric power plant if you live next to a river. That example of a mini-hydroelectric power plant I linked here can support up to 15 households! No more brownouts or blackouts.

You can vary your product designs and compare the amount of energy produced by those renewable energy innovations. Thus, you can come up with something that you might even sell for a profit.

Meta Analysis

Writing a  meta-analysis  does not require you to leave your home to do research. The research activity essentially reviews and synthesizes relevant research publications about a research topic. It systematically combines data obtained from selected qualitative and quantitative studies that deal with a specific issue or problem.

The meta-analysis intends to come up with a single conclusion that has stronger statistical power. Stronger statistical power is achieved because of the greater number of subjects involved, greater diversity, and corroborating evidences that support or refute the hypothesis of the study. Meta-analysis builds on the principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Conduct a Literature Review

All of these research problems or research topics require a thorough review of the literature to achieve a certain level of quality. Well-written research makes a good review of literature on the research topic before these are implemented. The main purpose of such a review is to avoid duplicating the work of others. The  gap in knowledge  is identified, making the research a worthwhile endeavor and worth sharing.

While research at home settings poses quite a challenge to students due to limited movement, the areas of inquiry mentioned in this article and the specific research topics enumerated can help jumpstart an educational activity that will enhance critical thinking.

Ideas beget ideas. Just allow your mind to wander but be ready to capture amazing ideas that pop in your head with a quick jot on your ideas notes. Your subconscious mind works 24/7 even while you sleep. So it is always a good idea to keep a small notebook and pen next to you.

Ideas beget ideas. P. REGONIEL

I would not recommend using a cellphone to write your notes, as you will need to browse items using it and get distracted with other time-consuming popular apps like  Tiktok ,  Facebook ,  Messenger,  or  WhatsApp  that draw your attention. A  good researcher  needs to focus on narrowing a research topic. It’s alright to use those apps once you have finished your task.

Although I use  Keep Notes  in listing the things I need to buy like groceries and hardware, things to remember, draft messages of sensitive matters, among others, I tend to lose my notes causing me to spend more time searching for it. Further, keeping notes in electronic form becomes problematic when your cellphone’s battery is out of juice.

Concluding Notes on Research at Home

Virtually everyone, with the right tools and attitude, can research at home. Confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity that enables students to think creatively. Right in our homes lie many issues and problems that research will be able to address as the topics raised in this article demonstrated.

Once you identify research problems at home, you will encounter new challenges and opportunities along the way. New areas of home-based inquiry, research problems or research topics arise, thereby enriching your experience as a student. Education, despite the pandemic, goes on.

This is a good time to undertake a review of the literature on a research topic that you are interested in. Research problems at home can be identified with a little imagination.

Š P. A. Regoniel 6 June 2021

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About the author, patrick regoniel.

Dr. Regoniel, a faculty member of the graduate school, served as consultant to various environmental research and development projects covering issues and concerns on climate change, coral reef resources and management, economic valuation of environmental and natural resources, mining, and waste management and pollution. He has extensive experience on applied statistics, systems modelling and analysis, an avid practitioner of LaTeX, and a multidisciplinary web developer. He leverages pioneering AI-powered content creation tools to produce unique and comprehensive articles in this website.

A List of 580 Interesting Research Topics [2024 Edition]

In school and college, you will be required to write research papers. Yes — papers in the plural. And that’s the first reason you may want to turn to Custom Writing and seek help with research projects.

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When assigned a paper, the very first undertaking is to choose from a list of research topics. This is a daunting, even intimidating task, one that many people would prefer to circumvent altogether.

The good thing is:

There are hundreds of exciting and fun research topics for high school or college students from which to choose. With a variety of options, you are likely to find some interesting things to research. When you have good ideas and help available, this task becomes less threatening and more engaging.

But first: Let’s verify you have a complete comprehension of what writing a research paper entails. After all, you can’t be creative with an idea if you don’t know how to write about it. Then, you’ll find numerous interesting research topics for your work.

  • 🔝 Top 10 Research Topics

❓ What Is a Research Paper?

  • ✍️ How to Find Topics to Write About

⭐ A List of Research Topics

  • 💻 IT Topics
  • 🏺 History Topics
  • 🧠 Psychology Topics
  • 🎓 Education Topics
  • 📺 Cultural Topics
  • 🗣️ Topics for an Argumentative Essays

🔬 Science Research Topics

💉 health topics for research papers.

  • 👔 Business Research Topics
  • 📚 Literature Topics
  • 🗳️ Political Topics

😂 Fun Research Topics

  • 👥 Sociology Research Papers

🎯 Specific Research Proposal Topics

  • 👩‍⚕️ Nursing Research Papers
  • 🎨 Art Topics
  • 🎼 Music Topics
  • ✍️ Creative Writing Topics
  • 🎈 Other Topics

🔝 Top 10 Research Topics for 2024

  • Maintaining social bonds via music
  • Use of AI in robotics
  • Narcissistic personality disorder: genetic factors
  • Mental effects of remote work
  • Use of infrared detectors in alarm systems
  • Cosmological simulations and machine learning
  • Achieving climate-positive agriculture
  • Emerging infectious diseases: detection and prevention
  • Technology-enhanced education in the post-COVID era
  • Disability inclusion in the workplace

If you aren’t clear on what a research paper is, then you won’t get very far when writing one. A research paper is just as its name suggests — a form of academic writing that necessitates the independent investigation of a specified topic and reports the unique results of that investigation.

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Suny Empire State College provides a great and exhaustive explanation of what a research paper is.

In order to write a paper, you are required to formulate a research question. This is a question associated with your topic that acts as a guide during your research, enabling you to focus and provide unique arguments.

Before you can produce a research question, you have to choose from countless research topics available. Another useful thing to do would be checking out free sample research papers . With that in mind, let’s examine how you can discover some unique research paper topics.

✍️ How to Find Research Topics to Write About

The choice of a research paper topic can be influenced by a number of factors, including:

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  • The course for which the paper is assigned
  • Whether there is a topic assigned to you by the professor
  • Whether you are given a broad-spectrum subject area
  • How much freedom you are given to branch out and select a topic

Hopefully, you have been given some freedom of choice regarding academic paper topics. However, if you do have some choice in the matter, you might be speculating about how to narrow it down.

You are in luck!

6 surprised ways to find topicsю

There are a number of ways to effectively comb through the abundance of research paper topics and discover one that will work well for you. Here are some suggestions:

  • Ask your professor. Chances are your professor has some fabulous research paper ideas. You can also inquire with other university staff and graduate students for ideas. These people know your discipline well, which can work to your advantage.
  • Browse through scientific journals and research papers , but be sure to adhere to the most recent research possible. You will definitely find interesting ideas in published papers that would make great research paper topics.
  • Investigate other professional and government publications for research project ideas. Again, keep to the most recent publications within the last three to five years, if possible.
  • Browse through your library catalog to uncover the most interesting areas of study in your field.
  • Take notes everywhere you go! It doesn’t matter if you are in class listening to your professor, traveling, reading a magazine, or watching TV. Research paper ideas are absolutely everywhere! Write things down whenever you come across something unique and interesting, and you just might find a topic to pursue.

When it comes down to it, deciding on one of the many academic essay topics is the most substantial step of the process.

Once you have that narrowed down, you can focus your research and write a remarkable paper. Now, we want to give you some help. What follows is an extensive list of the most interesting research topics to get you started.

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Now that you have a good idea of how to search for college research paper topics, you are ready for some suggestions. You might like one of them right off the bat, or you might be inspired by a particular topic and write something related to it.

Want to know the best part?

By the time you are finished reading this academic topics list, you will feel much more equipped for writing your research paper. For even better result, have a brainstorming session with a research topic generator to introduce a bigger variety of options.

💻 IT Research Paper Topics

Perhaps some of the best college research topics these days are in the IT field. Explore one of these interesting ideas in your paper:

  • Has big data changed our lives for the better? Big data is a trendy study subject. Large IT companies use it for purposes such as advertising and logistics. However, it has also raised substantial privacy concerns over non-consensual data gathering. Are the benefits companies get by collecting your data worth them learning everything about you?
  • Neural networks are algorithms that can learn to solve problems. Both their name and method of learning are derived from how the human brain works. Can neural networks lead to the creation of a true AI? If so, how soon?
  • The current state of cryptography and how it may develop. The entire Internet’s security relies on a relatively small number of ciphers. If they were to be broken, the potential damage would be immeasurable. How likely is that to happen? What challenges are we likely to face in the future?
  • The pros and cons of transitioning to cloud technologies. Cloud services are very convenient for various purposes. They might not work as fast as physical devices, but they are portable, cheap, and very convenient. Should humanity switch entirely to cloud services?
  • What issues does automation raise, and how can they be solved? Robots don’t get tired and work very precisely. That’s why automation is great for business. Many manufacturing companies rely on robots heavily in their production. However, robots in the workplace mean fewer jobs for humans. When most blue-collar positions disappear, what will humanity do?
  • Should we keep using multi-factor authentication?
  • Are big tech companies monopolistic in their behaviors?
  • Is remote work the future of office jobs employment?
  • The pros and cons of software ownership vs. subscription models.
  • Explore the evolution of wireless communication standards and their implications.
  • Describe the Internet of things and its effects on security .
  • The issues of IPv4 and the adoption of IPv6.
  • How do computers manage to generate random numbers?
  • The infrastructure and contingencies of the World Wide Web .
  • Are computers entirely unbiased in their treatment of people?
  • Procedures to enhance IT security
  • New methodologies and challenges to IT management in health
  • Interrelation, patterns, and existing theories on behavior and IT
  • Common services center vs. community multimedia center: selecting the correct variety of IT service
  • Racial and gender issues in the IT domain
  • Innovative theories regarding computer imitation of a human being
  • The impact of digitization of medical records on the IT domain

🏺 Topics for your Research Project on History

Human history is full of exciting events, and despite what you might believe, not all of them have been explored. There are many incredible history research topics, such as:

  • The history of the Chinese Empire over the millennia. The Chinese Empire is rarely discussed in history classes as much as its Western counterparts. However, it existed for over two millennia, only falling in 1912. Many curious events happened in that time that merit discussion.
  • The Ottoman Empire and the Barbary slave trade. The word “barbarian” comes from the Barbary Coast in Africa. It was infamous for its pirates, who raided European vessels for loot and slaves. Only ending in the 19th century, this phenomenon can make for an interesting case study.
  • The rise and fall of Ancient Greek city-states. Ancient Greece is often viewed as mostly monolithic and united against threats. In fact, it was comprised of numerous city-states that fought as much as they cooperated. Research the region’s fascinating and nuanced history.
  • The effects of the printing press on the world . The printing press was invented in 1440 AD by Johannes Gutenberg. Before it, each copy of a book had to be written by hand. It limited the literature’s availability dramatically. What effects did mass production of books have on Europe and the world?
  • The fracturing of Christianity : causes and effects. Since its inception, Christianity has gone through multiple schisms. Some of them were remarkably violent. As a result, there are now three main Christian churches and a multitude of lesser ones. Explore what caused believers to split apart into Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Protestants.
  • The underlying causes of the World War I.
  • Provide a detailed history of the Hundred Years’ War and its results.
  • Holy Roman Empire : from successor to the Romans to a Nazi symbol.
  • Liberalism in national politics: emergence and evolution.
  • The history of the world as a series of conquests.
  • Were the Crusades motivated purely by religious devotion?
  • Why did Texas secede from Mexico to the United States?
  • Apartheid in South Africa and its heritage.
  • Centers of scientific activity throughout history.
  • How did China’s geography influence its history?
  • Palestine and the Golan Heights
  • Premises, progression, and consequences of the cold war
  • The most remarkable revolutions in history
  • Has Slavery transformed the development of the western world?
  • Could damage from the bubonic plague have been diminished?
  • Strange medieval family laws and their influence on society
  • Life in London in the 15th century
  • Religious cults in ancient societies

🧠 Psychology Research Paper Topics

Psychology has to offer plenty of interesting ideas for you to research. Just look through the discoveries made over the past decades, and you can understand that the human mind holds as many mysteries as the deep ocean.

It is why we would like to suggest a list of great experimental research topics in psychology. The science of human behavior is even more exciting when you can try your theories on practice.

If you still can’t decide on the topic for your research paper or thesis, just look through this collection of compelling proposals to give yourself an inspirational boost.

  • What is the correlation between personality and taste in literature? It’s obvious that people with similar interests get in groups. Does it mean that they have similar personalities, though?
  • Conformity in college and high school: a scientific approach. Check how your course mates tend to agree with others and don’t forget to write it down!
  • Do men and women have different short-term memory mechanisms? It’s quite easy to conduct an experiment, but be careful approaching it in terms of gender issues.
  • Optical illusions from the perspective of people with creativity skills. What if people who tend to be artistic and creative can see something in the common optical illusions that others can’t?
  • The gut feeling: how do you feel when others stare at you? Some studies showed that you are more likely to wake up in the night because someone is staring at you. It’s creepy, though…
  • Tricking the taste buds: how does smell affect the taste? How much can the smell of an onion confuse your sense of taste while you are eating an apple?
  • What is the Stroop Effect, and how does age influence it? Check whether the age of the participants influences their ability to name the colors.
  • Does having a symmetrical face make us seem more attractive? It is very rare that someone has perfectly identical left and right sides of the face. But how noticeable is it?
  • Analyze the capacity of the short-term memory of your peers. The easiest way is to measure it by memorizing words and comparing the numbers later.
  • Do people eat more popcorn when watching movies of a specific genre? Chewing something is almost a must-do in the cinema. But what type of movies triggers this behavior more than others?
  • What signs of social media addiction are noticeable in public? Spend some time in the local coffee shop, watching people on their phones, and note any signs of addiction they show.
  • The psychological effects of having breakfast: learning performance. Check if your course mates who have breakfast are more successful in learning than those who don’t.
  • Music vs. body: how does your body respond? Measure different biomarkers while listening to different types of music. Maybe you’ll find perfect motivational beats!
  • What color should your room be to improve your learning outcome? Blue is more calming than red, which is often used in sports halls. But what about boosting your learning abilities?
  • Favorite color as a result of childhood attraction. Try to trace the childhood memories of your friends. Maybe their favorite color is pink because they had pink walls in their room.
  • Biomarkers and colors: what is the correlation? Check how seeing different colors can stimulate specific responses from the body, for example, in heart rate.
  • Colors and mood: can the color of your bedsheets make your day? The first thing you see in the morning is quite important. How would a specific color affect your mood?
  • What is the correlation between stress levels and procrastination? There is a relation for sure, but does procrastination cause stress or the other way around?
  • How much can we trust the long-term memory ? Ask people to tell you about some random event from their past. Then, ask them to do the same later. Do the stories match?
  • Negative influences of sleep deprivation on social behavior. Track some students’ behavior when they don’t get enough sleep and see how it affects their relationship with others.
  • The origin of phobias and fears : engaging the monster within
  • Dreams : are they messages from within?
  • Mechanisms of thinking: it’s all in your head
  • Factors that influence behavior and character
  • Mechanisms of aggravating habits
  • The function of short- and long-term memory

Differences between long term short term and working memory.

  • Why people yearn for their past
  • What entices people to amass the most preposterous things?
  • Is autism a disease or a natural variation of the norm ?
  • The impact and outcomes of social networks and mental health
  • How memory works: recalling the essential
  • How depression impacts the immune system

American psychiatric association Definition of depression.

  • A phenomenon-oriented approach to the study of depression
  • How to manage post-traumatic stress disorder in children
  • Depression as a cause of celiac disease
  • Fighting depression with techniques to relieve anxiety
  • The consequences of depression and relationship problems
  • Eating behaviors in different cultures
  • How behavioral patterns develop
  • How to forecast and shape behavioral patterns
  • Differences and similarities in the behavioral patterns of diverse cultures
  • Is there a genetic link to optimism that can shape behaviors and attitudes?
  • The causes and consequences of insomnia
  • How to combat child violence

Violence in the lives of children report.

  • How defense mechanisms and behavioral patterns work
  • How bilingualism works: the secret of processing mechanisms
  • How fear-related beliefs fit into the cognition process
  • Following the cognitive process involved in anxiety disorders
  • How to fight emotional distress
  • Unusual mental health cases and cognition deviations
  • Applying psychological approaches to ethical reality
  • How motivation plays a role in human development
  • The shared elements of self-affiliation and self-determination
  • An examination of the causes and results of drug and alcohol abuse
  • New ideas regarding the peculiarities of rational and social development
  • How practicing a healthy lifestyle cures disease and promotes wellness
  • Conflict solution in parent-child relationships
  • Evaluating the challenges of preterm development in children
  • How to battle cognitive deficit in Parkinson’s disease
  • Is attention deficit disorder a neuropsychological problem?
  • Examining the process of making decisions and taking risks
  • The impact of music genres on how the brain works
  • How to fight childhood disorders
  • Shattering long-standing myths about ADHD
  • Intellectually gifted people: how is it possible?

🎓 Research Paper Topics on Education

Research project ideas around education are always changing. This has resulted in a wide range of research topics, such as:

  • Computers in classrooms: useful tool or obstacle to equality ? Computers have proved to be capable of improving many aspects of our lives. For instance, they allow children to interact with content instead of just consuming it. However, computers further the disparities between those who can and cannot afford one. Explore these factors in your research paper.
  • A review of potential methods for solving America’s education crisis. The US invests a substantial portion of its budget into education. However, the system’s equality is average at best. You can study proposals on how we may change its design for the better. Choose the most promising ones, or suggest one of your own.
  • Individualized vs. group learning : which is better suited for current reality? Every child’s learning should be tailored to their specific situation. Unfortunately, there are far more children than teachers. Answer these questions: is group learning the only available option despite its drawbacks? Can we reduce its shortcomings by blending the models?
  • Are standardized tests helpful or damaging to children’s education ? Standardized tests are convenient from a bureaucratic standpoint. They convert children’s learning into numbers that are easy to work with. But the practice is often criticized for prioritizing memorization over understanding. Should standardized tests be abandoned?
  • How should the education system approach children with special needs ? Special needs children have experienced a broad range of treatment throughout history. What are the current ideas on how to teach them? What are their special needs in an educational context, and how can schools satisfy them?
  • Are the world’s best education systems based on similar foundations?
  • How can schools help children maintain their mental health ?
  • What does equality of opportunity mean in the context of the school?
  • Review how the essential qualities of a teacher evolved since 2000.
  • Should every school student aim for higher education ?
  • What traits define an excellent teacher, and can they be cultivated?
  • Is homeschooling a viable alternative to public schools ?
  • The school choice debate in the US: arguments for and against.
  • Authoritative sources: what qualities make information available on the Internet valid?
  • Is cheating on tests an expression of an educational failure?
  • Where theory encounters reality in gender issues
  • Test anxiety with regard to contemporary methods of teaching
  • The effects of contemporary teaching methods
  • The mental process behind human learning
  • The interpretation of IQ test results
  • Should children be rebuked when they misbehave?
  • How to prevent bullying and harassment in schools

It is estimated that 160 000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.

  • The creation of particular learning methods for blind children
  • Positives and negatives of contemporary methods of teaching and state-of-the-art innovations
  • The function of technology in lesson planning
  • Is there a one-size-fits-all strategy for education?

📺 Cultural Research Topics for Papers

Perhaps there is nothing more complex than human culture and how people have interacted with each other throughout history. For this reason, these cultural topics might be of interest to you:

  • Harlem Renaissance: how a single neighborhood created modern African American culture . In the 1920s, numerous African Americans moved to the Harlem neighborhood of New York. Influenced by the ideas of thinkers such as W. E. B. Du Bois , they built the foundations of Black culture and art. How did this happen? 
  • Is third-wave feminism still a movement for equality ? First-wave feminism gave women equal rights with men. Then the second wave started the fight with discrimination. However, third-wave feminism claims that the second wave failed, especially with regards to matters such as race and ethnicity. Are its claims valid, and what does it work to achieve? 
  • Is the Western way of thinking the only correct one? Non-Western civilizations lay claim to different schools of thought that emphasize different viewpoints. Should Westerners adopt aspects of non-Western philosophical thought? 
  • Are the factors that informed the Constitution still relevant? The Constitution was created in a different time than now. Some of its provisions, notably the Second Amendment , have been challenged repeatedly in recent years. Explore if the ideas of the Founding Fathers still apply today. 
  • Should the postmodern school of art be considered art? Postmodern art is challenging to define in plain terms. Many people are confused when a seemingly random series of brush strokes sells for millions of dollars. Think of how such artworks fit into the history of art movements. 
  • The impact of advertisements and commercials on how people comprehend the world 
  • The implicit messages of mass media : what you see is what you get 
  • How the most remarkable cultural achievements of the 20 th century influenced contemporary art 
  • The repetition of cultural tendencies: the Greeks did it first 
  • Social roles adults endorse to children via toys 
  • Social models mass media bestows on teenagers and adults 
  • Eating habits in dissimilar cultures 
  • The origin of racial discrimination  
  • The segmentation and integration of humans 
  • The impact of AIDS on mankind 
  • A new comprehension of past events 
  • Unearthing a common language: divorce prevention and family therapy  
  • Painting a portrait of the average American family 
  • The roots of antisemitism and how it manifests today 
  • A case against cruelty to living beings 
  • An examination of the current job market and unemployment  

🗣️ Argumentative Essay Topics

It is easy to find unique argumentative research paper topics. After all, we live in a crazy world in which all kinds of interesting things happen. Here are some suggestions:

  • Is the Electoral College a better system than the popular vote? The United States uses the unique Electoral College system for its presidential elections. Over the centuries, calls have been made to change it to the popular vote approach. So far, these attempts have been fruitless. In this debate, whose position has more merit?
  • Should the continued expansion of the government be reversed? Starting small, governments around the world took on more and more functions. As a result, they now guarantee the operation of many services. They also collect massive taxes and demonstrate bureaucratic inefficiencies. Is there a valid argument for privatizing most public services?
  • Should the US continue acting as the world’s peacekeeper? The US’s military is present in many areas around the world. Usually, they take the form of military bases and peacekeeping forces. However, its efforts often fail, with Iraq as a recent example . Should the nation continue spending its resources abroad?
  • Does the public or private healthcare produce better results for the cost? The US’s healthcare system is often criticized for its massive costs and underwhelming quality. There have been calls to both make it more private and more public. Which of the two approaches ensures a more affordable, efficient system?
  • Is teenage gender transition ethical? Recently, medical professionals in the US have started transitioning teenagers with gender dysphoria . Yet, some of them de-transition later. Should the practice continue regardless?
  • Political commitment and television
  • Should marijuana be legalized?
  • Can people of different races ever understand each other
  • Abusive relationships : where to draw the line on what relationships should Be allowed to exist
  • Are there realistic limitations on abortion ?
  • The many guises of violence in society
  • The impact of women on world history

Contributions women fact.

  • Are social interactions possible without lies?
  • Dealing with overpopulation: can it be accomplished ethically ?
  • Torture : is it ever acceptable?
  • The ethics of using animals in research
  • Human dependence on computers : beneficial or harmful
  • Post-9/11 security measures : an invasion of privacy or good sense

Science is always bursting with new and exciting topics as we delve deeper into the mysteries of the universe and technology. Here are a few topic suggestions:

  • The potential of space resources and the technologies for extracting them. Space contains a vast quantity of resources, many of which are rare or expensive on Earth. Plans to use them have been arising for a long time. Can we implement any of them in the near future, and do they justify the costs? 
  • Recent promising developments in cancer treatment and their validity. Cancer is a significant concern for humanity largely because it cannot be treated without harming the body. However, ideas such as targeted medications and imitations of whale biology have promised an end to this problem. Research them and assess their validity. 
  • Large-scale recycling methods and their effectiveness in reducing waste . Most of the resources humanity uses are still on the planet in the form of waste. Some, such as fossil fuels, cannot be recovered, while metals and many others can. Is it possible to address resource scarcity through large-scale recycling? Is it economically viable? 
  • Advantages and disadvantages of proposed thorium nuclear reactor designs. Thorium has been touted as the solution to the problems of uranium-based atomic reactors. It’s not as dangerous and produces less waste. Is it indeed superior, or should its issues prevent its use? 
  • Potential benefits and issues of genetic modification . Genetic modification is broadly used but also criticized by many. It has its benefits, but critics argue that overreliance may lead to unexplored side effects. Are there reasons to believe these claims? 
  • What cloning has in store for humanity : altering the personality 
  • How nanotechnology will impact modern science  
  • Will uranium isotopes precipitate the next scientific revolution? 
  • How psychoactive drugs influence the central nervous system 
  • Deafness and using echolocation 
  • The role of erythropoietin and calcitriol in the human body 
  • The process of feeling pain: treatment and pain relievers of the future 
  • Is nuclear energy too hazardous to use? 
  • Nuclear weapons : a responsibility for which no country is prepared 
  • People’s impact on climate change : the cost of a technological breakthrough 
  • Key issues and potential solutions for toxic waste disposal 
  • Are the effects of global warming reversible ? 
  • The future of NASA  
  • Endangered species : causes and concerns  
  • Black mold: the bathroom invasion 

Just like science, health care is always changing, particularly as technology advances. With new discoveries in disease research and new technology being developed every day, the following topics are great examples of what you can write about in your paper:

  • Race and ethnicity-based differences in normal health indicators . People of different races and ethnicities tend to have varying normal health indicators. For example, African Americans tend to have a higher blood pressure than average. What causes such differences? Why do medical workers need to understand them?
  • The effects of the Affordable Care Act on American healthcare. The Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare , was introduced to improve health insurance’s affordability for disadvantaged people. However, the costs of insurance have grown since through premiums. Did Obamacare cause this increase, or did it happen independently?
  • Strategies for prevention of obesity and associated heart disease risks. Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. Obesity, which is also prevalent in the nation, is associated with the condition. How can the healthcare system reduce the rates of obesity and associated heart disease?
  • For- or non-profit hospitals: which offer superior treatment? Both for- and non-profit hospitals are private entities. The former operate as businesses, while the latter only seek to cover their costs. Is the former’s drive to compete and lower prices preferable to the latter’s not charging a profit margin?
  • Mental health in the United States: issues and proposed solutions. Mental healthcare is a complicated topic. Many conditions are difficult to diagnose, and some are associated with stigma . Conflicts of interest often arise among psychiatrists, incentivizing them to diagnose fake conditions. How can mental health be improved in the US?
  • Should medicine be more focused on the prevention of illnesses or their treatment?
  • Is it possible to eliminate a disease forever?
  • The development of prosthetics: current technologies and promising ideas
  • Barriers to the adoption of electronic health systems and how to overcome them.
  • Sedentary behavior and sports: what are the health outcomes ?
  • Psychological treatment for adolescents: how to address their needs.
  • Caring for seniors: current problems and potential solutions.
  • US nursing shortage : causes and potential effects on the nation’s health.
  • The effects of circumcision on the health of newborn infants.
  • Analyze the experiences of children with autism in school and at home.
  • Should image scan radiation be reduced to a minimum level?
  • Health care and insurance: concerns and problems
  • The most likely outcomes of recent health care reform
  • Old theories and new methods of sports injury rehabilitation
  • A look at celebrities who have battled cancer
  • A comparison of conventional and alternative cancer treatments
  • How clean needle programs benefit society
  • The need for education on nutrition in school
  • The impact of diet on health

👔 Business Research Paper Topics to Write About

Business is a broad field, so there are plenty of topics you can write about, such as:

  • Best contemporary practice in green supply chain management for businesses. Green supply chain management aims to overturn the stereotype of polluting factories. Companies that adopt it seek to generate as little waste as possible and require their suppliers to do the same. What policies do researchers currently recommend for this purpose? 
  • Corporate social responsibility : theoretical framework and practical implementations. Corporate social responsibility is an approach where a company seeks to give back to the community where it works. It’s a popular concept, often discussed in business schools. But how does it translate into practice? 
  • The effects of different office arrangements on the productivity of employees . Offices have evolved substantially over the 20th century. Cubicles replaced isolated rooms, and today open offices are popular. Is there a meaningful difference between these different arrangements? Are the changes improvements or lateral movements? 
  • Remote work and its effects on the operations of businesses. Remote work is more popular than ever. It seems convenient for workers, but some companies worry that they will stop being productive without oversight. Are their concerns reasonable? 
  • A cross-cultural comparison of leadership styles . In the West, a number of leadership style theories have crystallized that are considered best. However, other regions use distinct approaches that work for them. They’re also not rushing to change to the Western model. Do Western styles work best everywhere, or are they limited to the appropriate mindset? 
  • Social media marketing strategies and the determinants of success. 
  • Compare the functions of administration and management. 
  • Prevention of organizational misconduct: barriers and strategies. 
  • Review the latest developments in performance management theory and practice. 
  • What is the future of e-commerce business environments ? 
  • Innovation in the workplace: current thought and generation methods. 
  • How does outsourcing influence business performance? 
  • Describe the effects of kaizen and total quality management on performance. 
  • Discuss economic viability in corporations that operate at a loss. 
  • Overtime work, employee well-being , and company performance. 
  • Deliberating in the secrets of effective leadership  
  • How time management influences the prosperity of a company 
  • How to resolve a conflict between staff and management 
  • The function of diversity in the workplace of the 21 st century  
  • Management by walking around: effective or fruitless? 
  • Should businesses be regulated: pros and cons 
  • Social media and word-of-mouth in the digital age 
  • How the digital age has transformed small businesses 
  • How mobile technology is altering the workplace 
  • The future of the franchise  
  • How the millennial employee is transforming the workplace 

📚 Literature Research Paper Topics

Sometimes, there is no surrogate for a great paper on literature, and with the changing world, there are always innovative ways to observe literature, even the classics. Here are a few topic suggestions:

  • The depiction of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby . Jay Gatsby first appears as an example of the American Dream. Starting poor, he becomes wealthy and popular in the city. However, he does not achieve his desires and stays unhappy. You can research how the novel criticizes the concept while also reinforcing its idea.
  • The evolution of Japanese literature in the Meiji Era. The Meiji Era began after the end of Japanese isolationism. Due to encountering new cultures, its art evolved rapidly. Writers such as Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Dazai Osamu created unique works. From what context did they emerge?
  • The traits of 20th century dystopian works . The worlds of Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, George Orwell , and others are bleak. However, they are all substantially different. Can you distinguish unifying themes in the stories that these writers tell?
  • How does literature reflect contemporary social issues? Writers often try to draw attention to problems of their time. Dickens wrote about the exploitation of the poor, and Langston Hughes discussed racial discrimination. Can this trend be traced across most literature?
  • Classic vs. modern poetry. Classical poetry follows a variety of rules, such as rhymes and stanza organization. Contemporary poets often reject these constraints and create works that are closer to prose in form. What caused this change?
  • Study the Four Great Works of Chinese Literature as cultural reflections.
  • Examine the influence of romantic tendencies on Walther Scott’s works.
  • What issues are raised in contemporary African literature?
  • Analyze Milton’s interpretation of Biblical myth in Paradise Lost .
  • What characterizes the depiction of war in Heller’s Catch-22 ?
  • Discuss real and fake loyalty in King Lear .
  • How was grotesque used in 19th century American Gothic fiction?
  • The Old Man and the Sea : Hemingway’s depiction of the unconquerable spirit.
  • How were gender issues depicted in 19th and 20th-century feminist literature?
  • Compare the themes of The Iliad and The Odyssey.
  • The innovative era: poets of the 21 st century
  • A dissection of the most illustrious novels in history
  • The hunger games: over and above pulp fiction
  • The future of copyright
  • An examination of racism in novels from the 1960s and 1970s
  • The perception of exile in literature
  • Culture and literature: which affects which?
  • An examination of homosexuality in literature

🗳️ Political Research Topics

The world of politics is ever-changing. Understanding the complex mechanisms that regulate our lives is challenging. That’s why a research paper is a great way to clarify the matter. Whether you’re interested in global or local affairs, this section has got you covered.

  • What is the origin and purpose of powers separation in government ? Most modern governments are separated into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Thus they limit each other to avoid government overreach. How was this system founded, and how does it work?
  • The structure of the legislation approval process in the US. Every bill has to be approved by the Congress , the Senate, and the President. What factors can hinder the process?
  • A comparison between the two-party system and multi-party nations. The US is often critiqued for its two-party system by nations that have numerous parties. With that said, a common counterargument is that American parties made of people with diverse views. How do the political climates of the US and multi-party democracies differ in practice?
  • The purpose and effectiveness of term limits for government positions. Some government positions, such as that of the President, are limited to a specific number of years. At the same time, jobs in the Congress and Senate are not. Discuss the purpose of term limits and say if they’re effective.
  • Pros and cons of globalism as a political philosophy. The concept of globalism requires worldwide bodies that supersede governments. It looks past nations and ignores their interest in favor of global benefits. Is this approach valid, or are there problems with it?
  • How does the European Union membership affect its countries?
  • Review the evolution of China’s political system in the 20th-21st centuries.
  • The threat of terrorism in a world without ISIS.
  • Discuss the issue of mass incarceration in the United States.
  • What were the causes of the Soviet Union’s collapse ?
  • Write about violations of human rights worldwide and their causes.
  • Examine the critiques of capitalism .
  • What are the political aims of the Black Lives Matter movement ?
  • Review the methods for effectively combating governmental corruption .
  • The issues of democracy and how to overcome them.
  • The American policy of intervention
  • The future of the European union
  • Causes of world hunger
  • Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction
  • The Justice system and juvenile criminals
  • Afghanistan—success or stalemate ?
  • Was media coverage of SARS adequate
  • The new world war: fighting terrorism
  • Same-sex marriage: are laws keeping up with changing attitudes?
  • BREXIT: good or bad?

Who says you can’t combine academia and entertainment? Great conclusions can come from fun research. The most important thing is to ask the right questions. Check out the following prompts and get inspired:

  • Parallel universes, their origins, and potential organizations. Numerous authors have imagined parallel universes. Even some quantum physics theories assert their existence. Are parallel universes slightly different versions of our world, or are they entirely distinct?
  • The theories and paradoxes of various time travel mechanisms. Time travel is a popular science fiction trope. It’s also associated with multiple contradictions, such as the grandfather paradox . How do science fiction authors try to overcome these problems?
  • The attempts to create the theory of everything. Physicists are trying to develop an approach that would explain everything in the universe. It doesn’t exist yet, as general relativity and quantum physics often contradict each other.
  • What are the possibilities and problems of interstellar travel? Without a method to travel much faster than light, expansion beyond the Solar System is impossible. If it becomes feasible, what possibilities can it offer?
  • The history of the moon landing conspiracy theory. The moon landing conspiracy theory asserts that the Apollo 11 mission didn’t occur, and the evidence was filmed on Earth. It tries to find various flaws in this evidence and use them to prove its illegitimacy. How did it emerge, and does it still exist?
  • Are people who claim to have extrasensory perception frauds?
  • Research stories of the supernatural based on facts.
  • What is the origin of the modern Santa Claus?
  • If an afterlife exists, what form does it take?
  • Does meditation have benefits for physical and mental health?
  • Did Nostradamus’s prophecies come to pass?
  • Why do some people believe the Earth is flat ?
  • Does Murphy’s Law always work?
  • Examine 19th-century occultism and its prominent leaders.
  • Alchemy and the quest for the Philosopher’s Stone.
  • How people are affected by the death of a game character
  • Challenges faced by people creating their own cartoon
  • Beloved comic strip characters and their influence on society
  • An examination of UFOs: fact or fiction
  • What if aliens do exist: the impact on humanity
  • Is there a differentiation between dĂŠjĂ  vu and precognition?
  • The existence of spirits and how to communicate with them
  • Theories regarding the Bermuda triangle
  • Investigating alternative cosmology theories
  • Does fortune telling have a scientific basis?
  • Law of attraction: fact or fiction?
  • Men and women’s brain: what’s the difference?

👥 Sociology Research Paper Topics

As an additional interest for studies, a sociology research paper can be written with the purpose of learning this or that aspect of society’s life. You may use personal experience or continue the research started by other authors. Interesting research projects in this area can be based on the following topics:

  • Problems of the marriage and family: a divorce research paper . This article can study the relationship in different families and problems that can arise.
  • Observance of public behavior standards as the feature of the civilized society. You can describe modern social ideals.
  • Comparison of sociological laws in different historical epochs. In your paper, study the attitudes towards various social phenomena.
  • The influence of personality on public development and progress. You can describe the power of the personality and what one person can do to contribute to social development.
  • Opportunities for searching optimal criteria for the personality socialization . Such a paper aims at revealing the ways of how people can uncover their potential.
  • The society’s attitude to global problems : a global warming research paper and the impact of this phenomenon on people’s way of life. Describe this well-known ecological problem in your paper.
  • Cultural formation of the personality in the context of modern public reality. This type of work can be connected with describing the ways of people’s cultural development.
  • Attempts to socialize adolescents and people with deviant behavior . A research paper on this relevant topic should describe how people who are prone to criminal behavior can correct their way of life.
  • Ways of improving the microclimate in the work collective and creating conditions for comfortable work. The theme aims at finding optimal techniques to improve relationships among employees.
  • Equality problems in society. A paper on this topic should uncover modern problems connected with inequality and various forms of racism.
  • Explore the causes of poverty in disadvantaged communities around the US.
  • Review the health and education outcomes of children raised in single-parent families .
  • What are the effects of social media on users’ mental health?
  • Look into the presence of gender stereotypes in popular culture.
  • What are the effects of mass immigration on communities and nations?
  • Study the effects of lockdown-related social isolation on mental health.
  • Is the Internet an adequate replacement for face-to-face communication ?
  • Research the causes of bullying and potential strategies for its prevention.
  • What’s the status of LGBT communities in nations around the world?
  • The effects of juvenile convictions on one’s life prospects.
  • Write about the American population’s views on the dangers of pollution .
  • Explore the stigma and social acceptance issues associated with transgender status.
  • How does cyberbullying affect one’s health ?
  • Review the Internet’s influence on education .
  • Assess the rationale of policies that restrict citizen reproduction.
  • Research your community’s views on the concept of privacy .
  • Health and education outcomes of children raised in same-sex families.
  • Explore intergenerational differences in views on social topics.
  • How do views on freedom of speech vary among people of different social categories?
  • Make a case study on the prevalence of workplace gender discrimination in your community.

It is essential to remember that a good research paper on the subject of sociology will be appreciated by readers if you study a specific social phenomenon in detail, carry out statistical analysis, and perform a number of important procedures. The purpose of a research paper in this field is to cover current public issues, reveal important aspects of various problems, and, if possible, offer optimal solutions. This science requires concrete and well-grounded answers. Any deviations and ambiguous arguments can be regarded as an author’s incompetent attempt to investigate a complex topic.

With all of these topics at your disposal, you might still be feeling a little overwhelmed. However, they are divided into categories to make choosing one easier. It might also be helpful to look at some great research paper samples .

Composing a research proposal can sometimes be a part of a big study. If you not only want to describe a specific problem or to convey an idea to your readers, but also expect to promote your personal theory and receive the approval of a respected scientific community, it’s necessary to choose a topic which allows you to present your own ideas. Different types of writing can be included in this category: an analytical research paper, work on identifying the best ways and techniques for a particular topic, etc. The preparation of research proposal articles has some nuances, and the following topics can be studied:

  • The way to conduct optimal trade relationships. Review appropriate techniques and offer specific methods to improve the situation in a particular company.
  • The advantages of electronic management systems. This theme will be connected with describing the merits of modern ways of managing specific spheres of production.
  • Useful innovations in modern life . Research paper subjects can be different: medicine, sociology, business, etc.
  • The best management techniques: methods of control . A paper on this topic should describe the behavioral features of successful managers.
  • The implementation of nursing theories in practice. The research paper proposal should have an appropriate scientific basis and describe corresponding medical issues.
  • Best practice in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis .
  • What challenges are associated with the nationwide adoption of the DNP standard?
  • Research current developments in palliative care for senior patients.
  • Are there differences in leadership and management styles between genders?
  • Assess the effects of tutoring on the educational attainment of school children.
  • Compare the preferred management styles in different cultures.
  • How do different states’ populations view the legalization of marijuana ?
  • Write about the underlying causes of Ancient Rome’s fall.
  • Challenges in the adoption of electronic health records in medical facilities.
  • What are the potential vulnerabilities of the AES-256 encryption standard?
  • Research the link between loyalty to a company and career growth .
  • How did Dante’s Inferno influence Christian depictions of Hell?
  • A case study of Singaporean government and its economic policies.
  • Review the financial environment and economic growth of Hong Kong .
  • Causes and implications of the human waste issues in San Francisco.
  • Assess the prevalence of smoking in the United States.
  • Study the beneficial effects of early childhood musical education on later development.
  • The philosophical and political underpinnings of the French Revolution .
  • What are the effects of successful social media marketing campaigns on videogame sales?
  • How did Confucian writings influence Chinese political thought?

The video below provides detailed instructions on how to write a research proposal. It is crucial to follow these rules so that the article to be up-to-date and properly formatted. Any attempts to bring something new are generally welcome; however, it is important not to forget about established rules.

👩‍⚕️ Nursing Research Paper Topics

A nursing research paper is an academic article that has specific format requirements. Citation rules in particular are very important, for example, an APA research paper format . In order to write a perfect paper and conduct high-quality research, follow the formatting rules and use any of these topics:

  • Nursing techniques to care for patients in intensive care units. The summary of your research paper can include a description of the best practical methods.
  • How do you implement nursing theories ? Your paper can consist of the enumeration of specific nursing theories and the ways of their implementation in practice.
  • Patients’ education and useful materials. The theme aims at discovering the best educational materials that would be suitable for patients.
  • Ideas on how to achieve a better quality of nursing care . You can offer various interpretations of this topic in your research paper.
  • Experienced researchers’ opinions on improving the state of nursing in hospitals. Use the ideas of different authors and don’t forget to follow the citation rules.

Lois Capps american politician quote.

  • Patient-oriented type of care and its advantages. This scientific research essay can reveal the merits of a specific nursing approach.
  • Potential risks for nurses in the workplace. Both a junior research paper and a senior research paper of this theme should competently describe all possible dangers that medical employees can face.
  • Care for people of different social backgrounds. If this research paper is written in English, it should uncover the ways how to care for people speaking other languages and having different cultural and social levels of development.
  • Do nurses need additional stimuli to improve their qualifications? You can write many interesting research papers on this topic, and all of them can include lists of possible bonuses and incentives for nurses.
  • The necessity for nurses’ additional education. A paper on this topic can describe subjects suitable for nursing education.
  • How do you promote healthy eating practices in disadvantaged communities through educational programs?
  • Research ways of providing preventative care for veterans affected by PTSD .
  • Review the strategies of organizing nurse shifts to maximize the quality of care in understaffed conditions.
  • Study cases of patient violence toward nurses in the intensive care unit.
  • Preventing pressure ulcers in immobile patients.
  • Ways of implementing quality improvement in nursing units .
  • What cultural competencies and challenges are typically encountered in nursing care?
  • Review the methods for controlling delirium in the intensive care unit .
  • Propose adjustments in sexual education to spread awareness of STD risks in same-sex relationships.
  • Suggest interventions to prevent falls in patients staying at home.
  • What are the issues of advanced practice nursing in different countries?
  • Strategies for remaining productive under pressure as a nurse.
  • Research alternatives to prescribing patients with infections antibiotics that bypass resistance.
  • How to design effective interventions for child obesity rates reduction.
  • Explore using exercise to maintain the physical well-being of hospital patients.
  • What interventions can reduce alcoholism rates in your community?
  • Analyze the implementation of evidence-based practice in nursing facilities.
  • Ethical standards and issues that arise in the nursing profession.
  • Review the methods of providing holistic care to patients.
  • The dangers associated with telemedicine in medical-surgical nursing.

The compliance with the specific research project ideas will allow you to write a high-quality paper and will give you the opportunity to conduct research at a high level. Having completed the document, you can summarize and identify its crucial points. Following the rules of formatting is an integral part of working on any academic text.

🎨 Research Project Topics on Art

In the process of writing research articles, it is necessary to adhere to a certain topic. You can choose any theme you want. A research paper will be successful if you stick to your topic and provide a real search for optimal ways of solving a particular issue. There are a few suggestions that can be helpful in the process of writing. If we talk about such an interesting sphere as the world of art, themes can be as follows.

  • How is ideology reflected in architecture? Naturally, ideologies are largely represented in media, but they also influence architecture in many ways. You can study this topic at several points in time.
  • How does photography represent reality? In this paper, you can discuss if photography reflects reality, interprets it, or constructs it.
  • The significance of linear perspective . If you draw a linear perspective on a flat surface, you will create the illusion of depth. Discuss how this magic trick works in your paper!
  • Art and the unconscious mind. It’s an excellent topic that lets you explore psychology. Try to answer the questions of how the unconscious mind influences the creation and perception of art.
  • The evolution of horror movies . This film research paper topic covers everything from silent films to modern horror movies. You can discuss the influence of film noir on the genre, literary works that influenced it, the concept of “suspense,” and so on.
  • Physiological aesthetics in Surrealism. It is a known fact that Surrealists were inspired by psychoanalysis and dream imagery. You can explore this topic in a paper or use it for a presentation!
  • Deconstruction in architecture. The philosophical movement of deconstructivism influenced many spheres of life and art, including architecture. It allowed the creation of seemingly nonsensical forms and environments.
  • Sociology of fine art. This is a relatively new branch of sociology, which deals with arts and social structures of their production. It also includes political trends that influence art, consumerism, and other social phenomena.
  • Jewelry as sculpture. This topic lets you explore fantastic avant-garde jewelry and how contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons use it to create sculptures.
  • The discourse of Modernist painting in the 1950s. This topic covers experimental and abstract paintings of artists who rejected the realistic approach. Mention political agendas that influenced modernism in the ’50th.
  • Abstract Expressionism. Here you can discuss postwar artists such as Rothko and Pollock , as well as their predecessors Ernst and Kandinsky.
  • Andy Warhol’s influence on art. This art research paper topic covers not only pop art, but also films, music, aphorisms, the concept of “superstars,” and other aspects of Andy Warhol’s influence.
  • The art of street photography. Street photography is usually spontaneous, which helps to create realistic and powerful imagery. Write about the art of photographing urban landscapes and the most influential candid photographers.
  • The history of animation . Techniques preceding animation have existed long before the invention of cinematography. Puppetry, shadow play, magic lantern – all these things relate to animation in one way or another.
  • Are video games art? This idea seemed impossible in the past, but now many video games are considered art for their use of imagery, music, and compelling narrative.
  • Art as a form of protest. This includes protests against tradition or political causes. You may also talk about the role of art in bringing about a change in society.
  • Renaissance sculpture. This topic is just as interesting as the Renaissance painting. During that period, the art of sculpture had reached its peak. Sculptors of the Renaissance were influenced by Ancient Greek sculptures , as well as by Humanism.
  • Relationship between architecture and environment. Here you can discuss eco-friendly or “ green” architecture .
  • Modern ceramics as an art form. In the last decade, ceramics became a very popular art form. From prehistoric pottery to intricate porcelain forms – ceramics is a great medium that can often be compared to sculpture.
  • Science fiction in cinema. The earliest science fiction films were created back in the late 19th century by Georges Melies. In 1927, Fritz Lang’s silent film Metropolis revolutionized science fiction cinema. Explore it in your research paper!
  • The peculiarities of Da Vinci’s masterpieces. The paper will reflect the talent of the great European master and describe his Best Works.

5 most famous artworks by Leonardo Da Vinci.

  • The trends of art in Medieval Europe. The topic should uncover modern trends in the art of the Middle Ages and include the description of some styles; it can the article of any format, even a 10-page research paper. The main thing is to fully reveal all the distinctive features of that epoch.
  • The history of European Art in the 20th century . The research can be devoted to some trends in the previous century.
  • The most outstanding artists in the world’s history. The paper should tell about the most famous artists of all the epochs.
  • Why do people appreciate art? This article can include your own ideas concerning the subject.
  • How do artists reflect their talent today? Your task is to try to study the methods that modern artists use to attract the audience.
  • Skills that a professional artist should possess. The aim of this article is to study some skills that should be necessary for the work of the artist. Regardless of whether you write research papers for sale or not, you should try to express not only well-known ideas but also your personal point of view.
  • Is it possible to develop artistic talent? Try to express your ideas concerning the opportunity for mastering proper skills.
  • The benefits of cooperation with other artists. This topic touches upon probable advantages that artists can gain when cooperating with their colleagues.
  • Themes that are the best for the canvas. You can develop a number of research abstract topics on this theme and convey the best motives to paint that seem the most successful for you.
  • The absence of inspiration. The theme should reveal what authors should do to develop their inspiration.
  • Chronological order of art development in the world. It is a rather accurate paper that should mention the most significant stages of art development.
  • Do people appreciate the work of artists? You could try to study the audience’s attitude toward artists’ work.
  • The methods to attract young people to art. The topic is connected with a social issue and aims at popularizing art in masses.
  • Do artists need additional knowledge? This theme implies for describing the necessity of education among all the professions, including artists and other creative posts.

Statistics of arts.

🎼 Music Research Topics

Every culture has its distinct music. For many people, music is an integral part of everyday life. Film and theater productions use it to steer our emotions. When writing about music, you can choose from an endless number of ideas to research. Here are some examples:

  • Music as a ritual. Back in prehistoric times, music was considered to be a powerful ritualistic practice. Some mythologies even include stories about gods introducing the art of music to humans.
  • Early polyphony in Christian Europe. The earliest choral music was mostly performed in a single melodic line. See how it changed when more melodic lines were added.
  • Indian ethnomusicology . This interesting music research topic is concerned with the peculiarities of Indian music culture. You can include the discussion of how Indian music influenced psychedelic rock in the ’60s.
  • Jazz performance and improvisation. The element of spontaneity is very important in jazz performance, and improvisation is its key component.
  • Medieval troubadours and their legacy. Troubadours were poets who sang their own music and played instruments. Their performances differed greatly from the traditional church music of that time.
  • Ecomusicology of North America. This research topic allows you to discover the ways in which American landscape and nature influenced music, including Native American music, folk music, and modern songwriters.
  • Baroque music . During the Baroque era, many important features of modern music were introduced. You can choose this topic if you like grandiose, dramatic, or playful classical music.
  • The classical period in music. This period followed the after the Baroque and was very different from it. You can recognize it by simple structures and minimalistic arrangements. Many of the world’s greatest composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven, lived during the Classical era.
  • Classical music of the 20th century. Over the course of the previous century, the music styles were changing like never before. Still, classical music survived, while also transforming itself in accordance with times.
  • Music therapy for children. In this exciting music research topic, you can discover how music is used to help children with developmental dyspraxia, autism, ADHD, and other disorders.
  • Music and sound in film. Discover for yourself the art of scoring – from improvised piano arrangements of early movies to modern stereo surround sound.
  • The history of Italian opera. The Italian language played a key role in the formation of classical singing techniques. This includes opera – an art form that unites music and singing with storytelling.
  • The 20th-century music industry. This topic is centered on various ways of recording and selling music. Vinyl records, wax cylinders, cassette tapes, and CDs – 20th-century technology allowed turning music into a business.
  • The birth of pop music. The history of popular music begins in the 1950s. The term refers to the songs appealing to a large audience, as opposed to classical or jazz music. You can discuss the elements of early pop music that made it so accessible.
  • The ideology and aesthetics of punk rock. Punk rock was enormously influential in the 1970th. Its philosophy of anti-conformity appealed to young people of post-war Britain and the USA.
  • The musicology of electronic music. This exciting topic covers the earliest repetitive devices such as Hammond organ, early experimentations with electronics, the first use of computers and synthesizers in songwriting, and more!
  • Sampling in electronic music: context and aesthetics. Sampling is a very interesting technique that allows using audio fragments in different contexts. It can be used for aesthetic or political reasons, or as a cultural commentary.
  • What is a sound sculpture? A combination of an art object and music, sound sculptures are exciting to research. You can use this topic for presentation and demonstrate sound sculptures in action!
  • Dadaism and music. Dadaist ideas of randomness and paradox influenced art as well as music. Discuss the noise compositions and avant-garde sonic experiments that influenced the latter half of the 20th century.
  • Robotic musical instruments. You may think that robots playing music is a relatively new idea, but in fact, they date back to ancient times.

✍️ Creative Writing Research Topics

There are more rules to creative writing than one might think. For example, narratives should be coherent, and world-building has to follow certain logic. Analyzing these peculiarities brings you one step closer to becoming a better writer.

  • The role of reality within the psychological thriller genre. Psychological thrillers often aim at distorting or questioning reality. Study the ways in which this idea manifests in different narratives.
  • Graphic novels and their peculiarities. In modern times comic books are no longer considered to be just for entertainment, and graphic novel format is used to produce award-winning narratives.
  • Writing about the past : historical research and archaeology. When your narrative takes place in the distant past, you need to do extensive research to represent the time period properly. One way to do it is to turn to archaeology.
  • What is the role of landscape in supernatural narratives? Supernatural narratives rely on the atmosphere to evoke the feeling of uncanny. The setting and landscape are especially important to the writes of the supernatural genre.
  • How to write engaging crime fiction? This topic includes the ways of building suspense, the use of “red herrings,” complex character development, and other tips.
  • Digital storytelling. Here you can explore how to present your narrative in interactive digital form. It can be a video game, a visual novel, or a walking simulator.
  • Writing about the future. When you write about the past, you already know the characteristics of an epoch. But how do you invent the attributes of the future? Discuss it in your paper!
  • The influence of the author’s personal life on their writing. People often want to learn more about their favorite writers in the hope to understand their work better. But is there really such a connection between one’s personal and creative lives?
  • The role of diaries in creative writing . Almost all writers keep diaries. Sometimes the diaries are published and used in research or literary analysis. But how do authors themselves use their diary entries?
  • Creative writing for children. This excellent creative writing research topic deals with the ways of teaching children how to create their own narratives. You can discuss why writing is beneficial for children and how you can encourage them to be creative.
  • The art of teaching poetry . Poetry is one of the most exciting art forms that never gets old. However, not everybody appreciates poetry right away. See how you can change it!
  • What is the role of nature in romantic literature? Romantic artists and writers took lots of inspiration from nature, using it as a metaphor for one’s life and feelings.
  • The role of authorial intent. Some readers think that it’s essential to know what the author wanted to say in their literary work. Others believe that it’s one’s personal interpretation that matters the most.
  • A persona in poetry. The lyrical subject is someone who narrates a poem. Some people see it as the manifestation of the author, and others as a fictitious character. And what do you think?
  • Degrees of realism in fiction . When writing a work of fiction, some writers use excessive descriptions, while others keep things relatively minimalistic. Discuss the positive and negative sides of these approaches.
  • Forms of structure in films and novels: a comparison. Here you can compare different forms of narrative structures used in cinema and literature, such as linear and non-linear narratives, the use of flashbacks, and so on.
  • How to write a comedy. Comics say that making people laugh is much harder than to make them cry. Discuss what makes a literary work funny, and how one can write effective comedy.
  • The recontextualization of Hamlet . Recontextualization is a process by which something (e.g., a character) is taken from one context and introduced into another context. You can explore this notion through different recontextualizations of Shakespeare’s character Hamlet.
  • Writing a dystopia . See what techniques you can use when writing a narrative set in a bleak society.
  • Monomyth in literature. This exciting topic deals with the concept of “hero’s journey,” which serves as a basis for nearly all myths as well as countless works of fiction.

🎈 Other Research Paper Topics

You still haven’t found what you were looking for? This section might have what you need! Here you’ll find all kinds of topics. From psychology over physics to sociology, we compiled the most engaging ideas for you.

  • American teenagers–can they be called new species?
  • William Shakespeare : was this man the author of famous plays and sonnets?
  • Do you have any ideas about the field circles?
  • Black magic. Does it exist?
  • Censorship and its role in forming a society
  • The phenomenon of the penny press in the USA
  • Symbolism in literature
  • Alcatraz and its famous fugitives
  • Major sources of stress
  • Government grants–how do they work?
  • Election falsification: is it commonly used, and what are its main techniques?
  • Genetic engineering and your point of view on it
  • Stem cell research
  • What is a black hole ?
  • Loch Ness monster and your attitude towards this mystery
  • Joan of Arc –did she manage to escape the fires of Inquisition?
  • Do some research on techniques of brainwashing
  • Who invented the radio ?
  • There is a belief that American astronauts didn’t step on the Moon. Did they?
  • American international policy
  • Unique people who changed the world
  • Genius ideas that made their inventors famous and wealthy
  • Is education a necessary factor to become successful in today’s world?
  • Differences between the high school systems in the USA and Japan
  • Schindler’s list : the importance of moral roles over wealth
  • Educational programs’ impact on professional careers
  • Why do college students from all over the world come to the USA to pursue further education?
  • Examples of crop circles: Fake or real?
  • Humanity’s technological achievements in 2020

John Brunner quote: “It’s supposed to be automatic, but actually you have to push this button”

  • The importance of outlines in books and articles 
  • Web-designers seem to be using the same template in their works 
  • Exciting inventions of humankind in the nearest future 
  • Modern students do not know how to do their homework without access to the Internet 
  • The original cover page of the Holy Bible  
  • The development of the MLA style 
  • The cradle of psychology 
  • Controversial policies of the USA and the USSR  
  • How abortion affects a woman’s organism 
  • What did Homer write about his lifestyle?  
  • Famous people in the world’s history that did not exist 
  • Would people have become what they are today without science ? 
  • Parts of the world that will always remain uninhabited 
  • Philosophical questions that humanity cannot answer for centuries 
  • Medical stereotypes around the world 
  • Will global warming ruin America’s economic system? 
  • The USA government should be thankful for the mass immigration 
  • The majority of scientific works are useless 
  • Things to research in the sphere of modern gadgets 
  • Should sociology make people happier? 
  • The lack of pure water sources on Earth 
  • The environment’s effect on human health  
  • Humanity’s steps towards eco-friendly products, cities, and vehicles 
  • Sherlock Holmes’ analytical mind and deduction skills 
  • Should parents teach their children how to make the world better for other people? 
  • Is business the only way to become wealthy in Third World countries ? 
  • Analysis of William Shakespeare’s literary language 
  • Does a title tell everything about a book’s context? 
  • The Great Wall: A legendary monument or China’s income source? 
  • Should families report to the police that their relatives are guilty of something? 
  • The first websites, available on the World Wide Web 
  • New challenges to the society introduced by social media  
  • If you created your government, what would you do for your citizens? 
  • What career options are prevalent in modern societies? 
  • Chemistry in people’s everyday life 
  • Is there any person on Earth, whose life is considered to be easy? 
  • Is bribery acceptable for criminal justice? 
  • The most popular sports in Britain 
  • The population biology of India 
  • Basic nursing knowledge of everyday life 
  • Renaissance literature in France 
  • Think of a technology that would make our atmosphere cleaner 
  • Development of different animals after forty days on Noah’s Ark. 
  • What will the food be like in a hundred years? 
  • Socialization of children with autism 
  • The medieval art of Scandinavian people 
  • Different ways to save Earth’s environment from pollution  
  • Depression in adolescents: reasons and outcomes 
  • The importance of computer science in today’s world 
  • Coca-Cola marketing strategies  

Richard Roeper quote.

  • Express your opinion on people’s purpose in life on Earth
  • How do early childhood memories and experiences influence our lives?
  • The history of video games era
  • Regulation of bullying in schools by law
  • Drugs industry in California, New Mexico, and Texas
  • The most prevalent economic issues in Greece after joining the EU
  • China’s rapid growth: is it going to become the first country in the world?
  • Global dangers that influence our planet’s ecology
  • Significant changes in the American media since the 1970s
  • What makes medicine an interesting subject to study?
  • The main factors to consider while conducting qualitative research

There are so many resources out there that will help you choose a topic and write an outstanding paper. This video gives you a bunch of topics for research papers, which means you now have even more from which to choose!

There is no doubt that writing a research paper is a daunting task.

If you feel you need help, even if you have managed to choose a topic, you can always hire a custom writing service to help you produce a fabulous research paper of which you will be proud and will guarantee you a good mark.

Whether you choose to write it on your own or get some help, we wish you luck writing your paper!

🤔 Research Topics FAQ

There are literally thousands of topics to choose from. “Biomarkers and colors: what is the correlation?” is a great topic on psychology. Should businesses be regulated: pros and cons is an exciting business research topic. Finally, Art as a form of protest is an art research topic worth exploring.

The first option is to ask your professor. Then you can browse through scientific journals and take a look at your library catalog. The final option for those who search for a creative idea is to take notes everywhere. Write things down while traveling, watching TV, and reading.

The Big Bang theory, Dwarf galaxies, and Supernova Astronomy are just a few of numerous astronomy research topics. Genetically modified organisms, Neurobiology of sleep, and Rainforest conservation are exciting research biology research topics. Artificial intelligence, Computer modeling, and Voice recognition are trendy computer science topics.

There are numerous exciting topics in various education research areas. Some of them are: Ability grouping, Computer literacy, Early childhood education, Multiculturalism, Parental involvement, Sex education, Violence in schools, and Virtual classrooms.

You might also be interested in:

  • 280 Good Nursing Research Topics & Questions
  • 226 Research Topics on Criminal Justice & Criminology
  • 204 Research Topics on Technology & Computer Science
  • 178 Best Research Titles about Cookery & Food
  • 497 Interesting History Topics to Research
  • 180 Best Education Research Topics & Ideas
  • 110+ Micro- & Macroeconomics Research Topics
  • 417 Business Research Topics for ABM Students
  • 190+ Research Topics on Psychology & Communication
  • 512 Research Topics on HumSS
  • 281 Best Health & Medical Research Topics
  • 501 Research Questions & Titles about Science
  • Good Research Topics, Titles and Ideas for Your Paper

🔗 References

  • APA Sample Paper
  • Painting Movements in the 20th Century Topic
  • The Discovery Themes Initiative at The Ohio State University
  • Quantitative Research in Education
  • Quantitative Research Works, Indiana University
  • Organizing Academic Research Papers: Choosing a Title
  • Research Topics, The University of Arizona
  • Research Topic Ideas, University of Michigan-Flint
  • National Archives—Research by Topic
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory—Research Topics List
  • Global Health Research Topics
  • National Institute of Justice—Topics
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology—Topics
  • Research Topics at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research & Development
  • National Institutes of Health—A to Z Topics Index
  • Evaluating Print Sources
  • Working With Sources
  • Developing a Thesis
  • Psychiatry: Medscape
  • Information Technology: NIST
  • Topics: History.com
  • Research Programs: National Center for Education Research
  • Recent Computer and Education Articles: Elsevier
  • Basic Guide to Cross-Cultural Research: Yale University
  • Cultural Anthropology: Britannica
  • Top Physical and Tech News: Science Daily
  • Health Topics: National Institute of Mental Health
  • PhDs in Business & Management: Five Hot Research Topics: Top Universities
  • Research and Focus Areas in Business and Government: Victoria University of Wellington
  • Modern Literature: University of Portsmouth
  • Research Areas: Political Science: Florida University
  • Sociology Research Areas: Cornell University
  • Focus Areas: Nursing Research: Mayo Clinic
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Explore Psychology

Psychology Experiment Ideas

Categories Psychology Education

Psychology Experiment Ideas

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Quick Ideas | Experiment Ideas | Designing Your Experiment | Types of Research

If you are taking a psychology class, you might at some point be asked to design an imaginary experiment or perform an experiment or study. The idea you ultimately choose to use for your psychology experiment may depend upon the number of participants you can find, the time constraints of your project, and limitations in the materials available to you.

Consider these factors before deciding which psychology experiment idea might work for your project.

This article discusses some ideas you might try if you need to perform a psychology experiment or study.

A Quick List of Experiment Ideas

If you are looking for a quick experiment idea that would be easy to tackle, the following might be some research questions you want to explore:

  • How many items can people hold in short-term memory ?
  • Are people with a Type A personality more stressed than those with a Type B personality?
  • Does listening to upbeat music increase heart rate?
  • Are men or women better at detecting emotions ?
  • Are women or men more likely to experience imposter syndrome ?
  • Will students conform if others in the group all share an opinion that is different from their own?
  • Do people’s heartbeat or breathing rates change in response to certain colors?
  • How much do people rely on nonverbal communication to convey information in a conversation?
  • Do people who score higher on measures of emotional intelligence also score higher on measures of overall well-being?
  • Do more successful people share certain personality traits ?

Most of the following ideas are easily conducted with a small group of participants, who may likely be your classmates. Some of the psychology experiment or study ideas you might want to explore:

Sleep and Short-Term Memory

Does sleep deprivation have an impact on short-term memory ?

Ask participants how much sleep they got the night before and then conduct a task to test short-term memory for items on a list.

Social Media and Mental Health

Is social media usage linked to anxiety or depression?

Ask participants about how many hours a week they use social media sites and then have them complete a depression and anxiety assessment.

Procrastination and Stress

How does procrastination impact student stress levels?

Ask participants about how frequently they procrastinate on their homework and then have them complete an assessment looking at their current stress levels.

Caffeine and Cognition

How does caffeine impact performance on a Stroop test?

In the Stroop test , participants are asked to tell the color of a word, rather than just reading the word. Have a control group consume no caffeine and then complete a Stroop test, and then have an experimental group consume caffeine before completing the same test. Compare results.

Color and Memory

Does the color of text have any impact on memory?

Randomly assign participants to two groups. Have one group memorize words written in black ink for two minutes. Have the second group memorize the same words for the same amount of time, but instead written in red ink. Compare the results.

Weight Bias

How does weight bias influence how people are judged by others?

Find pictures of models in a magazine who look similar, including similar hair and clothing, but who differ in terms of weight. Have participants look at the two models and then ask them to identify which one they think is smarter, wealthier, kinder, and healthier.

Assess how each model was rated and how weight bias may have influenced how they were described by participants.

Music and Exercise

Does music have an effect on how hard people work out?

Have people listen to different styles of music while jogging on a treadmill and measure their walking speed, heart rate, and workout length.

The Halo Effect

How does the Halo Effect influence how people see others?

Show participants pictures of people and ask them to rate the photos in terms of how attractive, kind, intelligent, helpful, and successful the people in the images are.

How does the attractiveness of the person in the photo correlate to how participants rate other qualities? Are attractive people more likely to be perceived as kind, funny, and intelligent?

Eyewitness Testimony

How reliable is eyewitness testimony?

Have participants view video footage of a car crash. Ask some participants to describe how fast the cars were going when they “hit into” each other. Ask other participants to describe how fast the cars were going when they “smashed into” each other.

Give the participants a memory test a few days later and ask them to recall if they saw any broken glass at the accident scene. Compare to see if those in the “smashed into” condition were more likely to report seeing broken glass than those in the “hit into” group.

The experiment is a good illustration of how easily false memories can be triggered.

Simple Psychology Experiment Ideas

If you are looking for a relatively simple psychology experiment idea, here are a few options you might consider.

The Stroop Effect

This classic experiment involves presenting participants with words printed in different colors and asking them to name the color of the ink rather than read the word. Students can manipulate the congruency of the word and the color to test the Stroop effect.

Memory Recall

Students can design a simple experiment to test memory recall by presenting participants with a list of items to remember and then asking them to recall the items after a delay. Students can manipulate the length of the delay or the type of encoding strategy used to see the effect on recall.

Social Conformity

Students can test social conformity by presenting participants with a simple task and manipulating the responses of confederates to see if the participant conforms to the group response.

Selective Attention

Students can design an experiment to test selective attention by presenting participants with a video or audio stimulus and manipulating the presence or absence of a distracting stimulus to see the effect on attention.

Implicit Bias

Students can test implicit bias by presenting participants with a series of words or images and measuring their response time to categorize the stimuli into different categories.

The Primacy/Recency Effect

Students can test the primacy /recency effect by presenting participants with a list of items to remember and manipulating the order of the items to see the effect on recall.

Sleep Deprivation

Students can test the effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance by comparing the performance of participants who have had a full night’s sleep to those who have been deprived of sleep.

These are just a few examples of simple psychology experiment ideas for students. The specific experiment will depend on the research question and resources available.

Elements of a Good Psychology Experiment

Finding psychology experiment ideas is not necessarily difficult, but finding a good experimental or study topic that is right for your needs can be a little tough. You need to find something that meets the guidelines and, perhaps most importantly, is approved by your instructor.

Requirements may vary, but you need to ensure that your experiment, study, or survey is:

  • Easy to set up and carry out
  • Easy to find participants willing to take part
  • Free of any ethical concerns

In some cases, you may need to present your idea to your school’s institutional review board before you begin to obtain permission to work with human participants.

Consider Your Own Interests

At some point in your life, you have likely pondered why people behave in certain ways. Or wondered why certain things seem to always happen. Your own interests can be a rich source of ideas for your psychology experiments.

As you are trying to come up with a topic or hypothesis, try focusing on the subjects that fascinate you the most. If you have a particular interest in a topic, look for ideas that answer questions about the topic that you and others may have. Examples of topics you might choose to explore include:

  • Development
  • Personality
  • Social behavior

This can be a fun opportunity to investigate something that appeals to your interests.

Read About Classic Experiments

Sometimes reviewing classic psychological experiments that have been done in the past can give you great ideas for your own psychology experiments. For example, the false memory experiment above is inspired by the classic memory study conducted by Elizabeth Loftus.

Textbooks can be a great place to start looking for topics, but you might want to expand your search to research journals. When you find a study that sparks your interest, read through the discussion section. Researchers will often indicate ideas for future directions that research could take.

Ask Your Instructor

Your professor or instructor is often the best person to consult for advice right from the start.

In most cases, you will probably receive fairly detailed instructions about your assignment. This may include information about the sort of topic you can choose or perhaps the type of experiment or study on which you should focus.

If your instructor does not assign a specific subject area to explore, it is still a great idea to talk about your ideas and get feedback before you get too invested in your topic idea. You will need your teacher’s permission to proceed with your experiment anyway, so now is a great time to open a dialogue and get some good critical feedback.

Experiments vs. Other Types of Research

One thing to note, many of the ideas found here are actually examples of surveys or correlational studies .

For something to qualify as a tru e experiment, there must be manipulation of an independent variable .

For many students, conducting an actual experiment may be outside the scope of their project or may not be permitted by their instructor, school, or institutional review board.

If your assignment or project requires you to conduct a true experiment that involves controlling and manipulating an independent variable, you will need to take care to choose a topic that will work within the guidelines of your assignment.

Types of Psychology Experiments

There are many different types of psychology experiments that students could perform. Examples of psychological research methods you might use include:

Correlational Study

This type of study examines the relationship between two variables. Students could collect data on two variables of interest, such as stress and academic performance, and see if there is a correlation between the two.

Experimental Study

In an experimental study, students manipulate one variable and observe the effect on another variable. For example, students could manipulate the type of music participants listen to and observe its effect on their mood.

Observational Study

Observational studies involve observing behavior in a natural setting . Students could observe how people interact in a public space and analyze the patterns they see.

Survey Study

Students could design a survey to collect data on a specific topic, such as attitudes toward social media, and analyze the results.

A case study involves in-depth analysis of a single individual or group. Students could conduct a case study of a person with a particular disorder, such as anxiety or depression, and examine their experiences and treatment options.

Quasi-Experimental Study

Quasi-experimental studies are similar to experimental studies, but participants are not randomly assigned to groups. Students could investigate the effects of a treatment or intervention on a particular group, such as a classroom of students who receive a new teaching method.

Longitudinal Study

Longitudinal studies involve following participants over an extended period of time. Students could conduct a longitudinal study on the development of language skills in children or the effects of aging on cognitive abilities.

These are just a few examples of the many different types of psychology experiments that students could perform. The specific type of experiment will depend on the research question and the resources available.

Steps for Doing a Psychology Experiment

When conducting a psychology experiment, students should follow several important steps. Here is a general outline of the process:

Define the Research Question

Before conducting an experiment, students should define the research question they are trying to answer. This will help them to focus their study and determine the variables they need to manipulate and measure.

Develop a Hypothesis

Based on the research question, students should develop a hypothesis that predicts the experiment’s outcome. The hypothesis should be testable and measurable.

Select Participants

Students should select participants who meet the criteria for the study. Participants should be informed about the study and give informed consent to participate.

Design the Experiment

Students should design the experiment to test their hypothesis. This includes selecting the appropriate variables, creating a plan for manipulating and measuring them, and determining the appropriate control conditions.

Collect Data

Once the experiment is designed, students should collect data by following the procedures they have developed. They should record all data accurately and completely.

Analyze the Data

After collecting the data, students should analyze it to determine if their hypothesis was supported or not. They can use statistical analyses to determine if there are significant differences between groups or if there are correlations between variables.

Interpret the Results

Based on the analysis, students should interpret the results and draw conclusions about their hypothesis. They should consider the study’s limitations and their findings’ implications.

Report the Results

Finally, students should report the results of their study. This may include writing a research paper or presenting their findings in a poster or oral presentation.

Britt MA. Psych Experiments . Avon, MA: Adams Media; 2007.

Martin DW. Doing Psychology Experiments. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning; 2008.

Kendra Cherry

Kendra Cherry, MS.Ed., is an author, educator, and founder of Explore Psychology, an online psychology resource. She is a health writer and editor specializing in psychology, mental health, and wellness. She also writes for Verywell Mind and is the author of the Everything Psychology book (Adams Media). Follow her on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , and Pinterest .

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Ideas for Psychology Experiments

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

simple research study ideas

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

simple research study ideas

Do you need to design an experiment for a psychology assignment? Students are often expected to design and sometimes perform their own experiments, but finding great psychology experiment ideas can be challenging at times.

If you are looking for an idea for psychology experiments, start your search early and make sure you have the time you need for background research as well as to design and perform your experiment. You should also discuss your idea with your instructor before beginning your experiment—particularly if your research involves human participants.

If you need to design an experiment for an assignment, here are some psychology experiment ideas you can explore for inspiration. You can then find ways to adapt these ideas for your own assignments.

Psychology Experiment Ideas

Most of these experiments can be performed easily at home or at school. That said, you will need to find out if you have to get approval from your teacher or from an institutional review board before getting started.

The following are some questions you could attempt to answer as part of a psychological experiment:

  • Are people really able to "feel like someone is watching" them ? Have some participants sit alone in a room and have them note when they feel as if they are being watched. Then, see how those results line up to your own record of when participants were actually being observed.
  • Can certain colors improve learning ? Could the color of the paper used in a test or assignment have an impact on academic performance? You may have heard teachers or students claim that printing text on green paper helps students read better or that yellow paper helps students perform better on math exams. Design an experiment to see whether using a specific color of paper helps improve students' scores on math exams.
  • Can color cause physiological reactions ? Perform an experiment to determine whether certain colors cause a participant's blood pressure to rise or fall.
  • Can different types of music lead to different physiological responses ? Measure the heart rates of participants in response to various types of music to see if there is a difference.
  • Can smelling one thing while tasting another impact a person's ability to detect what the food really is ? Have participants engage in a blind taste test where the smell and the food they are eating are mismatched. Ask the participants to identify the food they are trying and note how accurate their guess are.
  • Could a person's taste in music offer hints about their personality ? Previous research has suggested that people who prefer certain styles of music tend to exhibit similar  personality traits.
  • Do action films cause people to eat more popcorn and candy during a movie ? Have one group of participants watch an action movie, and another group watch a slow-paced drama. Compare how much popcorn is consumed by each group.
  • Do colors really impact moods ? Conduct an investigation to see if the  color blue makes people feel calm, or if the color red leaves them feeling agitated.
  • Do creative people see  optical illusions  differently than more analytical people ? Have participants complete an assessment to measure their level of creative thinking. Then ask participants to look at optical illusions and note what they perceive.
  • Do people rate individuals with perfectly symmetrical faces as more beautiful than those with asymmetrical faces ? Create sample cards with both symmetrical and asymmetrical faces and ask participants to rate the attractiveness of each picture.
  • Do people who use social media exhibit signs of addiction ? Have participants complete an assessment of their social media habits, then have them complete an addiction questionnaire.
  • Does eating breakfast really help students do better in school ? According to some, eating breakfast can have a beneficial influence on school performance. One study found that children who ate a healthy breakfast learned better and had more energy than students who did not eat breakfast. For your experiment, you could compare the test scores of students who ate breakfast to those who did not.
  • Does sex influence short-term memory ? You could arrange an experiment that tests whether males or females are better at remembering specific types of information.
  • How likely are people to conform in groups ? Try this experiment to see what percentage of people are likely to conform . Imagine that you're in a math class and the instructor asks a basic math question. What is 8 x 4? The teacher begins asking individual students in the room for the answer. You are surprised when the first student answers 27 (which is not correct). Then the next student also answers 27—and then the next! When the teacher finally comes to you, do you trust your own math skills and say 32? Or do you go along with what the rest of the group seems to believe is the correct answer?
  • How likely are people to conform to the opinions of a group ? This conformity experiment investigates the impact of group pressure on individual behavior.
  • How much information can people store in short-term memory ? One classic experiment suggests that people can store between five to nine items, but rehearsal strategies such as chunking can significantly increase memorization and recall. A simple word memorization experiment is an excellent and fairly easy psychology science fair idea.
  • What is the Stroop Effect ? The Stroop Effect is a phenomenon in which it is easier to say the color of a word if it matches the semantic meaning of the word. For example, if someone asked you to say the color of the word "black" that was also printed in black ink, it would be easier to say the correct color than if it were printed in green ink.

Once you have an idea, the next step is to learn more about  how to conduct a psychology experiment .

Explore Your Interests

If none of the ideas in the list above grabbed your attention, there are other ways to find inspiration.

How do you come up with a good psychology experiment? One of the most effective approaches is to look at the various problems, situations, and questions that you are facing in your own life.

You can also think about the things that interest you. Start by considering the topics you've studied in class thus far that have really piqued your interest. Then, whittle the list down to two or three major areas within psychology that seem to interest you the most.

From there, make a list of questions you have related to the topic. Any of these questions could potentially serve as an experiment idea.

Turn to Textbooks

Your psychology textbooks are another excellent source you can turn to for experiment ideas. Choose the chapters or sections that you find particularly interesting—perhaps it's a chapter on  social psychology  or a section on child development.

Start by browsing the experiments discussed in your book. Then think of how you could devise an experiment related to some of the questions your text asks. The reference section at the back of your textbook can also serve as a great source for additional reference material.

Talk to Other Students

It can be helpful to brainstorm with your classmates to gather outside ideas and perspectives. Get together with a group of students and make a list of interesting ideas, subjects, or questions you have.

The information from your brainstorming session can serve as a basis for your experiment topic. It's also a great way to get feedback on your own ideas and to determine if they are worth exploring in greater depth.

Study Classic Psychology Experiments

Taking a closer look at a classic psychology experiment can be an excellent way to trigger some unique and thoughtful ideas of your own. To start, you could try conducting your own version of a famous experiment or even updating a classic experiment to assess a slightly different question.

You might not be able to replicate an experiment exactly, but you can use well-known studies as a basis for inspiration.

Review the Literature

If you have a general idea about what topic you'd like to experiment, you might want to spend a little time doing a brief literature review before you start designing.

Visit your university library and find some of the best books and articles that cover the particular topic you are interested in. What research has already been done in this area? Are there any major questions that still need to be answered?

Tackling this step early will make the later process of writing the introduction  to your  lab report  or research paper much easier.

Ask Your Instructor

If you have made a good effort to come up with an idea on your own but you're still feeling stumped, it might help to talk to your instructor. Ask for pointers on finding a good experiment topic for the specific assignment. You can also ask them to suggest some other ways you could generate ideas or inspiration.

While it can feel intimidating to ask for help, your instructor should be more than happy to provide some guidance. Plus, they might offer insights that you wouldn't have gathered on your own.

A Word From Verywell

If you need to design or conduct a psychology experiment, there are plenty of great ideas (both old and new) for you to explore. Consider an idea from the list above or turn some of your own questions about the human mind and behavior into an experiment.

Before you dive in, make sure that you are observing the guidelines provided by your instructor and always obtain the appropriate permission before conducting any research with human or animal subjects.

Frequently Asked Questions

Finding a topic for a research paper is much like finding an idea for an experiment. Start by considering your own interests, or browse though your textbooks for inspiration. You might also consider looking at online news stories or journal articles as a source of inspiration.

Three of the most classic social psychology experiments are:

  • The Asch Conformity Experiment : This experiment involved seeing if people would conform to group pressure when rating the length of a line.
  • The Milgram Obedience Experiment : This experiment involved ordering participants to deliver what they thought was a painful shock to another person.
  • The Stanford Prison Experiment : This experiment involved students replicating a prison environment to see how it would affect participant behavior. 

David R. Fordham and David C. Hayes. Worth repeating: Paper color may have an effect on student performance . Issues in Accounting Education. 2009;24(2):187-194. doi:10.2308/iace.2009.24.2.187

Greenberg DM, et al. Musical preferences are linked to cognitive styles . PLoS One. 2015;10(7). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131151

Kurt S, Osueke KK. The effects of color on the moods of college students . Sage. 2014;4(1). doi:10.1177/2158244014525423

Adolphus K, Lawton CL, Dye L. The effects of breakfast on behavior and academic performance in children and adolescents . Front Hum Neurosci. 2013;7:425. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00425

Chen Z, Cowan N. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. Chunk limits and length limits in immediate recall: A reconciliation . Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition . 2005;31(6):1235-1249. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.31.6.1235

  • Britt, MA. Psych Experiments. Avon, MA: 2017.
  • Martin, DW. Doing Psychology Experiments. Belmont,CA: Thompson Wadworth; 2008.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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200 Easy Research Paper Topics for College Students in 2021

200 Easy Research Paper Topics for College Students in 2021

Writing research papers is a must-do step in any educational process at college. In many cases, professors allow students to be creative with choosing a topic to complete this type of academic assignment. This privilege usually sounds great at first glance. However, thousands of learners might feel overwhelmed with a wide choice of interesting research topics they can find online. 

The truth is that you can easily get lost in countless research paper topics available on different websites. Moreover, exploring and narrowing down the solutions for your essay might appear too challenging. The reason is that many research topics for college available online are outdated or contain too broad concepts for the research. To make your investigation process easier, we’ve collected a list of 200 new and innovative topics for composing an impressive research essay, presentation, or report. No worries if you have little writing experience or creativity - this guide will help you choose a fresh solution for your assignments in no time. 

How to Choose Research Study Ideas for College Students

If the professor gives you complete freedom to pick up a topic, we have good news for you. Now, you can select a field or niche according to your individual preferences and background knowledge! There is no need to compose a boring paper that will make you yawn during the entire writing process. However, make sure you follow some basic rules of choosing good research paper topics below.

Stick to Your Favorite Topic 

Are you fond of cars? Feel free to research the benefits and drawbacks of electric automobiles. Can’t imagine your life without sports? Explore the dope issue in professional sports. The key to developing a successful paper is to write about the topic that makes you feel excited. If you write about something you show zero interest in, the process will likely slow down and become more challenging. Therefore, always try to find something inspiring.

Choose Understandable Solutions 

Many students are interested in modern technologies or space exploration. However, writing on these topics requires having advanced knowledge in the corresponding areas. Still, few learners can boast of having a deep understanding of artificial intelligence, computer programming, or space technologies. That is why it is better to look for easier and more comprehensive topics to write about. As a result, you will reduce the amount of time for research and cope with the college task faster. 

Make Sure You Will Find Enough Information 

When choosing ideas for a research paper, you need to make sure there are at least several reliable sources you can use for researching. The fact is that if you pick a truly out-of-the-box solution, you might fail to find enough relevant information about it. The same rule works for outdated topics. In case you select a played-out idea, you will hardly find new and up-to-date sources to support your idea. Here is a little hint for you: if you are looking for the relevant information for a chosen idea but fail to find anything suitable, it is better to change your topic. 

Look for Clear and Understandable Concepts and Issues 

When searching for the best research paper topics, don’t forget to think about your audience. What does it mean? The fact is that it is necessary to pick up a solution that is completely understandable for both you and the readers. In other words, avoid sticking to extremely difficult or complex topics that might make your audience feel confused. In case you use some specific terms in your paper that might be unfamiliar to the common reader, it is better to explain them briefly. 

Try to Be Specific 

Picking up too broad topics for research papers is one of the most common mistakes of hundreds of students. To avoid this issue, it is better to stay away from too general solutions that can be described from dozens of sides. Otherwise, you might go down in tons of diverse data and arguments you can use for your paper. Being precise and choosing only the most powerful facts are among the features of any successful student.

Look For Something Unique 

Picking up topics for a research paper some of your classmates are also writing about is never the best choice. It is better to select an idea you will be able to describe from an unusual perspective. If you prefer to cover simple and comprehensive topics, it will be great to try an innovative approach to describing facts. However, don’t experiment with the paper’s structure and focus on providing exclusive and original arguments only. The best research academic papers are intriguing and inspiring. 

Be In Trend 

There is nothing new that trendy topics attract more attention from the audience. The reason is that they have a huge unexplored potential and amazing research opportunities. If you pick up an emerging topic, you will likely get higher grades for your academic assignment. 

Simple Research Topics: Education 

If you are still wondering which idea is the best one for composing your research paper, it might be good to write about education . The truth is that this topic is one of the easiest to write about. Moreover, you will effortlessly find countless relevant sources to support your ideas related to education. Feel free to grab one of these handy solutions you can put into practice when writing your academic paper.

  • Are Standardized Tests Good to Evaluate the Student’s Knowledge? 
  • How to Make Education More Accessible for Students With Disabilities?
  • Should Tuition Become Free at All Colleges in the United States?
  • How Can Schools and Colleges Support International Students?
  • Becoming a Student and a Successful Businessman: Is It Possible? 
  • The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education Sector
  • The Benefits of Social Networking at College and University 
  • The Innovations in the Education System of the United States 
  • Is It Possible to Start Building a Career During Studies?
  • How Can Schools Stop Violence Among Students? 
  • Should American Learners Have a “Gap Year”?
  • The Analysis of the Finnish Education System 
  • Homeschooling vs. Learning in the Classroom
  • British vs. American Education Systems
  • The Teaching Technologies of the Future 
  • Should College Students Have a Part-Time Job?
  • Is There Any Discrimination at High Schools?
  • Should Schools Have Sexual Education Lessons?
  • Most Common Issues of Bilingual Education
  • Why Do Students Need to Learn Religion at School? 
  • How to Stop Cheating on Exams
  • Student Loans: Pros and Cons
  • The Pros and Cons of Same-Sex Classrooms
  • The Development of Women’s Right to Education
  • Montessori Method: Advantages and Drawbacks 
  • Effective Ways to Improve the Quality of Teaching
  • How Can the Issue of “Useless Classes” Be Solved?
  • Should Colleges Become Business-Driven?
  • How to Improve Modern Elementary Education?
  • Should School Children Wear Uniforms?
  • How to Stop Hazing at High Schools? 

Unique Research Topics on Health

To put it short, these solutions remain topical among young learners for years. If you would like to select a comprehensive and brilliant solution for your research paper, choosing topics related to health might help you finish your essay fast. What to research? Here is a list of ideas you can start writing about right now. 

  • The Impact of Drugs on the Human Body
  • How to Stop Consuming Too Much Junk Food?
  • How Much Fruit and Vegetables Should a Common Student Consume per Day?
  • The Correlation Between Mood and the Health of the Immune System 
  • Is It Possible to Stop the COVID-19 Spread in All Countries?
  • Why Do Many Girls Suffer From Anorexia During Their Studies?
  • The Mental Issues of the Most Well-Known Criminals 
  • The Impact of Classical Music on Overall Well-Being
  • Main Reasons for Facing Serious Allergies
  • The Importance of Regular Health Screenings 
  • Ways to Prevent Serious Mental Diseases
  • Kids’ Vaccination: Advantages and Risks
  • Birth Control Issues in Developed Countries
  • The Impact of Breastfeeding on the Kids’ Health
  • The Impact of Insomnia on the Quality of Life
  • Most Effective Ways to Control Obesity
  • Top Reasons to Consume More Fats Regularly
  • Artificial Vitamins: Should Everyone Consume Them?
  • The Role of Nutrition for Maintaining Brain Health 
  • How to Decrease Stress Levels of Teenagers
  • The Pros and Cons of Reconstructive Surgery
  • Acupuncture: The Hidden Health Benefits 
  • The Most Important Aspects of Neonatal Nutrition 
  • Impact of Emotional Stability on Human Health 
  • Uncommon Solutions to Improve Short-Term Memory
  • Should Elementary Schools Have Homework?
  • The Psychology of Gifted People
  • Top Issues of Cardiovascular Care
  • How to Keep Your Brain Healthy
  • The Impact of Sports on Human Health 
  • The Future of Natural Medicine 
  • New Strategies for Coma Recovery
  • Basic Rules of Sun Safety 
  • The Dangers of Low-Fat Diets
  • The Future of Antibiotics Therapies
  • Pros and Cons of Dietary Supplements 
  • Non-Medical Cancer Treatments 
  • Most Effective Ways to Make Your Brain Work Harder 
  • Religion and Health
  • Benefits of Swimming
  • Eating Disorders 

Easy Research Paper Topics: Environment 

If you would like to follow the path of Greta Thunberg, it might be good to start your way with composing papers related to environment protection and ecology. Explore the main issues in this field and come up with an impressive research paper in a matter of a couple of hours. 

  • The Main Dangers of Air Pollution
  • Greenhouse Effect: Myths vs. Reality
  • Ways to Stop Marine Pollution
  • Advantages and Drawbacks of Using Pesticides in Agriculture
  • GMO Products vs. Organic Food
  • The Importance of “Green Programs” in Developing Countries
  • The Problem of Radioactive Waste Disposal
  • Should Environmental Regulations Become Stricter?
  • Is the Problem of Global Warming Exaggerated?
  • The Problem of Water Deficit in Developing Countries
  •  Ways to Protect Endangered Wildlife 
  • How Can an Individual Help Save an Environment?
  • Why Should Children Learn About Global Warming?
  • The Advantages of Solar Technologies
  • The Main Dangers of Producing Too Much Plastic
  • How to Start Using Eco-Friendly Products?
  • The Changes in the Climate of Earth in the 21st Century
  • The Analysis of the Deforestation Levels in South America
  • How to Improve Access to Clean Water in All Countries Globally? 
  • Is It Possible to Manage Overpopulation?
  • The Prospects of Nuclear Energy

Interesting Topics to Research: Technology and Media 

Modern technologies are developing at a breakneck speed. The new solutions, apps, and approaches revolutionize different industries and elevate the quality of lives of millions of people. If you choose a nice solution about innovation and computing for your essay, you will definitely have a chance to attract the attention of the audience. Top research papers topics ideas are right here below! 

  • The Possible Ways to Develop Artificial Intelligence Systems
  • How Will Smartphones Change in the Near Future?
  • The Benefits of Cloud Solutions in Storing Data
  • Top Areas to Use Drone Technologies
  • Ecommerce Solutions vs. Local Retailers
  • Online Currencies and Their Impact on the Global Financial System
  • How to Avoid the Dangers of the Dark Web?
  • Will Self-Driving Cars Become Common in the Future?
  • Privacy Issues Online
  • The Future of Blogging
  • Online vs. Offline Communication
  • Will People Colonize Mars?
  • Nanomedicine: Myths and Realities
  • Online Payments and Paper Money 
  • Breaking the Sound Barrier 
  • Is Social Media a New Technology?
  • Technologies That Might Impact Human Behavior
  • Safest Ways to Store Information in the 21st Century 
  • How Do Modern Technologies Allow People to Work From Home?
  • The Impact of Modern Technologies on Globalization
  • The Perspectives of Online Gaming
  • The Impact of Advertisements on Kids and Teens
  • Newest Technologies Used in Surgery
  • Internet Addiction and the Ways to Prevent It 
  • Censorship Control

Top Solutions Related to Business and Economy 

Many students are looking for research papers topics for college-related to the economy, e-commerce, and business. If you are one of them, explore this ultimate list of the newest ideas related to these popular spheres.

  • Most Effective Ways to Improve the Economy of the Developed Countries
  • How to Start Your Business in E-Commerce
  • Modern Ways to Manage Inflation
  • How to Fight Poverty and Hunger 
  • The Role of Taxes in the Modern Economy
  • How Did Industrialization Change the World?
  • International Tourism During the Pandemic Times
  • Industries That Were Impacted by the COVID-19 Crisis
  • The Correlation Between Culture and Economic Growth
  • How Can Immigration Impact the Country’s Economy?
  • The Global Pandemic and Employment Rates
  • Role of a Leader in Modern Business
  • Choosing the Best Work Environment 
  • The Impact of Corporate Culture on the Employment Rate
  • How to Set Up Effective Business Links?
  • The Most Common Issue of Taxation of Small Businesses
  • The Advantages of a Four-Day Workweek
  • How to Stop Discrimination at the Workplace?
  • Drawbacks of Using Unethical Business Practices
  • Social Media Ads to Promote Small Businesses 
  • How to Improve the Effectiveness of a Human Resource Department? 
  • Why Do Companies Attract International Investors?
  • Most Effective Types of Business Models
  • How to Become More Competitive in a Chosen Market?
  • Government Regulations and Business
  • Basic Reasons to Increase the Minimum Wage in the United States
  • Most Promising Business Ideas for the Near Future

Hot Topics for Research Paper: Family and Communication

Family is an essential part of our lives. How to set up healthy family relationships? What is the role of parents in raising children? Feel free to use any of these ideas for your research paper.  By the way, good research topics related to communication are also collected in this paragraph. 

  • Marital Rape and Its Impact on the Personality
  • Impact of Divorce on Kids and Teens
  • How to Stop Abusive Relationships?
  • How to Make Your Children Happier?
  • Effective Ways to Solve Conflicts in Families
  • How to Improve Communication Between Siblings?
  • Role of Grandparents in Raising Children 
  • Lack of Communication Between Family Members
  • Why Do Children Kill Abusive Parents?
  • The Impact of Parents’ Depression on Their Children
  • Happy Childhood and Leadership 
  • Advantages of Having a Big Family
  • Drugs and Alcoholism in Modern Families
  • Impact of Home Life on Child Development 
  • Do All Children Need to Respect Their Parents?
  • The Criticism of Freud’s Theories
  • Important Parental Rights
  • Gender Roles in the Family
  • Basic Family Values
  • Domestic Abuse 

Easy and Interesting Research Paper Topics

Many students face difficulties when choosing an idea for composing an academic paper. If you are not good at writing on education, health, business, or family relationships, it might be great to search for something more exciting. Here is a list of diverse topics you might find good-looking. 

  • The Role of International Health Organizations in Modern Society 
  • Corporate and Business Laws: Most Common Issues
  • Why Do Many People Watch TV Shows and Series?
  • Future of Chinese Economy
  • The Future of Video Streaming Services
  • Women’s Rights in the Modern World
  • How to Support Global Peacekeeping 
  • Gender Stereotypes in Advertising
  • Classical Hollywood Cinema 
  • Landmark Court Decisions
  • Possible Ways to Use 3d Printers
  • Portrayals of Superheroes in Movies
  • Cannabis Legalization: Pros and Cons
  • Should Companies Stop Animal Testing?
  • Criminalizing Protests
  • Socialism vs. Capitalism
  • How Has Feminism Changed Over the Years?
  • Origins of Racial Discrimination 
  • Should Modern People Read More?
  • Top Effective Promotion Solutions for Startups
  • Crowdfunding & Outsourcing
  • Policies That Are Related to Transgenders 
  • Role of Cultural Revolutions
  • How to Decrease Crime Rates in Big Cities?
  • What Are the Benefits and Drawbacks of Fracking?
  • Freedom of Religion: Basic Issues
  • Body Cameras for Police Officers: Pros and Cons
  • Should Penalties for Drunk Driving Become Stricter?
  • Abstinence Program: Do They Truly Work?
  • The Importance of Writing Research Papers at Colleges
  • Effective Techniques to Erase Bad Memories 
  • Ways to Solve the Immigration Crisis
  • Stereotypes in Modern Culture
  • Gun Safety and Control Policies

Top Tips to Writing a Winning Research Paper 

Picking up an excellent topic is only about 20% of the job you need to do to compose a flawless research paper. What’s next? Are there any prompts that might help you finish your assignment in no time? Sure! Our experts are ready to share some secrets on composing fantastic essays within the shortest terms. 

Double-Check the Professor’s Instructions 

The secret truth is that there are many types of research papers you might face during your studies. Consequently, these papers might have different requirements and writing rules you need to follow. How to find out how to compose your essay? The easiest way to discover all details is to read the instructions shared by the professor. Although it is a must step all students need to do before they start writing, many learners often forget about this easy rule. By the way, what information can you find in the college writing instructions? As a rule, you will find these types of data:

  • deadlines for completing assignments;
  • formatting styles;
  • the tone of voice you need to use;
  • assignment goals;
  • length specifications;
  • list of topics;
  • key features for your writing;
  • submission method;
  • most common mistakes you need to avoid. 

It is recommended to read the instructions at least a couple of times to make sure you understand all the requirements and specifications of your research paper. Avoid starting to write your essay before you’ve learned its basic rules. 

Be Realistic 

Many students are very confident about their research and writing skills. Therefore, thousands of learners still believe they can effortlessly develop a top-notch research paper in just a couple of hours. However, even professional writers can’t compose a superior 3000-word essay in just an hour. 

Therefore, it is vital to be realistic when setting up your individual deadlines and creating writing schedules to cope with your academic assignments. Even if you choose current research topics that are incredibly easy to write about, you will still need to do advanced research, choose trustworthy sources, and pick up the most impressive arguments for your paper. All these tasks might take you plenty of time. 

It is also not recommended to write research papers at the last moment. First, you might fail to meet the deadline. Second, you might easily come up with poor quality writing because of being unattentive. Third, you will hardly have enough time to proofread and edit your essay. Fourth, when in a hurry, you might copy and paste data from different sources into your paper. This will inevitably lead to extremely high plagiarism levels. All these issues might lead to receiving low grades for your academic assignment. 

Follow the Rules 

There are many writing rules you will need to follow. However, the basic one is to choose a traditional structure of an academic paper. In other words, your research paper will need to have an introduction, body paragraphs, and the conclusion. Avoid being creative when choosing the structure of your paper - it is the worst place for showing off your innovation. If you would like to stand out from the crowd of other learners, it is better to select an out-of-the-box topic for your assignment. 

Proofread and Edit Your Paper

 Many students are so tired of doing the research and writing that they often forget to proofread their papers. However, this is an important step in completing any type of academic assignment. If you proofread your essay, you can easily detect dozens of inconsistencies, mistakes, and typos. Moreover, you can also find some repetitive phrases, sentences, or facts in your paper. All these issues can drastically worsen your quality of writing. Even if you are sure your writing is 100% excellent, make sure to proofread it before passing it to the professor. 

Check Originality 

Plagiarism is a true nightmare of any diligent student. How to avoid this serious issue when composing your academic paper? First, make sure to share the results of your analysis uniquely and uncommonly. Second, use citations carefully. Third, check your essay for plagiarism online! You can find dozens of plagiarism detecting tools and utilities designed for students on many websites. Feel free to use a couple of solutions to make sure your essay is fresh and original. If you suddenly find out your paper has a high plagiarism level, make sure to make significant modifications and be more original. After that, double-check your essay once again. 

The Best Way to Get a Perfect Research Paper 

There are plenty of important research topics you can use in your academic writing. But what if you’ve chosen a great idea but fail to compose a unique and flawless paper? Is there any solution if you don’t have enough time to meet the professor's deadline? Sure!

Thousands of students fail to deliver college or university assignments on time. The reasons for this issue might significantly vary. Some learners are not skilled writers, while others might not have a deep understanding of the chosen field. Moreover, many students are trying to build careers or dedicate all their free time to sports. Anyway, failure to meet deadlines might worsen the student’s academic performance and other problems related to studies. The good news is that you can avoid facing all these issues!

Our professional writers are always ready to help you complete any type of research paper within the shortest terms. You don’t need to provide any reasons for asking for writing help - we understand the students’ pain and can provide you with pro assistance anytime. Just place an order on our website, choose the deadline, and forget about all your learning issues. You will get a perfectly written academic paper right when you need it. We have thousands of happy customers and impressive guarantees, so you can always trust our service. We value each customer and always deliver superior papers to each of our clients.

Research Paper Topics: 50 Ideas to Get Started

Last Updated on May 26, 2023

You’ll most likely be writing a lot of research papers while in college, so it is important to master the skill of finding the right research paper topics. Unfortunately, not all the topics you are interested in may be that easy to write about. It becomes even more difficult if there is not enough research material on the topic you've chosen.

Research Paper Topics: Find a Broad Subject First, Then Narrow It Down

One thing that works when finding the right research paper topics is to think of several subjects that interest you. Try writing down these subjects on a sheet of paper. Choose the one that interests you the most, and then break down the general subject into smaller chunks of topics that are related to it.

Narrow down your topics to the most interesting ones. If it is a controversial topic, choose a particular perspective that you will develop in your research paper. Read different points of view related to your topic, as this expands your knowledge and makes writing your paper easier.

Mind mapping is always a good idea, too. To find out how much you actually know about a topic, make a mind map of it. Put the main concept in the middle of a sheet of paper, then start adding relevant terms around it. When you run out of terms on this topic, you'll see if they're sufficient for a paper. 

Another way to get yourself completely rid of all the trouble is to get a research paper writing service to help you. By delegating your assignment, you will free up some of your time and see how this type of paper is done by a professional. You can stay in touch with your paper writer every step of the way, ask them questions, and request drafts. This will allow you to stay on top of the process and see how a thesis statement becomes a full paper.

A helpful way to find a topic that would make writing a research paper easy is to use one you’ve already written about. Take one of the essays you’ve written for this particular subject and see if you can broaden this topic. How much more detail can you add? Has any new research been made on that topic? In academia, it’s quite normal to broaden and deepen your past research, so you might as well start now.

Make sure you have enough resources for your topic.

Do a quick online search on the topics on your list to see which one is widely researched. This means finding a topic that is discussed not just on websites or blogs, but more so in books, articles, and even encyclopedia references. Find a topic that is both interesting and has plenty of published material. Check magazine articles, because these are usually shorter and more updated than those found in books.

Check references online or at the library.

Once you have chosen your topic, check the internet for references and also try using your school's library database, which may also be available online. Don't hesitate to ask your librarian for assistance with an urgent research paper. Other resources beyond the library include research paper websites that provide professional research paper writing help .

Writing a research paper requires a lot of time, extreme concentration, and diligence. And not everyone can cope with this task. Therefore, some people turn to special services for writing student papers. However, we do not recommend ordering this work. It is better to order editing for the writing assignment. In any case, it is always better to analyze both writing and editing services.

It is difficult to identify scammers, so it is better to trust a professional like William Grabe. On his website, you will find a detailed analysis of the best essay writing services .

Running out of topics to write about? Check the suggestions below that can help you choose the right research paper topics:

Business Research Paper Topics:

  • Cloud computing
  • Cybersecurity
  • Glass ceiling
  • The gender pay gap
  • Geo arbitrage
  • Gig economy
  • Online retail
  • Online whiteboards
  • Outsourcing
  • Machine learning and automation
  • Marketing and advertising
  • Customer Service
  • Operations Management
  • Business ethics and social responsibility
  • Human Resources Management
  • Software as a Service (SaaS)
  • Teleconferencing and video meetings
  • Voice over IP (VoIP)
  • White collar crime
  • Work from home

Crime, Law, and Social Justice Research Paper Topics:

  • Acquaintance rape
  • Animal rights
  • Assisted suicide
  • Campus violence
  • Capital punishment
  • Civil rights
  • Climate justice
  • Drinking age, legal
  • Drug legalization
  • Gun control and gun violence
  • Hate crimes
  • Hunger and food insecurity
  • Insanity defense
  • Mandatory minimum sentencing
  • Patriot Act
  • Police brutality
  • Prisons and prisoners
  • Racial equality
  • Refugee crisis
  • Self defense
  • Serial killers
  • Sexual harassment
  • Stand Your Ground Law
  • Three Strikes Law

Drugs and alcohol Research Paper Topics:

  • Addiction recovery
  • CBD (Cannabidiol) benefits
  • Doping in sports
  • Drug testing
  • Drug addition
  • Drunk driving
  • Hemp seed benefits
  • Marijuana and medical marijuana
  • Prescription drug abuse
  • Sober living
  • Substance abuse
  • Twelve Steps

Education Research Paper Topics:

  • Attention deficit disorder
  • Charter schools
  • College admission policies
  • College athletes
  • College tuition planning
  • Distance education
  • Diploma mills
  • Education and funding
  • Grade inflation
  • Greek letter societies
  • Home schooling
  • Intelligence tests
  • Learning disabilities
  • Literacy in America
  • No Child Left Behind
  • Prayer in schools
  • Sex education
  • School vouchers
  • Standardized tests

Environmental Research Paper Topics:

  • Alternative fuel/hybrid vehicles
  • Conservation
  • Climate change
  • Deforestation
  • Endangered species
  • Geoengineering
  • Global warming
  • Greenhouse effect
  • Marine pollution
  • Nuclear energy
  • Population control
  • Radioactive waste disposal
  • Soil pollution
  • Wildlife conservation

Family Issues Research Paper Topics:

  • Battered woman syndrome
  • Child abuse
  • Divorce rates
  • Domestic abuse
  • Family relationships
  • Family values
  • Parental Leave Benefits and Their Impact on the Family
  • Children's Mental Health & Development Impacted by Parental Absence
  • The Cost of Child Care
  • What Future Education Systems Must Include to Support Familial Wellbeing and Successful Learning for All

Health Research Paper Topics:

  • Alternative medicine
  • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Anorexia Nervosa
  • Artificial insemination
  • Birth control
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Dietary supplements
  • Exercise and fitness
  • Heart disease
  • Health Care Reform
  • HIV infection
  • In vitro fertilization
  • Medicaid, Medicare reform
  • Organic foods
  • Prescription drugs
  • Plastic surgery
  • Stem cell research
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Vegetarianism
  • Weight loss surgery

Media and Communications Research Paper Topics:

  • Children's programming and advertising
  • Copyright Law
  • Freedom of speech
  • Materialism
  • Media conglomerates, ownership
  • Globalization of media and communications
  • Minorities in mass media
  • Political correctness
  • Portrayal of women
  • Reality television
  • Stereotypes
  • Television violence

Political Issues Research Paper Topics:

  • Affirmative Action
  • Budget deficit
  • Electoral College
  • Election reform
  • Illegal aliensIllegal aliens
  • Immigration
  • Impeachment
  • International relations
  • Operation Enduring Iraqi Freedom
  • Partisan politics
  • Social Security Reform
  • Third parties

Psychology Research Paper Topics:

  • Criminal psychology
  • Physical attraction
  • Schizophrenia

Religion Research Paper Topics:

  • Christianity
  • Freedom of religion
  • The Religious Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses
  • Religion as a Form of Therapy
  • A Comparison of Wicca and Catholicism in the Media
  • Religious Fundamentalism in the United States
  • Scientology
  • Teaching Islam in Public Schools
  • The Role of Religion on Sexuality

Social Issues Topics:

  • Airline safety, security
  • Affirmative Action programs
  • Child rearing
  • Discrimination in education
  • Employee rights
  • Gambling, online gaming
  • Gang identity
  • Gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender
  • Gay parenting
  • Gender discrimination
  • Genetic screening
  • Homelessness
  • Identity theft
  • Interracial marriage
  • Race relations
  • Reverse discrimination
  • Test biases
  • Textbook biases

Technology Topics:

  • Changing Public Opinion & Politics in Social Media Era
  • Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
  • FTX Cryptocurrency Exchange
  • Innovation in AI and Machine Learning
  • Quantum Computing Revolutionizing Information Security
  • Smart Cities and Transportation Systems
  • The Future of Social Media

Terrorism Topics:

  • Bioterrorism
  • Homeland Security
  • September 11 attacks
  • Domestic terrorism
  • International terrorism
  • Religious terrorism
  • Irgun: Zionist terrorism
  • The Munich Olympics

Women and Gender Topics:

  • Birth control and pregnancy
  • Botox injections
  • Cultural expectations and practices
  • Discrimination
  • Eating disorders
  • Female genital mutilation
  • Gender Identity
  • Gender-neutral pronouns
  • Marriage and Divorce
  • Media portrayals
  • Menstruation
  • Modern women
  • Prostitution
  • LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender)
  • LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more)
  • Social media influencers
  • Sex and sexuality
  • Female athletes
  • Women stereotypes
  • Women executives
  • Transgender
  • Traditional wife
  • Violence and rape
  • Women's rights

Source: University of Illinois Online Library

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Pick a topic that interests you or a topic that you have a lot of experience in. It’s much easier to address specific research issues when you either know the topic or have the interest to spend weekends and nights reading about it.

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thank you this was very helpful!!

Thank you! Now i just need to do the difficult part of choosing a topic to write about.

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Home » 500+ Psychology Research Topic Ideas

500+ Psychology Research Topic Ideas

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Psychology Research Topic Ideas

Psychology is a vast field that encompasses a wide range of topics and research areas. From the study of cognition and behavior to the exploration of mental health disorders, there are countless avenues for researchers to explore within this field. Whether you are a college student, graduate student, or professional in the field of psychology, selecting a research topic can be a daunting task. To help guide your research endeavors, we have compiled a list of 500+ unique psychology research topic ideas across various subfields of psychology. These research topics range from the study of abnormal psychology and cognitive psychology to military psychology and education. With this extensive list, we hope to provide you with inspiration and ideas to jumpstart your research journey.

Psychology Research Topic Ideas

Psychology Research Topic Ideas are as follows:

  • The effects of social media on self-esteem in adolescents
  • The role of parenting styles in shaping children’s personality development
  • The impact of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction in adults
  • The influence of music on mood and emotional regulation
  • The effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive functioning
  • The relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction
  • The effects of physical exercise on mental health
  • The role of culture in shaping social identity and behavior
  • The impact of peer pressure on decision-making in adolescents
  • The effects of childhood trauma on adult attachment styles
  • The influence of personality on romantic relationships
  • The effects of bullying on mental health in children and adolescents
  • The role of cognitive-behavioral therapy in treating anxiety disorders
  • The impact of positive psychology interventions on well-being
  • The effects of social support on coping with stress
  • The relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement
  • The effects of technology use on cognitive functioning
  • The influence of gender roles on social behavior
  • The effects of pet ownership on mental health
  • The role of attachment styles in parent-child relationships
  • The impact of social comparison on body dissatisfaction in women
  • The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on chronic pain management
  • The relationship between personality disorders and criminal behavior
  • The effects of stereotype threat on academic performance
  • The influence of self-esteem on romantic relationships
  • The effects of environmental factors on cognitive development in children
  • The role of resilience in coping with trauma
  • The effects of gaming on cognitive functioning and addiction
  • The impact of mindfulness interventions on workplace productivity
  • The relationship between social support and physical health.
  • The relationship between self-compassion and mental health
  • The impact of cognitive biases on decision-making
  • The role of attachment styles in romantic relationships
  • The effects of social isolation on mental health
  • The influence of cultural values on parenting practices
  • The relationship between social media use and body image dissatisfaction
  • The effects of childhood obesity on mental health and well-being
  • The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on addiction recovery
  • The role of personality in predicting job performance and success
  • The effects of sleep quality on academic achievement
  • The influence of social identity on intergroup conflict
  • The effects of nature exposure on stress reduction
  • The impact of meditation on empathy and compassion
  • The role of emotion regulation in coping with chronic illness
  • The effects of gratitude interventions on well-being and life satisfaction
  • The relationship between personality traits and leadership effectiveness
  • The impact of trauma on brain development in children
  • The role of social norms in shaping behavior
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on eating disorders
  • The influence of cultural factors on mental health stigma
  • The effects of emotional intelligence on workplace relationships and team effectiveness
  • The relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement
  • The impact of exercise on cognitive aging and dementia prevention
  • The role of empathy in moral decision-making
  • The effects of social comparison on academic motivation
  • The influence of cultural factors on the perception of mental illness
  • The effects of childhood bullying on long-term mental health outcomes
  • The role of personality in romantic partner selection and satisfaction
  • The impact of parental divorce on children’s emotional and behavioral outcomes
  • The relationship between personality traits and coping strategies in stressful situations.
  • The impact of personality disorders on interpersonal relationships
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on workplace stress and burnout
  • The role of emotional intelligence in romantic relationships
  • The effects of cultural factors on the development of eating disorders
  • The relationship between attachment styles and emotional regulation
  • The impact of early childhood education on cognitive development
  • The effects of exposure to violence on mental health outcomes
  • The role of motivation in academic achievement and success
  • The influence of culture on the perception of intelligence and academic achievement
  • The effects of technology use on social skills and communication
  • The relationship between self-esteem and social anxiety
  • The impact of trauma on memory processing and recall
  • The role of parental involvement in academic achievement
  • The effects of exercise on mental health outcomes in older adults
  • The influence of cultural factors on romantic attraction and mate selection
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on depression and anxiety
  • The relationship between personality traits and substance abuse
  • The impact of environmental factors on child development
  • The role of motivation in workplace productivity and job satisfaction
  • The effects of social media use on sleep quality and quantity
  • The influence of cultural factors on the perception and treatment of addiction
  • The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety disorder
  • The relationship between personality traits and risk-taking behavior
  • The impact of prenatal stress on child development and behavior
  • The role of emotional intelligence in leadership effectiveness
  • The effects of meditation on attention and focus
  • The influence of cultural factors on mental health treatment-seeking behavior
  • The effects of traumatic events on personal growth and resilience
  • The relationship between personality traits and creativity
  • The impact of mindfulness interventions on emotion dysregulation in children and adolescents.
  • The effects of social comparison on body dissatisfaction
  • The impact of parental stress on child behavior and development
  • The role of mindfulness in stress management during pregnancy
  • The effects of cultural factors on the development of social anxiety disorder
  • The relationship between personality traits and procrastination
  • The impact of trauma on addiction and substance abuse
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health treatment
  • The effects of exercise on self-esteem and body image
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of eating disorders
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and adult mental health outcomes
  • The impact of meditation on academic performance and focus
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards body image and appearance
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on chronic pain management
  • The relationship between personality traits and moral decision-making
  • The impact of early childhood attachment on romantic relationships
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards sexuality and sexual behavior
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in older adults
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • The relationship between childhood bullying and adult mental health outcomes
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on panic disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards substance use and addiction
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on insomnia and sleep quality
  • The relationship between personality traits and social comparison behavior
  • The impact of parental divorce on romantic relationship outcomes
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards aging and age-related changes
  • The effects of social support on stress management in college students
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of anxiety disorders
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and romantic relationship outcomes
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards masculinity and femininity
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on work-related stress
  • The relationship between personality traits and forgiveness
  • The impact of peer pressure on adolescent substance abuse
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health stigma
  • The effects of social support on stress management in healthcare workers
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of depression
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and substance abuse
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards body modification and cosmetic surgery
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on emotional regulation in adolescents.
  • The effects of social media on self-esteem and body image in adolescent girls
  • The impact of parental emotional neglect on adult mental health outcomes
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards gender and sexual orientation identity
  • The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on post-traumatic stress disorder
  • The relationship between personality traits and attachment styles in romantic relationships
  • The impact of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic illness
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards disability and ableism
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on emotional eating and food addiction
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of borderline personality disorder
  • The relationship between childhood adversity and adult mental health outcomes
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on generalized anxiety disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards aging and dementia
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic pain
  • The relationship between personality traits and coping strategies in response to stress
  • The impact of maternal mental health on child behavior and development
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health in the workplace
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on stress and burnout in healthcare professionals
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of narcissistic personality disorder
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and sleep disorders
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on bipolar disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards diversity and inclusion
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in refugees and immigrants
  • The relationship between personality traits and empathy
  • The impact of social comparison on academic performance and motivation
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health in the military
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on addiction recovery and relapse prevention
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of antisocial personality disorder
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social skills and communication in autism spectrum disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health in the LGBTQ+ community
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with substance use disorder
  • The relationship between personality traits and creativity in the arts and sciences
  • The impact of early childhood exposure to violence on adult mental health outcomes
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and aging in rural communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and self-care
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of schizophrenia
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and dissociative identity disorder
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety in children and adolescents
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and spirituality
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic stress.
  • The impact of personality traits on job performance and satisfaction
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • The effects of exposure therapy on phobias and anxiety disorders
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health in minority communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in caregivers of individuals with chronic illness or disability
  • The relationship between cognitive flexibility and problem-solving abilities
  • The impact of psychoeducation on stigma reduction towards mental illness
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and substance use in college students
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on academic performance and stress in college students
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and depression in adulthood
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression and anxiety in cancer patients
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and body image in men
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome
  • The relationship between resilience and post-traumatic growth
  • The impact of music therapy on mental health outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and motherhood
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on emotional regulation and mood disorders in adolescents
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of hoarding disorder
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and substance use disorder in adulthood
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on insomnia and sleep disorders
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and masculinity
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic migraines
  • The relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership effectiveness
  • The impact of group therapy on social skills and communication in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and aging in urban communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on compassion and empathy in healthcare professionals
  • The influence of personality traits on the development of postpartum depression
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and bipolar disorder in adulthood
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on self-esteem and body image in individuals with eating disorders
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and family dynamics in immigrant families
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic gastrointestinal disorders
  • The relationship between personality traits and self-compassion
  • The impact of play therapy on social-emotional development in children with autism spectrum disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and aging in LGBTQ+ communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on anxiety and depression in individuals with chronic pain
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and borderline personality disorder symptoms in adolescence
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in children and adolescents.
  • The effects of physical exercise on mood and anxiety in older adults
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and attachment styles in romantic relationships
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on body dysmorphic disorder symptoms
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and spirituality in indigenous communities
  • The relationship between personality traits and risky behavior in adolescence
  • The influence of parental bonding on the development of borderline personality disorder in young adults
  • The impact of mindfulness interventions on stress and burnout in healthcare professionals
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and disability in rural communities
  • The effects of psychotherapy on self-compassion in individuals with depression
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and dissociative symptoms in adulthood
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety disorder in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and help-seeking behaviors in Asian American communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • The influence of family functioning on the development of substance use disorders in adolescents
  • The impact of expressive writing on emotional processing in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in survivors of domestic violence
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and disordered eating behaviors in young adults
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on panic disorder symptoms in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community support in refugee populations
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD)
  • The relationship between personality traits and romantic relationship satisfaction
  • The influence of childhood attachment on the development of post-traumatic stress disorder in adulthood
  • The impact of group therapy on social skills and self-esteem in individuals with social anxiety disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and faith-based support in African American communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on emotion regulation and coping skills in individuals with borderline personality disorder
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and anxiety sensitivity in adulthood
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on health anxiety symptoms in individuals with chronic illnesses
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and social stigma in Hispanic/Latino communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic hepatitis C
  • The relationship between personality traits and decision-making processes
  • The influence of parent-child communication on the development of eating disorders in adolescents
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on gambling disorder symptoms
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and access to care in rural communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with bipolar disorder
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and rumination in adulthood
  • The impact of group therapy on self-esteem and assertiveness in individuals with avoidant personality disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Native American populations.
  • The effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance and decision-making
  • The relationship between personality traits and addiction susceptibility
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on hoarding disorder symptoms
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and spirituality in Hispanic/Latino communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with multiple sclerosis
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and emotional regulation in adulthood
  • The influence of social media on body image and self-esteem in adolescents
  • The impact of mindfulness interventions on impulsivity and self-control in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and help-seeking behaviors in LGBTQ+ communities
  • The effects of cognitive training on cognitive performance and brain structure in older adults
  • The relationship between personality traits and risk-taking behaviors in college students
  • The impact of family therapy on communication and conflict resolution in families with a history of domestic violence
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Asian American communities
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and interpersonal functioning in adulthood
  • The influence of cultural identity on mental health outcomes in immigrant populations
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on eating disorder symptoms in individuals with type 1 diabetes
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and stigma in Arab American communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and attachment styles in adulthood friendships
  • The impact of expressive writing on stress and immune function in caregivers of individuals with dementia
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in rural Native American communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic pain and depression
  • The relationship between personality traits and emotional intelligence
  • The influence of parental warmth and discipline on the development of anxiety disorders in children
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on postpartum depression symptoms
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and access to care in South Asian communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with borderline personality disorder
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and resilience in adulthood
  • The impact of group therapy on social anxiety and loneliness in individuals with hearing loss
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community support in Pacific Islander communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and depression
  • The relationship between personality traits and leadership styles
  • The influence of peer relationships on the development of depressive symptoms in adolescents
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on body image and self-esteem in individuals with gender dysphoria
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Middle Eastern communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and substance use disorders in adulthood
  • The impact of group therapy on emotion regulation and self-esteem in individuals with personality disorders
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in immigrant and refugee communities.
  • Sure, here are 40 more psychology research topic ideas:
  • The effects of meditation on creativity and divergent thinking
  • The relationship between personality traits and career satisfaction
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on sleep disturbances in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and help-seeking behaviors in Black communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and attachment styles in romantic relationships in adulthood
  • The influence of social norms on substance use behaviors in college students
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Indigenous communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with chronic pain
  • The impact of group therapy on emotion regulation and social connectedness in individuals with eating disorders
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in African immigrant communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI)
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and the development of eating disorders in adulthood
  • The influence of social identity on stereotype threat and academic performance in college students
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms in individuals with Parkinson’s disease
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and help-seeking behaviors in Southeast Asian communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • The relationship between personality traits and coping strategies in individuals with chronic pain
  • The impact of group therapy on emotion regulation and social support in individuals with borderline personality disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Muslim communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and depression
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and emotional intelligence in adulthood
  • The influence of attachment styles on romantic relationship satisfaction in adults
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety symptoms in individuals with social communication disorder (SCD)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in refugee communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with substance use disorders
  • The relationship between personality traits and resilience in individuals with chronic illnesses
  • The impact of group therapy on emotion regulation and social skills in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Caribbean communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with fibromyalgia and depression
  • The influence of social comparison on body dissatisfaction and eating disorder behaviors in adolescents
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression symptoms in individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Native Hawaiian communities
  • The relationship between personality traits and coping strategies in individuals with traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
  • The impact of group therapy on social anxiety symptoms in individuals with intellectual disabilities
  • The role of social comparison in body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors in men
  • The effects of parental attachment on romantic relationships in adulthood
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on anxiety symptoms in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • The relationship between cultural values and parenting practices in Latino families
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and anxiety
  • The role of social norms in shaping attitudes towards mental health and help-seeking behaviors in South Asian communities
  • The influence of personality traits on academic achievement in college students
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression symptoms in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
  • The relationship between attachment styles and romantic relationship satisfaction in same-sex couples
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with schizophrenia
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Arab communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with chronic pain and anxiety
  • The relationship between childhood adversity and substance use disorders in adulthood
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on anxiety symptoms in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • The role of cultural beliefs about mental illness and stigma in Latino communities
  • The effects of social identity on stereotype threat and academic achievement in minority college students
  • The relationship between personality traits and coping strategies in caregivers of individuals with dementia
  • The impact of group therapy on depression symptoms in individuals with traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in LGBTQ+ communities
  • The relationship between attachment styles and romantic relationship satisfaction in individuals with chronic illnesses
  • The influence of personality traits on stress and coping in police officers
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on anxiety symptoms in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD)
  • The role of cultural beliefs about mental illness and stigma in Asian communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and depression
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and interpersonal relationships in adulthood
  • The impact of group therapy on anxiety symptoms in individuals with social phobia
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Native American communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with postpartum depression
  • The relationship between personality traits and burnout in healthcare professionals
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on anxiety symptoms in individuals with chronic pain and fibromyalgia
  • The role of cultural beliefs about mental illness and stigma in African American communities
  • The effects of social support on mental health outcomes in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and anxiety
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and emotional regulation in adolescence
  • The influence of personality traits on well-being and life satisfaction in older adults
  • The impact of group therapy on depression symptoms in individuals with borderline personality disorder
  • The role of culture in shaping attitudes towards mental health and community resources in Hispanic/Latino communities
  • The effects of mindfulness interventions on self-compassion and emotional regulation in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • The relationship between attachment styles and emotional regulation in individuals with substance use disorders

Psychology Research Topic Ideas College Students

  • The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on anxiety and phobias among college students
  • The relationship between attachment styles and romantic relationship satisfaction among college students
  • The impact of social norms on substance use among college students
  • The effects of cultural identity on mental health and academic achievement among college students
  • The role of self-compassion in reducing burnout among college students
  • The relationship between social media use and FOMO (fear of missing out) among college students
  • The impact of environmental factors on mental health and well-being among college students
  • The effects of self-esteem on social anxiety and social skills among college students
  • The role of positive psychology interventions in promoting well-being and academic success among college students
  • The relationship between gender identity and mental health outcomes among college students
  • The impact of parental communication on mental health and academic performance among college students
  • The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on PTSD symptoms among college students
  • The relationship between personality traits and academic procrastination among college students
  • The role of humor in reducing stress and promoting well-being among college students
  • The impact of social identity on academic motivation and achievement among college students
  • The effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on academic performance and mental health among college students
  • The relationship between academic stress and substance use among college students
  • The role of cultural competence in promoting diversity and inclusion on college campuses
  • The impact of emotional intelligence on academic success and career readiness among college students
  • The effects of peer mentoring programs on academic motivation and success among college students
  • The relationship between exercise and cognitive functioning in college students
  • The role of optimism in promoting resilience and well-being among college students
  • The impact of music therapy on anxiety and depression among college students
  • The effects of exposure to nature on mental health and well-being among college students
  • The relationship between parental involvement and emotional regulation among college students
  • The role of forgiveness in promoting well-being and interpersonal relationships among college students
  • The impact of social comparison on body image and self-esteem among college students
  • The effects of attachment styles on coping with stress among college students
  • The relationship between academic self-efficacy and academic performance among college students
  • The role of grit in promoting academic perseverance and achievement among college students
  • The impact of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being among college students
  • The effects of peer pressure on substance use and risky behaviors among college students
  • The relationship between social support and academic engagement among college students
  • The role of cognitive biases in promoting or hindering academic success among college students
  • The impact of physical activity on mental health and well-being among college students
  • The effects of mindfulness-based interventions on academic motivation and success among college students
  • The relationship between perfectionism and academic burnout among college students
  • The role of parental support in promoting academic resilience and success among college students with disabilities
  • The impact of diversity education on promoting empathy and reducing prejudice among college students
  • The effects of assertiveness training on communication skills and interpersonal relationships among college students.

Graduate Psychology Research Topic Ideas

  • The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in clinical populations
  • The role of self-compassion in promoting emotional well-being among adults with chronic illness
  • The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on PTSD symptoms in military veterans
  • The relationship between sleep quality and cognitive functioning in aging populations
  • The impact of positive psychology interventions on well-being and resilience among individuals with chronic pain
  • The role of emotion regulation in reducing symptoms of borderline personality disorder
  • The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on social anxiety in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
  • The relationship between executive functioning and academic achievement in children with ADHD
  • The impact of family-based interventions on reducing symptoms of substance use disorders among adolescents
  • The role of mindfulness in promoting emotional regulation and stress management in healthcare professionals
  • The effects of cognitive remediation therapy on cognitive functioning in individuals with schizophrenia
  • The relationship between attachment styles and therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy
  • The impact of cultural factors on the manifestation and treatment of eating disorders
  • The role of emotion regulation in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety in postpartum women
  • The effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on reducing symptoms of OCD
  • The relationship between childhood ADHD and adult executive functioning and academic achievement
  • The impact of animal-assisted therapy on reducing symptoms of PTSD in veterans
  • The role of social support in promoting resilience and well-being among individuals with chronic illness
  • The effects of cognitive remediation therapy on reducing negative symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia
  • The relationship between executive functioning and social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing symptoms of hoarding disorder
  • The role of emotion regulation in reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
  • The effects of mindfulness-based interventions on reducing symptoms of burnout among healthcare professionals
  • The relationship between social support and quality of life in individuals with multiple sclerosis
  • The impact of cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder
  • The role of mindfulness in promoting well-being and emotional regulation in individuals with chronic pain
  • The effects of cognitive remediation therapy on reducing negative symptoms in individuals with bipolar disorder
  • The relationship between executive functioning and academic achievement in children with learning disabilities
  • The impact of acceptance and commitment therapy on reducing symptoms of social anxiety disorder
  • The role of emotion regulation in reducing symptoms of borderline personality disorder in adolescents
  • The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing symptoms of panic disorder
  • The relationship between social support and depression in individuals with HIV/AIDS
  • The impact of cognitive remediation therapy on reducing symptoms of ADHD in adults
  • The role of mindfulness in promoting well-being and emotional regulation in individuals with depression
  • The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing symptoms of substance use disorders in individuals with co-occurring PTSD
  • The relationship between executive functioning and quality of life in individuals with traumatic brain injury
  • The impact of acceptance and commitment therapy on reducing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • The role of emotion regulation in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in adolescents with chronic illness
  • The effects of cognitive remediation therapy on reducing cognitive impairment in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.

Military Psychology Research Topic Ideas

  • The impact of military deployment on the mental health and well-being of service members
  • The role of resilience in promoting posttraumatic growth among military personnel
  • The effects of combat exposure on emotional regulation and decision-making abilities
  • The relationship between military leadership styles and team cohesion
  • The impact of military culture on help-seeking behaviors among service members with mental health concerns
  • The role of perceived social support in promoting resilience among military spouses during deployment
  • The effects of military service on identity formation and self-concept
  • The relationship between deployment-related stress and marital satisfaction among military couples
  • The impact of military sexual trauma on mental health outcomes and treatment seeking behaviors among service members
  • The role of mindfulness in reducing symptoms of PTSD among military personnel
  • The effects of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy on reducing symptoms of PTSD among military veterans
  • The relationship between military deployment and substance use disorders
  • The impact of military deployment on parent-child relationships and child outcomes
  • The role of perceived organizational support in promoting job satisfaction and retention among military personnel
  • The effects of exposure therapy on reducing combat-related nightmares and sleep disturbances among military personnel
  • The relationship between military service and risk-taking behaviors
  • The impact of military culture on mental health stigma and treatment seeking behaviors among service members
  • The role of positive psychology interventions in promoting resilience and well-being among military personnel and their families
  • The effects of virtual reality exposure therapy on reducing symptoms of specific phobias among military personnel
  • The relationship between military service and traumatic brain injury
  • The impact of deployment on career development and job satisfaction among military personnel
  • The role of cognitive appraisal in the stress and coping process among military personnel
  • The effects of a peer support program on reducing symptoms of PTSD among military personnel
  • The relationship between military service and intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization
  • The impact of military deployment on parenting practices and child outcomes among military families
  • The role of perceived organizational justice in promoting job satisfaction and retention among military personnel
  • The effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety among military personnel
  • The relationship between military service and suicidal ideation and behavior
  • The impact of military deployment on social support networks and social integration
  • The role of perceived unit cohesion in promoting resilience and mental health among military personnel
  • The effects of cognitive remediation therapy on improving cognitive functioning and job performance among military personnel with traumatic brain injury
  • The relationship between military service and alcohol misuse and addiction
  • The impact of military deployment on sibling relationships and family functioning
  • The role of perceived leadership support in promoting job satisfaction and retention among military personnel
  • The effects of exposure therapy on reducing symptoms of phobic avoidance among military personnel
  • The relationship between military service and eating disorders
  • The impact of military deployment on community reintegration and social support among veterans
  • The role of perceived control in the stress and coping process among military personnel
  • The effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety among military spouses during deployment
  • The relationship between military service and personality disorders.

Psychology Research Topic Ideas in Education

  • The effects of mindfulness practices on student well-being and academic performance
  • The impact of classroom diversity on student attitudes and academic achievement
  • The role of parent-teacher communication in promoting student success
  • The effects of differentiated instruction on student engagement and academic achievement
  • The relationship between school climate and student mental health outcomes
  • The impact of technology integration on student learning outcomes
  • The role of teacher-student relationships in promoting student engagement and academic success
  • The effects of social-emotional learning programs on student behavior and academic performance
  • The relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement
  • The impact of peer tutoring on student academic performance
  • The role of motivation in promoting student academic success
  • The effects of educational gaming on student engagement and academic achievement
  • The relationship between parental involvement and student academic achievement
  • The impact of teacher expectations on student academic performance
  • The role of goal-setting in promoting student academic success
  • The effects of growth mindset interventions on student motivation and academic achievement
  • The relationship between teacher burnout and student academic outcomes
  • The impact of teacher diversity on student attitudes and academic achievement
  • The role of classroom management in promoting student engagement and academic success
  • The effects of student-centered learning on student academic performance
  • The relationship between teacher empathy and student academic outcomes
  • The impact of school-based mental health services on student mental health outcomes and academic achievement
  • The role of parental involvement in homework on student academic success
  • The effects of project-based learning on student engagement and academic achievement
  • The relationship between student motivation and academic achievement in STEM fields
  • The impact of teacher professional development on student academic outcomes
  • The role of teacher feedback in promoting student academic success
  • The effects of cooperative learning on student engagement and academic achievement
  • The relationship between classroom climate and student academic outcomes
  • The impact of restorative justice practices on student behavior and academic achievement
  • The role of teacher support in promoting student academic success
  • The effects of flipped classrooms on student engagement and academic achievement
  • The relationship between teacher autonomy and student academic outcomes
  • The impact of teacher collaboration on student academic performance
  • The role of metacognition in promoting student academic success
  • The effects of active learning on student engagement and academic achievement
  • The relationship between student engagement and academic achievement in language learning
  • The impact of teacher coaching on student academic outcomes
  • The role of self-regulated learning in promoting student academic success
  • The effects of outdoor learning on student engagement and academic achievement.

Cognitive Psychology Research Topic Ideas

  • The role of attention in perception and memory
  • The effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive functioning
  • The relationship between creativity and cognitive flexibility
  • The cognitive processes involved in decision-making
  • The impact of stress on cognitive performance
  • The role of working memory in problem-solving
  • The cognitive factors involved in language acquisition
  • The relationship between attention and executive functions
  • The effect of aging on cognitive abilities
  • The role of attention in visual perception
  • The cognitive processes involved in learning and memory
  • The impact of technology on cognitive development
  • The relationship between cognition and emotion
  • The effect of anxiety on cognitive performance
  • The cognitive processes involved in attentional control
  • The role of executive functions in decision-making
  • The effect of mindfulness practices on cognitive functioning
  • The relationship between language and cognition
  • The cognitive processes involved in reading comprehension
  • The impact of nutrition on cognitive development
  • The role of working memory in language processing
  • The effect of exercise on cognitive performance
  • The cognitive processes involved in mental rotation tasks
  • The relationship between cognitive load and learning
  • The effect of multitasking on cognitive performance
  • The cognitive processes involved in problem-solving
  • The role of executive functions in goal-directed behavior
  • The impact of cognitive training on cognitive abilities
  • The relationship between attention and perception
  • The effect of music on cognitive performance
  • The cognitive processes involved in decision-making under uncertainty
  • The role of cognitive control in self-regulation
  • The impact of bilingualism on cognitive development
  • The relationship between cognitive biases and decision-making
  • The effect of caffeine on cognitive performance
  • The cognitive processes involved in face recognition
  • The role of cognitive dissonance in attitude change
  • The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on cognitive functioning
  • The relationship between cognitive styles and problem-solving
  • The cognitive processes involved in mental imagery.

Forensic Psychology Research Topic Ideas

  • The impact of childhood trauma on criminal behavior
  • The effectiveness of forensic psychological evaluations in court proceedings
  • The role of mental illness in criminal behavior
  • The effect of substance abuse on criminal behavior
  • The impact of eyewitness testimony on legal outcomes
  • The role of psychopathy in criminal behavior
  • The effectiveness of restorative justice practices
  • The relationship between socioeconomic status and criminal behavior
  • The effect of media coverage on public perceptions of crime
  • The impact of prison environment on offender rehabilitation
  • The role of the insanity defense in criminal cases
  • The effectiveness of sex offender treatment programs
  • The relationship between domestic violence and homicide
  • The effect of legal representation on trial outcomes
  • The impact of juvenile delinquency prevention programs
  • The role of cultural factors in criminal behavior
  • The effectiveness of parole and probation programs
  • The relationship between mental illness and violence
  • The effect of polygraph testing on legal outcomes
  • The impact of criminal profiling on law enforcement investigations
  • The role of victim impact statements in sentencing
  • The effectiveness of correctional education programs
  • The relationship between childhood attachment styles and criminal behavior
  • The effect of cognitive biases in legal decision-making
  • The impact of witness identification procedures on accuracy
  • The role of forensic hypnosis in criminal investigations
  • The effectiveness of drug court programs
  • The relationship between alcohol use and criminal behavior
  • The effect of societal stereotypes on criminal sentencing
  • The impact of prison overcrowding on offender rehabilitation
  • The role of cultural competence in forensic assessments
  • The effectiveness of diversion programs for juvenile offenders
  • The relationship between trauma and criminal behavior in women
  • The effect of plea bargaining on legal outcomes
  • The impact of social support on offender rehabilitation
  • The role of forensic psychology in counterterrorism efforts
  • The effectiveness of offender reentry programs
  • The relationship between intellectual disability and criminal behavior
  • The effect of forensic testimony on jury decision-making.

Abnormal psychology research topic ideas

  • The effects of childhood trauma on the development of anxiety disorders
  • The relationship between depression and sleep disturbances
  • The effectiveness of psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder
  • The impact of social media on body image and eating disorders
  • The role of genetics in the development of schizophrenia
  • The effect of early intervention on the progression of psychosis
  • The impact of stigma on help-seeking behaviors for mental health disorders
  • The relationship between substance use disorders and mental health
  • The effect of exercise on symptoms of depression and anxiety
  • The impact of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy on post-traumatic stress disorder
  • The role of attachment styles in the development of personality disorders
  • The effectiveness of cognitive remediation therapy for schizophrenia
  • The relationship between childhood ADHD and the development of anxiety disorders
  • The effect of mindfulness meditation on symptoms of depression and anxiety
  • The impact of cultural factors on the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders
  • The role of neuroplasticity in the treatment of addiction
  • The effectiveness of exposure therapy for specific phobias
  • The effect of stress on the development of mental health disorders
  • The impact of sleep disturbances on the onset of bipolar disorder
  • The role of trauma in the development of dissociative disorders
  • The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
  • The relationship between childhood abuse and the development of borderline personality disorder
  • The effect of peer support on the recovery of individuals with mental health disorders
  • The impact of cultural differences on the presentation of mental health symptoms
  • The role of cognitive biases in the maintenance of anxiety disorders
  • The effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy for borderline personality disorder
  • The relationship between early life stressors and the development of depression
  • The effect of nutrition on mental health
  • The impact of virtual reality exposure therapy on phobia treatment
  • The role of genetics in the development of mood disorders
  • The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for anxiety disorders
  • The relationship between childhood trauma and the development of dissociative identity disorder
  • The effect of stigma on treatment outcomes for individuals with mental health disorders
  • The impact of childhood adversity on the development of personality disorders
  • The role of emotional regulation in the treatment of borderline personality disorder
  • The effectiveness of psychodynamic therapy for depression
  • The relationship between sleep disturbances and the development of anxiety disorders
  • The effect of stigma on mental health professionals’ treatment decisions
  • The impact of cultural factors on the expression of bipolar disorder symptoms.

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When listening to music, the human brain appears to be biased toward hearing and producing rhythms composed of simple integer ratios — for example, a series of four beats separated by equal time intervals (forming a 1:1:1 ratio).

However, the favored ratios can vary greatly between different societies, according to a large-scale study led by researchers at MIT and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics and carried out in 15 countries. The study included 39 groups of participants, many of whom came from societies whose traditional music contains distinctive patterns of rhythm not found in Western music.

“Our study provides the clearest evidence yet for some degree of universality in music perception and cognition, in the sense that every single group of participants that was tested exhibits biases for integer ratios. It also provides a glimpse of the variation that can occur across cultures, which can be quite substantial,” says Nori Jacoby, the study’s lead author and a former MIT postdoc, who is now a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany.

The brain’s bias toward simple integer ratios may have evolved as a natural error-correction system that makes it easier to maintain a consistent body of music, which human societies often use to transmit information.

“When people produce music, they often make small mistakes. Our results are consistent with the idea that our mental representation is somewhat robust to those mistakes, but it is robust in a way that pushes us toward our preexisting ideas of the structures that should be found in music,” says Josh McDermott, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines.

McDermott is the senior author of the study, which appears today in Nature Human Behaviour. The research team also included scientists from more than two dozen institutions around the world.

A global approach

The new study grew out of a smaller analysis that Jacoby and McDermott published in 2017. In that paper , the researchers compared rhythm perception in groups of listeners from the United States and the Tsimane’, an Indigenous society located in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest.

To measure how people perceive rhythm, the researchers devised a task in which they play a randomly generated series of four beats and then ask the listener to tap back what they heard. The rhythm produced by the listener is then played back to the listener, and they tap it back again. Over several iterations, the tapped sequences became dominated by the listener’s internal biases, also known as priors.

“The initial stimulus pattern is random, but at each iteration the pattern is pushed by the listener’s biases, such that it tends to converge to a particular point in the space of possible rhythms,” McDermott says. “That can give you a picture of what we call the prior, which is the set of internal implicit expectations for rhythms that people have in their heads.”

When the researchers first did this experiment, with American college students as the test subjects, they found that people tended to produce time intervals that are related by simple integer ratios. Furthermore, most of the rhythms they produced, such as those with ratios of 1:1:2 and 2:3:3, are commonly found in Western music.

The researchers then went to Bolivia and asked members of the Tsimane’ society to perform the same task. They found that Tsimane’ also produced rhythms with simple integer ratios, but their preferred ratios were different and appeared to be consistent with those that have been documented in the few existing records of Tsimane’ music.

“At that point, it provided some evidence that there might be very widespread tendencies to favor these small integer ratios, and that there might be some degree of cross-cultural variation. But because we had just looked at this one other culture, it really wasn’t clear how this was going to look at a broader scale,” Jacoby says.

To try to get that broader picture, the MIT team began seeking collaborators around the world who could help them gather data on a more diverse set of populations. They ended up studying listeners from 39 groups, representing 15 countries on five continents — North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“This is really the first study of its kind in the sense that we did the same experiment in all these different places, with people who are on the ground in those locations,” McDermott says. “That hasn’t really been done before at anything close to this scale, and it gave us an opportunity to see the degree of variation that might exist around the world.”

Cultural comparisons

Just as they had in their original 2017 study, the researchers found that in every group they tested, people tended to be biased toward simple integer ratios of rhythm. However, not every group showed the same biases. People from North America and Western Europe, who have likely been exposed to the same kinds of music, were more likely to generate rhythms with the same ratios. However, many groups, for example those in Turkey, Mali, Bulgaria, and Botswana showed a bias for other rhythms.

“There are certain cultures where there are particular rhythms that are prominent in their music, and those end up showing up in the mental representation of rhythm,” Jacoby says.

The researchers believe their findings reveal a mechanism that the brain uses to aid in the perception and production of music.

“When you hear somebody playing something and they have errors in their performance, you’re going to mentally correct for those by mapping them onto where you implicitly think they ought to be,” McDermott says. “If you didn’t have something like this, and you just faithfully represented what you heard, these errors might propagate and make it much harder to maintain a musical system.”

Among the groups that they studied, the researchers took care to include not only college students, who are easy to study in large numbers, but also people living in traditional societies, who are more difficult to reach. Participants from those more traditional groups showed significant differences from college students living in the same countries, and from people who live in those countries but performed the test online.

“What’s very clear from the paper is that if you just look at the results from undergraduate students around the world, you vastly underestimate the diversity that you see otherwise,” Jacoby says. “And the same was true of experiments where we tested groups of people online in Brazil and India, because you’re dealing with people who have internet access and presumably have more exposure to Western music.”

The researchers now hope to run additional studies of different aspects of music perception, taking this global approach.

“If you’re just testing college students around the world or people online, things look a lot more homogenous. I think it’s very important for the field to realize that you actually need to go out into communities and run experiments there, as opposed to taking the low-hanging fruit of running studies with people in a university or on the internet,” McDermott says.

The research was funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the Canadian National Science and Engineering Research Council, the South African National Research Foundation, the United States National Science Foundation, the Chilean National Research and Development Agency, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Keio Global Research Institute, the United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, and the John Fell Fund.

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Through research trips to the remote Bolivian rainforest, researchers in the McDermott lab at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research has found that aspects of the perception of note combinations may be universal.

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A team of neuroscientists has found that people are biased toward hearing and producing rhythms composed of simple integer ratios — for example, a series of four beats separated by equal time intervals.

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Brandeis University professor Ricardo Godoy conducts the experiment in a village in the Bolivian rainforest. The participants were asked to rate the pleasantness of various sounds, and Godoy recorded their response.

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Online opt-in polls can produce misleading results, especially for young people and hispanic adults.

As polling takes center stage again this election year, understanding its strengths and weaknesses is critical. At Pew Research Center, we’ve looked hard at the advantages and limitations of our methods. We’ve also contributed to the survey profession’s understanding of data quality problems in polls that use online “opt-in” sampling – an approach where people are not selected randomly but are instead recruited from a variety of online sources like banner ads or social media.

In this analysis, we’ll show how some recent findings from an opt-in poll may have unintentionally misled the public about the sensitive issue of Holocaust denial among young Americans.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to see if findings related to Holocaust denial among young Americans – drawn from a December 2023 online opt-in survey – would be repeated when data was collected using more rigorous, probability-based methods.

To find out, we repeated five questions from the December poll on a survey of 5,140 U.S. adults that we conducted Jan. 16-21, 2024. The questions were asked with the same wording and format as in the original survey to ensure that any differences in the results could not be attributed to differences in the wording.

Everyone who completed the January survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions we used for this survey experiment . For other details about the Pew Research Center survey, read our survey’s methodology .

Crosstabs and methodological details for the December opt-in poll can be found here .

Opt-in polls can struggle to measure the attitudes of young people, Hispanics

A dot plot showing that prior studies of ‘bogus respondents’ show large errors among young people.

Online opt-in polls have become increasingly popular . And for some purposes, such as election polling, they can perform similarly to more traditional survey approaches.

There is evidence, however, that the online environment in which they operate is somewhat unstable.

In particular, several recent studies have documented large errors in online opt-in surveys due to the presence of so-called “bogus respondents.” These respondents do not answer questions sincerely; instead, they attempt to complete surveys with as little effort as possible to earn money or other rewards.

Studies have shown that bogus respondents can cause opt-in surveys to overestimate rare attitudes and behaviors, such as ingesting bleach to protect against COVID-19, belief in conspiracies like Pizzagate or support for political violence .

At Pew Research Center, we’ve found that this type of overreporting tends to be especially concentrated in estimates for adults under 30, as well as Hispanic adults. Bogus respondents may be identifying this way in order to bypass screening questions that might otherwise prevent them from receiving a reward, though the precise reasons are difficult to pin down. Whatever the underlying cause, the result can be unreliable estimates for those groups.

For example, in a February 2022 survey experiment, we asked opt-in respondents if they were licensed to operate a class SSGN (nuclear) submarine . In the opt-in survey, 12% of adults under 30 claimed this qualification, significantly higher than the share among older respondents. In reality, the share of Americans with this type of submarine license rounds to 0%.

The problem was even worse for Hispanic estimates. About a quarter (24%) of opt-in cases claiming to be Hispanic said they were licensed to operate a nuclear sub, versus 2% of non-Hispanics.

Another Pew Research Center study comparing three online opt-in samples and three probability-based panels had similar findings, though on different topics. We asked respondents 16 yes/no questions on topics ranging from smoking and hypertension to collecting Social Security and receiving workers’ compensation. Young and/or Hispanic opt-in respondents were significantly more likely than other respondents to answer “yes” to 10 or more of these questions, claiming combinations of characteristics that are virtually nonexistent in reality. Critically, on the more rigorous probability-based surveys, very few respondents in any age group gave the same kind of implausible answers to these questions.

Recent opt-in poll made headlines on Holocaust denial among young adults

In the context of what we’ve learned from our investigations into opt-in polls, we took particular notice of a recent online opt-in survey that had a startling finding about Holocaust denial among young Americans. The survey, fielded in December 2023, reported that 20% of U.S. adults under 30 agree with the statement, “The Holocaust is a myth.” This alarming finding received widespread attention from the news media and on social networks.

From a survey science perspective, the finding deserved a closer look. It raised both of the red flags in the research literature about bogus respondents: It focused on a rare attitude (Holocaust denial), and it involved a subgroup frequently “infiltrated” by bogus respondents (young adults).

Other questions asked in that December opt-in poll also pointed to a need for scrutiny. In the same poll, about half of adults under 30 (48%) expressed opposition to legal abortion. This result is dramatically at odds with rigorous polling from multiple survey organizations that consistently finds the rate of opposition among young adults to be much lower.

In an April 2023 Pew Research Center survey , for instance, 26% of U.S. adults under 30 said abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. This was 13 points lower than the share among older Americans (39%). Our estimate for young adults was similar to ones from other, more recent probability-based surveys, such as an AP-NORC survey from June 2023 (27%) and a KFF survey from November 2023 (28%).

Opt-in findings on Holocaust denial, abortion do not replicate

We attempted to replicate the opt-in poll’s findings in our own survey, fielded in mid-January 2024 on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel .

A dot plot showing that opt-in poll and probability-based surveys produce very different results on young adults’ views of the Holocaust, abortion.

Unlike the December opt-in survey, our survey panel is recruited by mail – rather than online – using probability-based sampling. And in fact, our findings were quite different.

Rather than 20%, we found that 3% of adults under 30 agree with the statement “The Holocaust is a myth.” (This percentage is the same for every other age group as well.) Had this been the original result, it is unlikely that it would have generated the same kind of media attention on one of the most sensitive possible topics.

Likewise, our survey found substantial differences from the December poll on support for legal abortion. In the opt-in survey, roughly half of young adults (48%) said abortion should always be illegal or should only be legal in special circumstances, such as when the life of the mother is in danger. In our survey, 23% said so.

These differences in estimates for young adults are what we would expect to see – based on past studies – if there were a large number of bogus respondents in the opt-in poll claiming to be under the age of 30. These respondents likely were not answering the questions based on their true opinions.

How do these findings relate to attitudes about the Middle East?

Measuring antisemitism and Holocaust denial is an important, though sensitive, issue. For the purposes of this methodological analysis, we felt it was key to replicate the exact wording of the opt-in survey that drove headlines last year, but we would not have asked the question this way if designing the work ourselves. 

First, questions structured with “agree/disagree” options have a long history of what’s called “acquiescence bias,” or the human tendency to give a positive answer if they have no opinion or feel confused by or uncertain about a question. Secondly, using a phrase like “is a myth” is potentially ambiguous and unclear to many respondents. Thirdly, the issue of Holocaust denial is so extremely sensitive that there are reasons respondents might take offense or offer expressive answers that don’t reflect their actual opinions.

While issues like this are difficult to address, Pew Research Center has done extensive work on Holocaust awareness that can be found on our website.

The takeaway from our recent survey experiment is not that Holocaust denial in the United States is nonexistent or that younger and older Americans all have the same opinions when it comes to antisemitism or the Middle East. For example, our survey experiment found that young adults in the U.S. are less likely than older ones to say the state of Israel has the right to exist. This is broadly consistent with other rigorous polling showing that young people are somewhat less supportive of Israel – and more supportive of Palestinians – than older Americans.

Rather, the takeaway is that reporting on complex and sensitive matters such as these requires the use of rigorous survey methods to avoid inadvertently misleading the public, particularly when studying the attitudes of young people.

Note: Here are the questions we used for this survey experiment . For other details about the Pew Research Center survey, read our survey’s methodology .

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Comparing Two Types of Online Survey Samples

How public polling has changed in the 21st century, measuring the risks of panel conditioning in survey research, assessing the risks to online polls from bogus respondents, what are nonprobability surveys, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Survey on sentiment analysis: evolution of research methods and topics

  • Published: 06 January 2023
  • Volume 56 , pages 8469–8510, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

  • Jingfeng Cui   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8306-0727 1 , 2 ,
  • Zhaoxia Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7674-5488 3 ,
  • Seng-Beng Ho   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4839-1509 1 &
  • Erik Cambria   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3030-1280 4  

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Sentiment analysis, one of the research hotspots in the natural language processing field, has attracted the attention of researchers, and research papers on the field are increasingly published. Many literature reviews on sentiment analysis involving techniques, methods, and applications have been produced using different survey methodologies and tools, but there has not been a survey dedicated to the evolution of research methods and topics of sentiment analysis. There have also been few survey works leveraging keyword co-occurrence on sentiment analysis. Therefore, this study presents a survey of sentiment analysis focusing on the evolution of research methods and topics. It incorporates keyword co-occurrence analysis with a community detection algorithm. This survey not only compares and analyzes the connections between research methods and topics over the past two decades but also uncovers the hotspots and trends over time, thus providing guidance for researchers. Furthermore, this paper presents broad practical insights into the methods and topics of sentiment analysis, while also identifying technical directions, limitations, and future work.

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1 Introduction

Web 2.0 has driven the proliferation of user-generated content on the Internet. This content is closely related to the lives, emotions, and opinions of users. Therefore, analysis of this user-generated data is beneficial for monitoring public opinion and assisting in making decisions. Sentiment analysis, as one of the most popular applications of text-based analytics, can be used to mine people’s attitudes, emotions, appraisals, and opinions about issues, entities, topics, events, and products (Cambria et al. 2022a , b , c , d ; Injadat et al. 2016 ; Jiang et al. 2017 ; Liang et al. 2022 ; Oueslati et al. 2020 ; Piryani et al. 2017 ). Sentiment analysis can help us interpret emotions in unstructured texts as positive, negative, or neutral, and even calculate how strong or weak the emotions are. Today, sentiment analysis is widely used in various fields, such as business, finance, politics, education, and services. This analytical technique has gained broad acceptance not only among researchers but also among governments, institutions, and companies (Khatua et al. 2020 ; Liu et al. 2012 ; Sánchez-Rada and Iglesias 2019 ; Wang et al. 2020b ). It helps policy leaders, businessmen, and service people make better decisions.

The majority of user-generated content data is unstructured text, which increases the great difficulty of sentiment analysis. Since 2000, researchers have been exploring techniques and methods to enhance the accuracy of such analysis. The popularity of social media platforms has brought people around the world closer together. With the continuous advancement of technology, the research topics, application fields, and core methods and technologies of sentiment analysis are also constantly changing.

Comparing and analyzing papers from specific disciplines can help researchers gain a comprehensive understanding of the field. There have been many surveys on sentiment analysis (Nair et al. 2019 ; Obiedat et al. 2021 ; Raghuvanshi and Patil 2016 ). However, there is a lack of adequate discussion on the connections between research methods and topics in the field, as well as on their evolution over time. In 1983, Callon et al. proposed co-word analysis (Callon et al. 1983 ). It can effectively reflect the correlation strength of information items in text data. Co-word analysis based on the frequency of co-occurrence of keywords used to describe papers can reveal the core contents of the research in specific fields. An evolutionary analysis of the associations between core contents is helpful for a comprehensive understanding of the research hotspots and frontiers in the field (Deng et al. 2021 ). It can provide guidance for researchers, especially those who are new to the field, and help them determine research directions, avoid repetitive research, and better discover and grasp the research trends in this field (Wang et al. 2012 ). To fill in the gap in existing research, we conduct keyword co-occurrence analysis and evolution analysis with informetric tools to explore the research hotspots and trends of sentiment analysis.

The main contributions of this survey are as follows:

Using keyword co-occurrence analysis and the informetric tools, the paper presents a survey on sentiment analysis, explores and discovers useful information.

A keyword co-occurrence network is constructed by combining the paper title, abstract, and author keywords. Through the keyword co-occurrence network and community detection algorithm, the research methods and topics in the field of sentiment analysis, along with their evolution in the past two decades, are discussed.

The paper summarizes the research hotspots and trends in sentiment analysis. It also highlights practical implications and technical directions.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: In Sect.  2 , we summarize and analyze the existing surveys on sentiment analysis and present the research purpose and methodologies of this paper. Section  3 details the survey methodology, including the collection and processing of scientific publications, visualization, and analysis using different methods and tools. In Sect.  4 , we analyze the results obtained from the keyword co-occurrence analysis and evolution analysis, along with the research hotspots and trends in sentiment analysis identified through the analysis results. Finally, in Sect.  5 , we summarize the research conclusions as well as the practical implications and technical directions of sentiment analysis. We also clarify the limitations of this paper and make suggestions for future work.

2 Existing surveys on sentiment analysis

Sentiment analysis is a concept encompassing many tasks, such as sentiment extraction, sentiment classification, opinion summarization, review analysis, sarcasm detection or emotion detection, etc. Since the 2000s, sentiment analysis has become a popular research field in natural language processing (Hussein 2018 ). In the existing surveys, the researchers mainly conducted specific analyses of the tasks, technologies, methods, analysis granularity, and application fields involved in the sentiment analysis process.

2.1 Surveys on contents and topics of sentiment analysis

When research on sentiment analysis was still in its infancy, the contents and topics of surveys mainly focused on sentiment analysis tasks, analysis granularity, and application areas. Kumer et al. reviewed the basic terms, tasks, and levels of granularity related to sentiment analysis (Kumar and Sebastian 2012 ). They also discussed some key feature selection techniques and the applications of sentiment analysis in business, politics, recommender systems and other fields. Nassirtoussi et al. explored the application of sentiment analysis in market prediction (Nassirtoussi et al. 2014 ). Medhat et al. analyzed the improvement of the algorithms proposed in 2010–2013 and their application fields (Medhat et al. 2014 ). Ravi et al. analyzed the papers related to opinion mining and sentiment analysis from 2002 to 2015. Their study mainly discussed the necessary tasks, methods, applications, and unsolved problems in the field of sentiment analysis (Ravi and Ravi 2015 ).

Existing surveys of the applications of sentiment analysis have focused more on the domains of market research, medicine, and social media in recent years. Rambocas et al. examined the application of sentiment analysis in marketing research from three main perspectives, including the unit of analysis, sampling design, and methods used in sentiment detection and statistical analysis (Rambocas and Pacheco 2018 ). Cheng et al. summarized techniques based on semantic, sentiment, and event extraction, as well as hybrid methods employed in stock forecasting (Cheng et al. 2022 ). Yue et al. categorized and compared a large number of techniques and approaches in the social media domain. That study also introduced different types of data and advanced research tools, and discussed their limitations (Yue et al. 2019 ). In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, Alamoodi et al. reviewed and analyzed articles on the occurrence of different types of infectious diseases in the past 10 years. They reviewed the applications of sentiment analysis from the identified 28 articles, summarizing the adopted techniques such as dictionary-based models, machine learning models, and mixed models (Alamoodi et al. 2021b ); Alamoodi et al. also conducted a review of the applications of sentiment analysis for vaccine hesitancy (Alamoodi et al. 2021a ). Researchers also reviewed the application of sentiment analysis in the fields of election prediction (Brito et al. 2021 ), education (Kastrati et al. 2021 ; Zhou and Ye 2020 ) and service industries (Adak et al. 2022 ).

Quite a number of research works investigated sentiment analysis works in non-English languages. Sentiment analysis in Chinese (Peng et al. 2017 ), Arabic (Al-Ayyoub et al. 2019 ; Boudad et al. 2018 ; Nassif et al. 2021 ; Oueslati et al. 2020 ), Urdu (Khattak et al. 2021 ), Spanish (Angel et al. 2021 ), and Portuguese (Pereira 2021 ) were conducted. They mainly reviewed the classification frameworks of the sentiment analysis process, supported language resources (dictionaries, natural language processing tools, corpora, ontologies, etc.), and deep learning models used (CNN, RNN, and transfer learning) for each of the languages involved.

2.2 Surveys on methods of sentiment analysis

Before machine learning technology became mature, researchers were particularly concerned about feature extraction methods. For example, Feldman summarized methods for extracting preferred entities from indirect opinions and methods for dictionary acquisition (Feldman 2013 ). Asghar et al. reviewed the natural language processing techniques for extracting features based on part of speech and term position; statistical techniques for extracting features based on word frequency and decision tree model; and techniques for combining part of speech tagging, syntactic feature analysis, and dictionaries (Asghar et al. 2014 ). Koto et al. discussed the best features for Twitter sentiment analysis prior to 2014 by comparing 9 feature sets (Koto and Adriani 2015 ). They found that the current best features for sentiment analysis of Twitter texts are AFINN (a list of English terms used for sentiment analysis manually rated by Finn Årup Nielsen) (Nielsen 2011 ) and Senti-Strength (Thelwall et al. 2012 ). Taboada sorted out the characteristics of words, phrases, and sentence patterns in sentiment analysis from the perspective of linguistics (Taboada 2016 ). Besides, Schouten and Frasinar conducted a comprehensive and in-depth critical evaluation of 15 sentiment analysis web tools (Schouten and Frasincar 2015 ). Medhat et al. ( 2014 ) and Ravi et al. (Ravi and Ravi 2015 ) also analyzed the early algorithms for sentiment analysis.

In the study by Schouten et al., the authors focused on aspect-level sentiment analysis, combing the techniques of aspect-level sentiment analysis before 2014, such as frequency-based, syntax-based, supervised machine learning, unsupervised machine learning, and hybrid approaches. They concluded that the latest technology was moving beyond the early stages (Schouten and Frasincar 2015 ). As research into sentiment analysis became more and more popular and there was important progress made in the development of deep learning technologies, researchers started to pay more attention to the techniques and methods of sentiment analysis. Deep learning methods in particular became the focus of discussions among researchers.

Prabha et al. analyzed various deep learning methods used in different applications at the level of sentence and aspect/object sentiment analysis, including Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), and Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) (Prabha and Srikanth 2019 ). They discussed the advantages and disadvantages of these methods and their performance parameters. Ain et al. introduced deep learning techniques such as Deep Neural Network (DNN), CNN and Deep Belief Network (DBN) to solve sentiment analysis tasks like sentiment classification, cross-lingual problems, and product review analysis (Ain et al. 2017 ). Zhang et al. investigated deep learning and machine learning techniques for sentiment analysis in the contexts of aspect extraction and categorization, opinion expression extraction, opinion holder extraction, sarcasm analysis, multimodal data, etc. (Zhang et al. 2018 ). Habimana et al. compared the performance of deep learning methods on specific datasets and proposed that performance could be improved using models including Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), sentiment-specific word embedding models, cognitive-based attention models, and commonsense knowledge (Habimana et al. 2020 ). Wang et al. reviewed and discussed existing analytical models for sentiment classification and proposed a computational emotion-sensing model (Wang et al. 2020b ).

Some researchers also discussed web tools (Zucco et al. 2020 ), fuzzy logic algorithms (Serrano-Guerrero et al. 2021 ), transformer models (Acheampong et al. 2021 ), and sequential transfer learning (Chan et al. 2022 ) for sentiment analysis.

2.3 Overall survey methodology

With the increase in the popularity of sentiment analysis research, more related research results began to accumulate. Researchers needed to systematically organize and analyze results from a large number of publications to perform literature reviews. They used different survey methodologies to conduct surveys of a large number of papers.

Content analysis is a powerful approach to characterizing the contents of each study by carefully reading its content and manually identifying, coding, and organizing key information in it. A literature review is formed as a result of the repeated use of this approach (Elo and Kyngäs 2008 ; Stemler 2000 ). Content analysis has been used for different studies and systematic reviews (Qazi et al. 2015 , 2017 ). For example, Birjali et al. have studied the most commonly used classification techniques in sentiment analysis from a large amount of literature and introduced the application areas and sentiment classification processes, including preprocessing and feature selection (Birjali et al. 2021 ). They conducted a comprehensive analysis of the papers, discovering that supervised machine learning algorithms are the most commonly used techniques in the field. A complete review of methods and evaluation for sentiment analysis tasks and their applications was conducted by Wankhade et al. ( 2022 ). They compared the strengths and weaknesses of the methods, and discussed the future challenges of sentiment analysis in terms of both the methods and the forms of the data. Although this method can review the research contents and penetrate into the cores of the papers most systematically, it requires a considerable amount of manpower and time for in-depth literature reading.

The systematic literature review guideline proposed by Kitchenham and Charters has gradually attracted the attention of researchers (Kitchenham 2004 ; Kitchenham and Charters 2007 ; Sarsam et al. 2020 ). This review process is divided into six stages: research question definition, search strategy formulation, inclusion and exclusion criteria definition, quality assessment, data extraction, and data synthesis. Researchers can eliminate a large number of retrieved papers by using this standard process and finally conducting further analysis and research on a small number of papers. Kumar et al. reviewed context-based sentiment analysis in social multimedia between 2006 and 2018. From the 573 papers retrieved in the initial search, they finally selected 37 papers to use in discussing sentiment analysis techniques (Kumar and Garg 2020 ). This approach was also used by Kumar et al. in their research on sentiment analysis on Twitter using soft computing techniques. They selected 60 articles out of 502 for follow-up analysis (Kumar and Jaiswal 2020 ). Zunic et al. selected 86 papers from 299 papers retrieved in the period 2011–2019 to discuss the application of sentiment analysis techniques in the field of health and well-being (Zunic et al. 2020 ); Ligthart et al. followed Kitchenham’s guideline and identified 14 secondary studies. They provided an overview of specific sentiment analysis tasks and of the features and methods required for different tasks (Ligthart et al. 2021 ). Obiedat (Obiedat et al. 2021 ), Angel (Angel et al. 2021 ) and Lin (Lin et al. 2022 ) also all followed this guideline to select literature for further analysis. This method can reduce the amount of literature that requires in-depth reading, but in the case of a large amount of literature, more effort is still required to search and screen the material than in traditional literature review methods (Kitchenham and Charters 2007 ).

There are also a few authors who have used informetric methods to review papers. Piryani et al. conducted an informetric analysis of research on opinion mining and sentiment analysis from 2000 to 2015 (Piryani et al. 2017 ). The authors used social network analysis, literature co-citation analysis, and other methods in the paper. They analyzed publication growth rates; the most productive countries, institutions, journals, and authors; and topic density maps and keyword bursts, among other elements. To a certain extent, they interpreted core authors, core papers, areas of research focus in this field, and the current state of national cooperation. In order to explore the application of sentiment analysis in building smart societies, Verma collected 353 papers published between 2010 and 2021 (Verma 2022 ). Using a topic analysis perspective combined with the Louvain algorithm, the author identified four sub-topics in the research field. Similarly, Mantyla et al. employed LDA techniques and manual classification to explore the topic structures of sentiment analysis articles (Mäntylä et al. 2018 ). The informetric methods use natural language processing technologies to intuitively conduct topic mining and analysis of a large number of papers. Through topic clustering, the literature is organized and analyzed, which reduces the time researchers spend on reading the literature in depth. These methods are suitable for exploring research topics and trends in the field.

2.4 Summary of advantages and disadvantages of the existing surveys

In the following, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the existing surveys from a number of different points of view.

2.4.1 From the point of view of the contents and topics of sentiment analysis

As summarized in Table 1 , the researchers organized the literature and conducted depth investigations of the contents and topics of sentiment analysis. They reviewed the tasks of sentiment analysis (e.g., different text granularity, opinion mining, spam review detection, and emotion detection), the application areas of sentiment analysis (e.g. market, medicine, social media, and election prediction), and different languages for sentiment analysis, such as Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic (Adak et al. 2022 ; Al-Ayyoub et al. 2019 ; Alamoodi et al. ( 2021a , b ); Alonso et al. 2021 ; Angel et al. 2021 ; Boudad et al. 2018 ; Brito et al. 2021 ; Cheng et al. 2022 ; Hussain et al. 2019 ; Kastrati et al. 2021 ; Khattak et al. 2021 ; Koto and Adriani 2015 ; Kumar and Sebastian 2012 ; Ligthart et al. 2021 ; Medhat et al. 2014 ; Nassif et al. 2021 ; Nassirtoussi et al. 2014 ; Oueslati et al. 2020 ; Peng et al. 2017 ; Pereira 2021 ; Rambocas and Pacheco 2018 ; Ravi and Ravi 2015 ; Schouten and Frasincar 2015 ; Sharma and Jain 2020 ; Yue et al. 2019 ; Zhou and Ye 2020 ). They summarized the methods and application prospects of sentiment analysis under different contents and topics. As the field has grown, new topics have emerged, and knowledge from other fields has been gradually integrated into it. In recent years, the popularity of social media has aroused increasing interest in sentiment analysis research, and the number of papers published, especially those related to different topics of sentiment analysis, has grown rapidly. However, the existing surveys cover a short time range, and there has not been a survey dedicated to the evolution of research contents or topics of sentiment analysis. There have also been few survey works analyzing the connections between topics and methods, or their evolution (e.g., how the contents and topics of sentiment analysis have changed over time).

2.4.2 From the point of view of the methods of sentiment analysis

Some researchers reviewed different techniques and methods of sentiment analysis in different application areas and tasks. They analyzed and discussed sentiment analysis methods based on lexicons, rules, part of speech, term position, statistical techniques, supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods, as well as deep learning methods like LSTM, CNN, RNN, DNN, DBN, BERT, and other hybrid approaches (Acheampong et al. 2021 ; Ain et al. 2017 ; Alamoodi et al. 2021b ; Asghar et al. 2014 ; Chan et al. 2022 ; Cheng et al. 2022 ; Feldman 2013 ; Habimana et al. 2020 ; Koto and Adriani 2015 ; Kumar, Akshi and Sebastian 2012 ; Medhat et al. 2014 ; Prabha and Srikanth 2019 ; Ravi and Ravi 2015 ; Schouten and Frasincar 2015 ; Serrano-Guerrero et al. 2021 ; Taboada 2016 ; Wang et al. 2020b ; Yue et al. 2019 ; Zhang et al. 2018 ; Zucco et al. 2020 ). These researchers also compared the advantages and disadvantages of each method. As summarized in Table 1 , even though existing surveys analyze the techniques and methods of sentiment analysis, providing good insights, there has not been a survey that analyzes the evolution of research methods over time. There have also been few survey works that focuses on the connections between topics and methods of sentiment analysis, and their evolution over time.

2.4.3 From the point of view of the overall survey methodology

The survey methods used have mainly been the content analysis method, Kitchenham and Charters' guideline, and the informetric methods. As summarized in Table 1 , the content analysis method can effectively analyze the contents of research papers in depth, but it does not address the issue of the evolution of the research methods and topics (Bengtsson 2016 ; Birjali et al. 2021 ; Elo and Kyngäs 2008 ; Krippendorff 2018 ; Qazi et al. 2015 , 2017 ; Wankhade et al. 2022 ). Although the number of papers that need to be read in depth can be reduced by following Kitchenham and Charters' guideline, more effort is needed to search and screen literature than in traditional literature review methods (Angel et al. 2021 ; Kitchenham 2004 ; Kitchenham and Charters 2007 ; Kumar and Garg 2020 ; Ligthart et al. 2021 ; Lin et al. 2022 ; Obiedat et al. 2021 ; Sarsam et al. 2020 ; Zunic et al. 2020 ). The informetric methods are best suited to investigating the research methods and topics of sentiment analysis (Bar-Ilan 2008 ; Mäntylä et al. 2018 ; Piryani et al. 2017 ; Santos et al. 2019 ; Verma 2022 ). There are three surveys using informetric techniques and tools that are well suited for analysis of a large number of papers over many years (Mäntylä et al. 2018 ; Piryani et al. 2017 ; Verma 2022 ). However, the evolution of research methods and topics of sentiment analysis over time has not been studied with informetric methods. There have also been few survey works that leverages keyword co-occurrence analysis and community detection to analyze the connections between research methods and topics, and their evolution over time.

Therefore, to address the gaps in the existing surveys, this study presents a survey on the research methods and topics, and their evolution over time. It combines keyword co-occurrence analysis and informetric analysis tools to reveal the methods and topics of sentiment analysis and their evolution in this field from 2002 to 2022.

The following section, Sect.  3 , describes our proposed survey methodology in detail.

3 The proposed survey methodology

This section describes our proposed survey methodology, including collection of scientific publications, processing of scientific publications, as well as visualization and analysis using different methods and tools. The overall scheme of this survey (Fig.  2 ) is also presented in the end of Sect.  3 to better visualize and summarize the proposed survey methodology in this research.

3.1 Collection of scientific publications

We collected research data from the Web of Science platform. We used keywords such as "sentiment analysis," "sentiment mining," and "sentiment classification" to search for relevant papers as data samples. In examining the retrieved papers, we found that some paper topics, paper types, and publication journals were not related to sentiment analysis, so we excluded them. The papers we included were mainly related to the sentiment analysis of texts. We excluded papers on sentiment analysis related to image processing, video processing, speech processing, biological signal processing, etc. Therefore, the retrieval strategy was as follows:

Topic Search (TS) = ("sentiment analy*" or "sentiment mining" or "sentiment classification") And Abstract (AB) = "sentiment" NOT TS = ("face image*" or "speech recognition" or "speech emotion" or "physiological signal*" or "music emotion*" or "facial feature extraction" or "video emotion" or "electroencephalography " or "biosignal*" or "image process*") NOT Title = ("facial" or "speech" or "sound*" or "face" or "dance" or "temperature" or "image*" or "spoken" or "electroencephalography" or "EEG" or "biosignal*" or "voice*" not AB = "facial."

The results in conferences are given the same relevance as journal papers. We chose four databases in the Web of Science: two conference citation databases (Conference Proceedings Citation Index—Social Sciences & Humanities [CPCI-SSH], and Conference Proceedings Citation Index—Science [CPCI-S]), and two journal citation databases (Science Citation Index Expanded [SCI-Expanded] and Social Sciences Citation Index [SSCI]). Given the various forms of words such as "analyzing" and "analysis," a truncated search technique (marked with an asterisk) was used to prevent the omission of relevant papers. The time frame of the retrieved papers was from January 2002 to January 2022, and the publication types of the papers included "article," "conference paper," "review," and "edited material." A total of 9,714 papers were obtained from the four databases above. These included 3,809 articles, 5,633 proceeding papers, 267 reviews, and 5 pieces of editorial material from 2002 to 2022. Overall, there were 104 papers from January 2022. The number of papers each year from 2002 to 2021 is shown in Fig.  1 .

figure 1

The number of papers each year from 2002 to 2021

3.2 Processing of scientific publications

In this process, our purpose was to extract the key contents of the papers, which are used to analyze the research methods and topics in the field of sentiment analysis. Due to their limited number, the author keywords in each paper often cannot fully represent the key content of the paper. We found that combining the title and abstract could better reflect the core information. Therefore, we synthesized the title, abstract, and author keywords of each paper to extract keywords that represented the main research method and topic of the paper involved using KeyBERT Footnote 1 . KeyBERT is a keyword extraction technique that uses BERT embedding to create keywords and key phrases that most closely resemble document content (Grootendorst and Warmerdam 2021 ). The specific keyword extraction process was as follows:

First, we used KeyBERT to extract 8 keywords and eliminated keywords with a weight lower than 0.3. We then combined the extracted keywords with the author keywords and removed duplicates. After that, we standardized the whole collection of keywords and merged synonyms. Finally, we counted the number of keywords and removed meaningless terms like "sentiment analysis," "sentiment classification," and "sentiment mining."

After statistical analysis, we obtained 41,827 keywords with a total word frequency of 88,104. As there were 9,714 papers and 41,827 keywords, we found that most of the keywords with word frequency below 10 were not representative of the research contents of sentiment analysis. As a result, a total of 685 representative keywords were reserved for subsequent analysis. These keywords appeared a total of 30,801 times. Table 2 shows the keywords with word frequency in the top 50.

High-frequency keywords generally represent research hotspots. We therefore extracted high-frequency keywords to serve as the basis for the subsequent analysis. We found that most of the keywords with word frequency 18 and lower, such as "ranking," "mask," "experience," "affect," "online forum," and so on, were not relevant to sentiment analysis. Therefore, the keywords with a word frequency higher than 18 were reserved for analysis. These keywords appeared 25,429 times in the collected data, accounting for close to 83% of all the keywords. We obtained 275 keywords, which were used to analyze the main methods and topics of sentiment analysis.

3.3 Visualization and analysis using different methods and tools

3.3.1 analytical methods.

Keywords are the core natural language vocabulary to express the subject, content, ideas, and research methods of the literature (You et al. 2021 ). Keywords represent the topics of the domain, and cluster analysis of these words can reflect the structure and association of topics. Keyword co-occurrence analysis counts the number of occurrences of a set of keywords in the same document. The strength and number of associations between research contents can be obtained through keyword co-occurrence analysis. Dividing research methods and topics into sub-communities helps researchers to analyze hotspots and trends in methods and topics, as well as to obtain sub-fields of sentiment analysis research (Ding et al. 2001 ).

3.3.2 Visualization and analysis tools

BibExcel Footnote 2 is a software tool for analyzing bibliographic data or any text-based data formatted in a similar way (Persson 2017 ). The tool generates structured data files that can be read by Excel for subsequent processing (Persson et al. 2009 ). Our processing steps are as follows. First, we imported the standardized bibliographic data into BibExcel. This tool can help structure the data. Second, we checked and corrected the data and used BibExcel to count the number of co-occurrences of keywords.

We then used Pajek Footnote 3 software to visualize the keyword co-occurrence network and divided the sub-communities. Pajek is a large and complex network analysis tool (Batagelj and Andrej 2022 ; Batagelj and Mrvar 1998 ). It can calculate certain indicators to reveal the state and properties of the network involved. In addition, Pajek’s Louvain community detection algorithm can help divide the keyword co-occurrence network into sub-communities, which represent sub-fields of sentiment analysis (Blondel et al. 2008 ; Leydesdorff et al. 2014 ; Rotta and Noack 2011 ). The Louvain community-detection algorithm unfolds a complete hierarchical community structure for the network. It has an advantage in subdividing different areas of study: multiple knowledge structures and details can be shown in one network (Deng et al. 2021 ).

After that, we applied VOSviewer Footnote 4 to optimize the visualization of sub-communities (Van Eck and Waltman 2010 ; VOSviewer 2021 ; Perianes-Rodriguez et al. 2016 ; Waltman and Van Eck 2013 ; Waltman et al. 2010 ). VOSviewer can help display the core keywords in each sub-community and the correlation between keywords. It can also reflect the closeness of the association between sub-communities. Finally, we used Excel to count the frequency of keywords for each year and to map the evolution of research methods and topics in the field of sentiment analysis.

3.3.3 Graphical representation of the overall scheme of this survey

This paper proposes and conducts a new research survey on sentiment analysis. The graphical representation of the overall scheme of this survey is shown in Fig.  2 . The main scheme includes four modules: Module A, Collection of scientific publications; Module B, Processing of scientific publications; Module C, Visualization and analysis through different methods and tools, and Module D, Result analysis and discussions based on various aspects.

figure 2

Graphical representation of the overall scheme of this survey. Module A: Collection of scientific publications; Module B: Processing of scientific publications; Module C: Visualization and analysis using different methods and tools; Module D: Result analysis and discussions considering various aspects

In Module A, scientific publications are collected from the Web of Science (WOS) platform, as has been detailed in Sect.  3.1 Collection of scientific publications above. Module B, Processing of scientific publications, has been detailed in Sect.  3.2 above. It performs a data processing procedure to obtain key information, which includes all the representative keywords and high-frequency keywords. The title, abstract and keywords of the papers are used to extract such key information using KeyBERT (Grootendorst and Warmerdam 2021 ). Such key information is analyzed and visualized through different methods, including different visualization tools, as introduced in Sect.  3.3 (Module C), Visualization and analysis using different methods and tools, above.

In Module C, the number of co-occurrences of keywords is obtained using BibExcel (Persson 2017 ), the co-occurrences of keywords are analyzed and visualized using Pajek (Blondel et al. 2008 ; Leydesdorff et al. 2014 ; Rotta and Noack 2011 ) and VOSviewer (Van Eck and Waltman 2010 ; VOSviewer 2021 ; Perianes-Rodriguez et al. 2016 ; Waltman and Van Eck 2013 ; Waltman et al. 2010 ). The keyword community network and the keyword community evolution are analyzed and visualized using these tools, as described in Sect.  3.3 (Module C), Visualization and analysis using different methods and tools. According to the visualization and analysis results obtained in Module C, Module D, Result analysis and discussions, will be detailed in Sect.  4 .

In the following section, Sect.  4 (Module D), results are analyzed and discussed considering various aspects, including the research methods and topics of sentiment analysis in each community, the evolution of research methods and topics along with the research hotspots and trends over time.

4 Results and analysis through various aspects

4.1 research methods and topics of sentiment analysis, 4.1.1 overall characteristic analysis.

The high-frequency keywords were presented in Table 2 . These keywords can be regarded as the main research contents in the field of sentiment analysis. "Twitter" ranks at the top. It is followed by "opinion mining," "natural language processing," "machine learning," and so on. The high-frequency keywords cover the topics of the studies, the contents of the studies, and the techniques and methods used. Based on these keywords, we used Pajek’s Louvain method to construct a keyword co-occurrence network to represent the research methods and topics as shown in Fig.  3 . The keyword co-occurrence network is divided into six communities. The research methods and topics of the six communities include social media platforms (C1), machine learning methods (C2), natural language processing and deep learning methods (C3), opinion mining and text mining (C4), Arabic sentiment analysis (C5), and others, such as domain sentiment analysis and transfer learning, etc. (C6).

figure 3

Keyword community network

In Fig.  3 , the size of the node represents the number of keywords. The thickness of the line between the nodes represents the number of collaborations between keywords. The top 20 keywords in each community are sorted in descending order, as shown in Table 3 . The keyword co-occurrence network features of the six sub-communities are described in Table 4 . The number of nodes shows the number of keywords in each community, and the number of links shows the correlations between the keywords.

As shown in Table 4 , we can see from the number of links between sub-communities that there is a strong correlation between them, especially the link between C3 and C4, which has 1306 lines. The reason may be that the research methods of C4 focus on "opinion mining" and "text mining," while those of C3 focus on "natural language processing" and "deep learning," and C3 provides more technical support for C4 research. In C5 and C6, the research methods and topics are scattered. Their internal links are also low, but the connections with C3 and C4 are relatively high. The contents of C5 and C6 may include some emerging research methods and topics. We will present a specific analysis on the methods and topics of each sub-community in the next subsection.

4.1.2 Analysis on research methods and topics of sub-communities

4.1.2.1 analysis on research methods and topics of the c1 community.

Figure  4 shows the keyword co-occurrence network of the C1 community. The research methods and topics of the C1 community focus on three areas: "social media," "topic models," and "covid-19." In the context of big data, web 2.0 technology provides users with a way to express reviews and opinions of services, events, and people. Various social media platforms, such as Twitter, YouTube, and Weibo, have a large amount of users’ emotional data (Momtazi 2012 ). Compared to traditional news media, information on social media spreads more quickly, and people are able to express their feelings more freely. It is important to analyze the emotions generated by the information shared and published on social media (Abdullah and Zolkepli 2017 ; Wang et al. 2014 ). Researchers have been extracting text data from social media platforms for years to detect unexpected events (Bai and Yu 2016 ; Preethi et al. 2015 ), improve the quality of products (Abrahams et al. 2012 ; Isah et al. 2014 ; Myslin et al. 2013 ), understand the direction of public opinion (Fink et al. 2013 ; Groshek and Al-Rawi 2013 ), and so on.

figure 4

The keyword co-occurrence network for the C1 community

Users’ sentiments are often associated with the topics, and the accuracy of sentiment analysis can be improved through the introduction of topic models (Li et al. 2010 ). Among them, the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) method is cited most frequently. Previous studies found that the LDA method can be effective in subdividing topics and identifying the sentiments of the contents. This method is quite general, and there are also many improved models based on this one that can be applied to any type of web text, helping to enhance the accuracy of sentiment polarity calculation (Chen et al. 2019 ; Liu et al. 2020 ).

As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, a large number of individuals, media and governments have been publishing news and opinions about the COVID-19 crisis on social media platforms. This has resulted in a lot of sentiment analysis studies focusing on COVID-19-related texts exploring the impact of the epidemic on people’s lives (Sari and Ruldeviyani 2020 ; Wang, T. et al. 2020a ), physical health (Berkovic et al. 2020 ; Binkheder et al. 2021 ) and mental health (Yin et al. 2020 ), and so on. Therefore, we can see many related keywords, such as "infodemiology," "healthcare," and "mental health."

4.1.2.2 Analysis on research methods and topics of the C2 community

The contents of the C2 community mainly focus on "machine learning," "text classification," "feature extraction," and "stock market" (see Fig.  5 ). Most keywords are related to the research methods of sentiment analysis. Machine learning approaches have expanded from topic recognition to more challenging tasks such as sentiment classification. It is very important to explore and compare machine learning methods applied to sentiment classification (Li and Sun 2007 ). Methods like Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Naive Bayes models are widely used (Altrabsheh et al. 2013 ; Dereli et al. 2021 ; Shofiya and Abidi 2021 ; Tan et al. 2009 ; Wang and Lin 2020 ) and are used as benchmarks for the comparisons of models proposed by many researchers (Kumar et al. 2021 ; Sadamitsu et al. 2008 ; Waila et al. 2012 ; Zhang et al. 2019 ). Many algorithms, such as random forest (Al Amrani et al. 2018 ; Fitri et al. 2019 ; Sutoyo et al. 2022 ), tf-idf (Arafin Mahtab et al. 2018 ; Awan et al. 2021 ; Dey et al. 2017 ), logistic regression (Prabhat and Khullar 2017 ; Qasem et al. 2015 ; Sutoyo et al. 2022 ), and n-gram (Ikram and Afzal 2019 ; Singh and Kumari 2016 ; Xiong et al. 2021 ) are used to enhance the accuracy of machine learning, as shown in Fig.  5 .

figure 5

The keyword co-occurrence network for the C2 community

The trading volume and asset prices of financial commodities or financial instruments are influenced by a variety of factors in the online environment. Machine learning and sentiment analysis are powerful tools that can help gather vast amounts of useful information to predict financial risk effectively (Li et al. 2009 ). Research on the relationship between public sentiment and stock prices has always been the focus of many scholars (Smailović et al. 2014 ; Xing et al. 2018 ). They have used machine learning methods to explore the influence of sentiments on stock prices through sentiment analysis of news articles, and then predicted the trend changes in the stock market (Ahuja et al. 2015 ; Januário et al. 2022 ; Maqsood et al. 2020 ; Picasso et al. 2019 ).

4.1.2.3 Analysis on research methods and topics of the C3 community

The contents of the C3 community also mainly focus on the methods for sentiment analysis, like "natural language processing", "deep learning," "aspect-based sentiment analysis," and "task analysis" (Fig.  6 ). Sentiment analysis is a sub-field of natural language processing (Nicholls and Song 2010 ), and natural language processing techniques have been widely used in sentiment analysis. Using natural language processing technology can help to better parse text features, such as part-of-speech tagging, word sense disambiguation, keyword extraction, inter-word dependency recognition, semantic parsing, and dictionary construction (Abbasi et al. 2011 ; Syed et al. 2010 ; Trilla and Alías 2009 ). With the rise of deep learning technology, researchers began to introduce it to sentiment analysis. Neural network models like LSTM (Al-Dabet et al. 2021 ; Al-Smadi et al. 2019 ; Li and Qian 2016 ; Schuller et al. 2015 ; Tai et al. 2015 ), CNN (Cai and Xia 2015 ; Jia and Wang 2022 ; Ouyang et al. 2015 ), RNN (Hassan and Mahmood 2017 ; Tembhurne and Diwan 2021 ; You et al. 2016 ), and some combination of these, as well as other models (An and Moon 2022 ; Li et al. 2022 ; Liu et al. 2020a ; Salur and Aydin 2020 ; Zhao et al. 2021 ), have received significant attention.

figure 6

The keyword co-occurrence network for the C3 community

Sentiment analysis granularity is subdivided into document level, sentence level, and aspect level. Document-level sentiment analysis takes the entire document as a unit, but the premise is that the document needs to have a clear attitude orientation—that is, the point of view needs to be clear (Shirsat et al. 2018 ; Wang and Wan 2011 ). Sentence-level sentiment analysis is intended to perform sentiment analysis of the sentences in the document alone (Arulmurugan et al. 2019 ; Liu et al. 2009 ; Nejat et al. 2017 ). Aspect-based analysis is a fundamental and significant task in sentiment analysis. The aim of aspect-level sentiment analysis is to separately summarize positive and negative views about different aspects of a product or entity, although overall sentiment toward a product or entity may tend to be positive or negative (Rao et al. 2021 ; Thet et al. 2010 ). Aspect-level sentiment analysis facilitates a more finely-grained analysis of sentiment than either document or sentence-level analysis (Liang et al. 2022 ; Wang et al. 2020c ). The traditional levels of analysis, such as sentence-level analysis can only calculate the comprehensive sentiment polarity of paragraphs or sentences (Wang et al. 2016 ; Zhang et al. 2021 ). In recent years, the aspect level has become more and more popular, and with the application of deep learning technology, it has become better at capturing the semantic relationship between aspect terms and words in a more quantifiable way (Huang et al. 2018 ). The process of sentiment analysis involves the coordination of multiple tasks, and the subtasks include feature extraction (Bouktif et al. 2020 ; Lin et al. 2020 ), context analysis (Yu et al. 2019 ; Zuo et al. 2020 ), and the application of some analytical models (Tan et al. 2020 ).

4.1.2.4 Analysis on research methods and topics of the C4 community

The C4 community mainly shows keywords related to the research methods and topics of "opinion mining" and "user review," which is the largest of the six sub-communities (Fig.  7 ). With the popularity of platforms like online review sites and personal blogs on the Internet, opinions and user reviews are readily available on the web. Opinion mining has always been a hot field of research (Khan et al. 2009 ; Poria et al. 2016 ). From Table 4 , we can see that the link between C3 and C4 has 1306 lines. In opinion mining, researchers use many text mining methods to discover users’ opinions on goods or services, and then help improve the quality of corresponding products or services (Da’u et al. 2020 ; Lo and Potdar 2009 ; Martinez-Camara et al. 2011 ). In addition, scholars have found that the consideration of user opinions can help improve the overall quality of recommender systems (Artemenko et al. 2020 ; Da’u et al. 2020 ; Garg 2021 ; Malandri et al. 2022 ). Therefore, "recommendation system" has a strong correlation with "opinion mining."

figure 7

The keyword co-occurrence network for C4 community

Evaluation metrics for quantifying the existing approaches are also a popular topic related to opinion mining. There is a keyword named "performance sentiment" in the C4 community. Precision, recall, accuracy and F1-score are the most commonly used evaluation metrics (Dangi et al. 2022 ; Jain et al. 2022 ; JayaLakshmi and Kishore 2022 ; Li et al. 2017 ; Wang et al. 2021 ; Yi and Niblack 2005 ). Some researchers have also used runtimes to calculate the model efficiency (Abo et al. 2021 ; Ferilli et al. 2015 ), p-value to statistically evaluate the relationship or difference between two samples of classification results (JayaLakshmi and Kishore 2022 ; Salur and Aydin 2020 ), paired sample t-tests to verify that the results are not obtained by chance (Nhlabano and Lutu 2018 ), and standard deviation to measure the stability of the model (Chang et al. 2020 ). There have also been researchers who have used G-mean (Wang et al. 2021 ), Pearson Correlation Coefficient (Corr) (Yang et al. 2022 ), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) (Yang et al. 2022 ), Normalized Information Transfer (NIT) and Entropy-Modified Accuracy (EMA) (Valverde-Albacete et al. 2013 ), Mean Squared Error (MSE) (Mao et al. 2022 ), Hamming loss (Liu and Chen 2015 ), Area Under the Curve (AUC) (Abo et al. 2021 ), sensitivity and specificity (Thakur and Deshpande 2019 ), etc.

4.1.2.5 Analysis on research methods and topics of the C5 & C6 communities

Both sub-communities C5 (Fig.  8 ) and C6 (Fig.  9 ) are small in size. The C5 community has 25 nodes and the C6 community has 41 nodes. The core content of the C5 community is "Arabic sentiment analysis." Before 2011, most resources and systems built in the field of sentiment analysis were tailored to English and other Indo-European languages. It is increasingly necessary to design sentiment analysis systems for other languages (Korayem et al. 2012 ), and researchers are increasingly interested in the study of tweets and texts in the Arabic language (Heikal et al. 2018 ; Khasawneh et al. 2013 ; Oueslati et al. 2020 ). They use technologies such as named entity recognition (Al-Laith and Shahbaz 2021 ), deep learning (Al-Ayyoub et al. 2018 ; Heikal et al. 2018 ), and corpus construction (Alayba et al. 2018 ) to enhance the accuracy of sentiment analysis.

figure 8

The keyword co-occurrence network for the C5 community

figure 9

The keyword co-occurrence network for the C6 community

The contents of the C6 community are not very concentrated. From the size of the circle, we can see that the keywords "domain adaptation"(Blitzer et al. 2007 ; Glorot et al. 2011 ), "domain sentiment," and "cross-domain" appear more frequently. Cross-domain sentiment classification is intended to address the lack of mass labeling data (Du et al. 2020a ). It has attracted much attention (Du et al. 2020b ; Hao et al. 2019 ; Yang et al. 2020b ). Advances in communication technology have provided valuable interactive resources for people in different regions, and the processing of multilingual user comments has gradually become a key challenge in natural language processing (Martinez-Garcia et al. 2021 ). Therefore, some keywords related to "lingual" have appeared. Other keywords, such as "transfer learning," "active learning," and "semi-supervised learning," are mainly related to sentiment analysis technologies.

4.2 Evolution of research methods and topics of sentiment analysis

4.2.1 overall evolution analysis.

Annual changes in keyword frequency in sentiment analysis research can reflect the evolution of research methods and topics in this field. Based on the keyword community network (Fig.  3 ), we counted the frequency of keywords in each sub-community for each year. The keyword community evolution diagram is shown in Fig.  10 . Since there were fewer papers published before 2006, we combined the occurrences of keywords from 2002 to 2006. We can see that the C1 community and the C3 community have shown a significant growth trend. The C2 community was in a state of growth until 2019, and the frequency of keywords decreased year by year after 2019. The frequency of C4 community keywords continued to increase until 2018 and declined after 2018. The number of keywords in the C5 community and in the C6 community both had a slow growth trend, but the trend was not obvious.

figure 10

Keyword community evolution diagram

4.2.2 Evolution analysis of sub-communities

We selected the high-frequency keywords under each category and plotted the change of word frequency in each year, as shown in Figs.  11 and 12 . In the C1 community, "social medium," "Twitter," "social network," "covid-19," "Latent Dirichlet Allocation," "topic model," and "text analysis" all had significant increases in word frequency, and the growth trend in 2021 was obvious. "Covid-19" appears in 2020, and the word frequency increased rapidly in 2021. Social media platforms have always been the focus of researchers’ attention. Under the influence of COVID-19, more people express their emotions, stress, and thoughts through social media platforms. Sentiment analysis on data from social media platforms related to COVID-19 has become a hot topic (Boon-Itt and Skunkan 2020 ). We believe that due to the impact of COVID-19, the widespread use of social platforms in 2020–2021 has led to a surge in the number of C1-related keywords.

figure 11

C1, C2, C5, C6 communities: High-frequency keyword evolution diagram

figure 12

C3, C4 communities: High-frequency keyword evolution diagram

The C2 community focuses on the method of "machine learning," and the C3 community focuses on the methods of "deep learning" and "natural language processing." The keywords in the two communities are mainly related to the techniques and methods of sentiment analysis. We have found that before 2016 (Fig.  10 ), the frequency of keywords in the C2 community was higher than that in the C3 community, and in 2016 and later, the frequency of keywords in the C3 community gradually accounted for a larger proportion of the total. This reflects the fact that deep learning-related technologies and methods have become a research hotspot, and the attention given to SVM, Naive Bayes, supervised learning, and other technologies in machine learning has declined. In addition to deep learning models such as Bi-LSTM, Long Short-term Memory, and recurrent neural network in the C3 community, the number of "aspect based" and "feature extraction" keywords have also been growing, which shows that researchers now pay more attention to the aspect level of text granularity in the field of sentiment analysis.

Among the keywords found in the C4 community, the word frequency of the "opinion mining" keyword has decreased since 2018. This shows that in the field of sentiment analysis, researchers have begun to reduce the attention they give to sentiment analysis of opinions on product or service quality, while still maintaining a certain degree of attention to "user review" and "online review." In addition, the number of keywords for "sentiment lexicon" and "lexicon-based" has declined. It may be because, in the context of the widespread application of deep learning technology in recent years, the lexicon-based method requires more time and higher labor costs (Kaity and Balakrishnan 2020 ). However, its accuracy still attracts attention due to the high involvement of experts, especially in non-English languages (Bakar et al. 2019 ; Kydros et al. 2021 ; Piryani et al. 2020 ; Tammina 2020 ; Xing et al. 2019 ; Yurtalan et al. 2019 ).

The high-frequency keywords in the C5 and C6 communities are "Arabic language," "Arabic sentiment analysis," and "transfer learning." Arabic has 30 variants, including the official Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) (ISO 639–3 2017). Arabic dialects are becoming increasingly popular as the language of informal communication on blogs, forums, and social media networks (Lulu and Elnagar 2018 ). This makes them challenging languages for natural language processing and sentiment analysis (Alali et al. 2019 ; Elshakankery and Ahmed 2019 ; Sayed et al. 2020 ). Transfer learning can solve the problem by leveraging knowledge obtained from a large-scale source domain to enhance the classification performance of target domains (Heaton 2018 ). In recent years, based on the success of deep learning technology, this method has gradually attracted attention.

5 Research hotspots and trends

Through the analysis in Sects.  4.1 and 4.2 , we found that the research methods and topics of sentiment analysis are constantly changing. The keyword topic heat map is shown in Fig.  13 . From this map, we can see that in the past two decades, research hotspots have included social media platforms (such as "social medium," "social network," and "Twitter"); sentiment analysis techniques and methods (such as "machine learning," "svm," "natural language processing," "deep learning," "aspect-based," "text mining," and "sentiment lexicon"), mining of user comments or opinions (e.g., "opinion mining," "user review," and "online review"), and sentiment analysis for non-English languages (e.g., "Arabic sentiment analysis" and "Arabic language").

figure 13

Keyword topic heat map

With the popularity of digitization, a large amount of user-generated content has appeared on the Internet, where users express their opinions and comments on different topics such as the news, events, activities, products, services, etc. through social media. This is especially so in the case of the Twitter mobile platform, launched in 2006, which has become the most popular social channel (Kumar and Jaiswal 2020 ). However, online text data is mostly unstructured. In order to accurately analyze users’ sentiments, the research methods for sentiment analysis, such as natural language processing technology, and automatic sentiment analysis models have become the focus of researchers’ works. From Fig.  11 , we can see that early technologies and methods are dominated by machine learning and that SVM and Naive Bayes have always been favored by researchers. This has also been confirmed in studies by Neha Raghuvanshi (Raghuvanshi and Patil 2016 ), Harpreet Kaur (Kaur et al. 2017 ), and Marouane Birjali (Birjali et al. 2021 ). With the improvement of neural network and artificial intelligence technology, deep learning technology has been widely used in sentiment analysis, and has resulted in good outcomes (Basiri et al. 2021 ; Ma et al. 2018 ; Prabha and Srikanth 2019 ; Yuan et al. 2020 ). However, deep learning technology still has room for improvement, and the hybrid methods combining sentiment dictionary and semantic analysis are gradually becoming a trend (Prabha and Srikanth 2019 ; Yang et al. 2020a ).

The granularity of sentiment analysis ranges from the early text level to the sentence level and finally to the aspect level, which is currently gaining strong attention. The granularity of sentiment analysis is gradually being refined, but the method is immature at present, and further research work in the future is needed (AgĂźero-Torales et al. 2021 ; Li et al. 2020 ; Trisna and Jie 2022 ).

Early sentiment analysis was mainly in the English language. In recent years, non-English languages such as Chinese (Lai et al. 2020 ; Peng et al. 2018 ), French (Apidianaki et al. 2016 ; Pecore and Villaneau 2019 ), Spanish (Chaturvedi et al. 2016 ; Plaza-del-Arco et al. 2020 ), Russian (Smetanin 2020 ), and Arabic (Alhumoud and Al Wazrah 2022 ; Ombabi et al. 2020 ) have attracted more and more attention. Furthermore, cross-domain sentiment analysis technology is in urgent need of research and discussion by researchers (Liu et al. 2019 ; Singh et al. 2021 ).

6 Conclusion and future work

6.1 conclusion.

Judging from the increasing number of papers related to sentiment analysis research every year, sentiment analysis has been on the rise. Although there are many surveys on sentiment analysis research, there has not been a survey dedicated to the evolution of research methods and topics of sentiment analysis. This paper has used keyword co-occurrence analysis and the informetric tools to enrich the perspectives and methods of previous studies. Its aims have been to outline the evolution of the research methods and tools, research hotspots and trends and to provide research guidance for researchers.

By adopting keyword co-occurrence analysis and community detection methods, we analyzed the research methods and topics of sentiment analysis, as well as their connections and evolution trends, and summarized the research hotspots and trends in sentiment analysis. We found that research hotspots include social media platforms, sentiment analysis techniques and methods, mining of user comments or opinions, and sentiment analysis for non-English languages. Moreover, deep learning technology, with its hybrid methods combining sentiment dictionary and semantic analysis, fine-grained sentiment analysis methods, and non-English language analysis methods, and cross-domain sentiment analysis techniques have gradually become the research trends.

6.2 Practical implications and technical directions of sentiment analysis

Sentiment analysis has a wide range of application targets, such as e-commerce platforms, social platforms, public opinion platforms, and customer service platforms. Years of development have led to many related tasks in sentiment analysis, such as sentiment analysis of different text granularity, sentiment recognition, opinion mining, dialogue sentiment analysis, irony recognition, false information detection, etc. Such analysis can help structure user reviews, support product improvement decisions, discover public opinion hotspots, identify public positions, investigate user satisfaction with products, and so on. As long as user-generated content is involved, sentiment analysis technology can be used to mine the emotions of human actors associated with the content. The improvement of sentiment analysis technology can help machines better understand the thoughts and opinions of users, make machines more intelligent, and make better decisions for policy leaders, businessmen, and service people. However, most of the current sentiment analysis methods are based on sentiment dictionaries, sentiment rules, statistics-based machine learning models, neural network-based deep learning models, and pre-training models, and have yet to achieve true language understanding in the sense of comprehension at the deep semantic level, though this does not prevent them from being useful in certain practical applications.

As an important task in natural language understanding, sentiment analysis has received extensive attention from academia and industry. Coarse-grained sentiment analysis is increasingly unable to meet people's decision-making needs, and for aspect-level sentiment analysis and complex tasks, pure machine learning is still unable to flexibly achieve true language understanding. Once the scene or domain changes, problems such as the domain incompatibility of the sentiment dictionary and the low transfer effect of the model involved keep appearing. At present, the accuracy of sentiment analysis provided by machines is far less than that of humans. To achieve human-like performance for machines, we believe that it is necessary to incorporate human commonsense knowledge and domain knowledge, as well as grounded definitions of concepts, in order for machines to understand natural language at a deeper level. These, combined with rules for affective reasoning to supplement interpretable information, will be effective in improving the performance of sentiment analysis. Future research in this direction can be strengthened to achieve true language understanding in machines.

6.3 Limitations and future work

There are some research limitations in this paper. First, we only studied papers written in English and searched from the Web of Science platform. We believe there are papers in other languages or other databases (e.g., Scopus, PubMed, Sci-hub, etc.) that also involve sentiment analysis but that were not included in our study. In addition, the keywords we chose to search in the Web of Science were mainly "sentiment analysis," "sentiment mining," and "sentiment classification." There may be papers related to our research topic that do not have these keywords. To track developments in sentiment analysis research, future studies could replicate this work by employing more precise keywords and using different literature databases.

Second, we selected the main high-frequency keywords for analysis, and some important low-frequency keywords may have been ignored. In future work, we can analyze the changes in each keyword in detail from the perspective of time and obtain more comprehensive analysis results.

Third, the results show that the themes of sentiment analysis cover many fields, such as computer science, linguistics, and electrical engineering, which indicates the trend of interdisciplinary research. Therefore, future work should apply co-citation and diversity measures to explore the interdisciplinary nature of sentiment analysis research.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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The authors would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (CSC No. 202106850069) for its support for the visiting study.

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Cui, J., Wang, Z., Ho, SB. et al. Survey on sentiment analysis: evolution of research methods and topics. Artif Intell Rev 56 , 8469–8510 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10462-022-10386-z

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Research Topics & Ideas: Environment

100+ Environmental Science Research Topics & Ideas

Research topics and ideas within the environmental sciences

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. Here, we’ll explore a variety research ideas and topic thought-starters related to various environmental science disciplines, including ecology, oceanography, hydrology, geology, soil science, environmental chemistry, environmental economics, and environmental ethics.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the environmental sciences. This is the starting point though. To develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. Also be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to develop a high-quality research topic from scratch.

Overview: Environmental Topics

  • Ecology /ecological science
  • Atmospheric science
  • Oceanography
  • Soil science
  • Environmental chemistry
  • Environmental economics
  • Environmental ethics
  • Examples  of dissertations and theses

Topics & Ideas: Ecological Science

  • The impact of land-use change on species diversity and ecosystem functioning in agricultural landscapes
  • The role of disturbances such as fire and drought in shaping arid ecosystems
  • The impact of climate change on the distribution of migratory marine species
  • Investigating the role of mutualistic plant-insect relationships in maintaining ecosystem stability
  • The effects of invasive plant species on ecosystem structure and function
  • The impact of habitat fragmentation caused by road construction on species diversity and population dynamics in the tropics
  • The role of ecosystem services in urban areas and their economic value to a developing nation
  • The effectiveness of different grassland restoration techniques in degraded ecosystems
  • The impact of land-use change through agriculture and urbanisation on soil microbial communities in a temperate environment
  • The role of microbial diversity in ecosystem health and nutrient cycling in an African savannah

Topics & Ideas: Atmospheric Science

  • The impact of climate change on atmospheric circulation patterns above tropical rainforests
  • The role of atmospheric aerosols in cloud formation and precipitation above cities with high pollution levels
  • The impact of agricultural land-use change on global atmospheric composition
  • Investigating the role of atmospheric convection in severe weather events in the tropics
  • The impact of urbanisation on regional and global atmospheric ozone levels
  • The impact of sea surface temperature on atmospheric circulation and tropical cyclones
  • The impact of solar flares on the Earth’s atmospheric composition
  • The impact of climate change on atmospheric turbulence and air transportation safety
  • The impact of stratospheric ozone depletion on atmospheric circulation and climate change
  • The role of atmospheric rivers in global water supply and sea-ice formation

Research topic evaluator

Topics & Ideas: Oceanography

  • The impact of ocean acidification on kelp forests and biogeochemical cycles
  • The role of ocean currents in distributing heat and regulating desert rain
  • The impact of carbon monoxide pollution on ocean chemistry and biogeochemical cycles
  • Investigating the role of ocean mixing in regulating coastal climates
  • The impact of sea level rise on the resource availability of low-income coastal communities
  • The impact of ocean warming on the distribution and migration patterns of marine mammals
  • The impact of ocean deoxygenation on biogeochemical cycles in the arctic
  • The role of ocean-atmosphere interactions in regulating rainfall in arid regions
  • The impact of ocean eddies on global ocean circulation and plankton distribution
  • The role of ocean-ice interactions in regulating the Earth’s climate and sea level

Research topic idea mega list

Tops & Ideas: Hydrology

  • The impact of agricultural land-use change on water resources and hydrologic cycles in temperate regions
  • The impact of agricultural groundwater availability on irrigation practices in the global south
  • The impact of rising sea-surface temperatures on global precipitation patterns and water availability
  • Investigating the role of wetlands in regulating water resources for riparian forests
  • The impact of tropical ranches on river and stream ecosystems and water quality
  • The impact of urbanisation on regional and local hydrologic cycles and water resources for agriculture
  • The role of snow cover and mountain hydrology in regulating regional agricultural water resources
  • The impact of drought on food security in arid and semi-arid regions
  • The role of groundwater recharge in sustaining water resources in arid and semi-arid environments
  • The impact of sea level rise on coastal hydrology and the quality of water resources

Research Topic Kickstarter - Need Help Finding A Research Topic?

Topics & Ideas: Geology

  • The impact of tectonic activity on the East African rift valley
  • The role of mineral deposits in shaping ancient human societies
  • The impact of sea-level rise on coastal geomorphology and shoreline evolution
  • Investigating the role of erosion in shaping the landscape and impacting desertification
  • The impact of mining on soil stability and landslide potential
  • The impact of volcanic activity on incoming solar radiation and climate
  • The role of geothermal energy in decarbonising the energy mix of megacities
  • The impact of Earth’s magnetic field on geological processes and solar wind
  • The impact of plate tectonics on the evolution of mammals
  • The role of the distribution of mineral resources in shaping human societies and economies, with emphasis on sustainability

Topics & Ideas: Soil Science

  • The impact of dam building on soil quality and fertility
  • The role of soil organic matter in regulating nutrient cycles in agricultural land
  • The impact of climate change on soil erosion and soil organic carbon storage in peatlands
  • Investigating the role of above-below-ground interactions in nutrient cycling and soil health
  • The impact of deforestation on soil degradation and soil fertility
  • The role of soil texture and structure in regulating water and nutrient availability in boreal forests
  • The impact of sustainable land management practices on soil health and soil organic matter
  • The impact of wetland modification on soil structure and function
  • The role of soil-atmosphere exchange and carbon sequestration in regulating regional and global climate
  • The impact of salinization on soil health and crop productivity in coastal communities

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Chemistry

  • The impact of cobalt mining on water quality and the fate of contaminants in the environment
  • The role of atmospheric chemistry in shaping air quality and climate change
  • The impact of soil chemistry on nutrient availability and plant growth in wheat monoculture
  • Investigating the fate and transport of heavy metal contaminants in the environment
  • The impact of climate change on biochemical cycling in tropical rainforests
  • The impact of various types of land-use change on biochemical cycling
  • The role of soil microbes in mediating contaminant degradation in the environment
  • The impact of chemical and oil spills on freshwater and soil chemistry
  • The role of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in shaping water and soil chemistry
  • The impact of over-irrigation on the cycling and fate of persistent organic pollutants in the environment

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Economics

  • The impact of climate change on the economies of developing nations
  • The role of market-based mechanisms in promoting sustainable use of forest resources
  • The impact of environmental regulations on economic growth and competitiveness
  • Investigating the economic benefits and costs of ecosystem services for African countries
  • The impact of renewable energy policies on regional and global energy markets
  • The role of water markets in promoting sustainable water use in southern Africa
  • The impact of land-use change in rural areas on regional and global economies
  • The impact of environmental disasters on local and national economies
  • The role of green technologies and innovation in shaping the zero-carbon transition and the knock-on effects for local economies
  • The impact of environmental and natural resource policies on income distribution and poverty of rural communities

Topics & Ideas: Environmental Ethics

  • The ethical foundations of environmentalism and the environmental movement regarding renewable energy
  • The role of values and ethics in shaping environmental policy and decision-making in the mining industry
  • The impact of cultural and religious beliefs on environmental attitudes and behaviours in first world countries
  • Investigating the ethics of biodiversity conservation and the protection of endangered species in palm oil plantations
  • The ethical implications of sea-level rise for future generations and vulnerable coastal populations
  • The role of ethical considerations in shaping sustainable use of natural forest resources
  • The impact of environmental justice on marginalized communities and environmental policies in Asia
  • The ethical implications of environmental risks and decision-making under uncertainty
  • The role of ethics in shaping the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future for the construction industry
  • The impact of environmental values on consumer behaviour and the marketplace: a case study of the ‘bring your own shopping bag’ policy

Examples: Real Dissertation & Thesis Topics

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various environmental science-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

  • The physiology of microorganisms in enhanced biological phosphorous removal (Saunders, 2014)
  • The influence of the coastal front on heavy rainfall events along the east coast (Henson, 2019)
  • Forage production and diversification for climate-smart tropical and temperate silvopastures (Dibala, 2019)
  • Advancing spectral induced polarization for near surface geophysical characterization (Wang, 2021)
  • Assessment of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter and Thamnocephalus platyurus as Tools to Monitor Cyanobacterial Bloom Development and Toxicity (Hipsher, 2019)
  • Evaluating the Removal of Microcystin Variants with Powdered Activated Carbon (Juang, 2020)
  • The effect of hydrological restoration on nutrient concentrations, macroinvertebrate communities, and amphibian populations in Lake Erie coastal wetlands (Berg, 2019)
  • Utilizing hydrologic soil grouping to estimate corn nitrogen rate recommendations (Bean, 2019)
  • Fungal Function in House Dust and Dust from the International Space Station (Bope, 2021)
  • Assessing Vulnerability and the Potential for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in Sudan’s Blue Nile Basin (Mohamed, 2022)
  • A Microbial Water Quality Analysis of the Recreational Zones in the Los Angeles River of Elysian Valley, CA (Nguyen, 2019)
  • Dry Season Water Quality Study on Three Recreational Sites in the San Gabriel Mountains (Vallejo, 2019)
  • Wastewater Treatment Plan for Unix Packaging Adjustment of the Potential Hydrogen (PH) Evaluation of Enzymatic Activity After the Addition of Cycle Disgestase Enzyme (Miessi, 2020)
  • Laying the Genetic Foundation for the Conservation of Longhorn Fairy Shrimp (Kyle, 2021).

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. To create a top-notch research topic, you will need to be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you’ll need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Need more help?

If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your environmental science dissertation or research project, be sure to check out our private coaching services below, as well as our Research Topic Kickstarter .

Need a helping hand?

simple research study ideas

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I wish to learn things in a more advanced but simple way and with the hopes that I am in the right place.

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Thank so much for the research topics. It really helped

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the guides were really helpful

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Research topics on environmental geology

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Thanks for the research topics….I need a research topic on Geography

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ScienceDaily

Exposure to different kinds of music influences how the brain interprets rhythm

When listening to music, the human brain appears to be biased toward hearing and producing rhythms composed of simple integer ratios -- for example, a series of four beats separated by equal time intervals (forming a 1:1:1 ratio).

However, the favored ratios can vary greatly between different societies, according to a large-scale study led by researchers at MIT and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics and carried out in 15 countries. The study included 39 groups of participants, many of whom came from societies whose traditional music contains distinctive patterns of rhythm not found in Western music.

"Our study provides the clearest evidence yet for some degree of universality in music perception and cognition, in the sense that every single group of participants that was tested exhibits biases for integer ratios. It also provides a glimpse of the variation that can occur across cultures, which can be quite substantial," says Nori Jacoby, the study's lead author and a former MIT postdoc, who is now a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany.

The brain's bias toward simple integer ratios may have evolved as a natural error-correction system that makes it easier to maintain a consistent body of music, which human societies often use to transmit information.

"When people produce music, they often make small mistakes. Our results are consistent with the idea that our mental representation is somewhat robust to those mistakes, but it is robust in a way that pushes us toward our preexisting ideas of the structures that should be found in music," says Josh McDermott, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and a member of MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines.

McDermott is the senior author of the study, which appears today in Nature Human Behaviour. The research team also included scientists from more than two dozen institutions around the world.

A global approach

The new study grew out of a smaller analysis that Jacoby and McDermott published in 2017. In that paper, the researchers compared rhythm perception in groups of listeners from the United States and the Tsimane', an Indigenous society located in the Bolivian Amazon rainforest.

To measure how people perceive rhythm, the researchers devised a task in which they play a randomly generated series of four beats and then ask the listener to tap back what they heard. The rhythm produced by the listener is then played back to the listener, and they tap it back again. Over several iterations, the tapped sequences became dominated by the listener's internal biases, also known as priors.

"The initial stimulus pattern is random, but at each iteration the pattern is pushed by the listener's biases, such that it tends to converge to a particular point in the space of possible rhythms," McDermott says. "That can give you a picture of what we call the prior, which is the set of internal implicit expectations for rhythms that people have in their heads."

When the researchers first did this experiment, with American college students as the test subjects, they found that people tended to produce time intervals that are related by simple integer ratios. Furthermore, most of the rhythms they produced, such as those with ratios of 1:1:2 and 2:3:3, are commonly found in Western music.

The researchers then went to Bolivia and asked members of the Tsimane' society to perform the same task. They found that Tsimane' also produced rhythms with simple integer ratios, but their preferred ratios were different and appeared to be consistent with those that have been documented in the few existing records of Tsimane' music.

"At that point, it provided some evidence that there might be very widespread tendencies to favor these small integer ratios, and that there might be some degree of cross-cultural variation. But because we had just looked at this one other culture, it really wasn't clear how this was going to look at a broader scale," Jacoby says.

To try to get that broader picture, the MIT team began seeking collaborators around the world who could help them gather data on a more diverse set of populations. They ended up studying listeners from 39 groups, representing 15 countries on five continents -- North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

"This is really the first study of its kind in the sense that we did the same experiment in all these different places, with people who are on the ground in those locations," McDermott says. "That hasn't really been done before at anything close to this scale, and it gave us an opportunity to see the degree of variation that might exist around the world."

Cultural comparisons

Just as they had in their original 2017 study, the researchers found that in every group they tested, people tended to be biased toward simple integer ratios of rhythm. However, not every group showed the same biases. People from North America and Western Europe, who have likely been exposed to the same kinds of music, were more likely to generate rhythms with the same ratios. However, many groups, for example those in Turkey, Mali, Bulgaria, and Botswana showed a bias for other rhythms.

"There are certain cultures where there are particular rhythms that are prominent in their music, and those end up showing up in the mental representation of rhythm," Jacoby says.

The researchers believe their findings reveal a mechanism that the brain uses to aid in the perception and production of music.

"When you hear somebody playing something and they have errors in their performance, you're going to mentally correct for those by mapping them onto where you implicitly think they ought to be," McDermott says. "If you didn't have something like this, and you just faithfully represented what you heard, these errors might propagate and make it much harder to maintain a musical system."

Among the groups that they studied, the researchers took care to include not only college students, who are easy to study in large numbers, but also people living in traditional societies, who are more difficult to reach. Participants from those more traditional groups showed significant differences from college students living in the same countries, and from people who live in those countries but performed the test online.

"What's very clear from the paper is that if you just look at the results from undergraduate students around the world, you vastly underestimate the diversity that you see otherwise," Jacoby says. "And the same was true of experiments where we tested groups of people online in Brazil and India, because you're dealing with people who have internet access and presumably have more exposure to Western music."

The researchers now hope to run additional studies of different aspects of music perception, taking this global approach.

"If you're just testing college students around the world or people online, things look a lot more homogenous. I think it's very important for the field to realize that you actually need to go out into communities and run experiments there, as opposed to taking the low-hanging fruit of running studies with people in a university or on the internet," McDermott says.

The research was funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the Canadian National Science and Engineering Research Council, the South African National Research Foundation, the United States National Science Foundation, the Chilean National Research and Development Agency, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Keio Global Research Institute, the United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, and the John Fell Fund.

  • Racial Issues
  • K-12 Education
  • Brain-Computer Interfaces
  • Intelligence
  • Circadian rhythm
  • Hearing impairment
  • Auditory system
  • Collaboration
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Circadian rhythm sleep disorder
  • Neurobiology

Story Source:

Materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

  • Nori Jacoby, Rainer Polak, Jessica A. Grahn, Daniel J. Cameron, Kyung Myun Lee, Ricardo Godoy, Eduardo A. Undurraga, Tomás Huanca, Timon Thalwitzer, Noumouké Doumbia, Daniel Goldberg, Elizabeth H. Margulis, Patrick C. M. Wong, Luis Jure, Martín Rocamora, Shinya Fujii, Patrick E. Savage, Jun Ajimi, Rei Konno, Sho Oishi, Kelly Jakubowski, Andre Holzapfel, Esra Mungan, Ece Kaya, Preeti Rao, Mattur A. Rohit, Suvarna Alladi, Bronwyn Tarr, Manuel Anglada-Tort, Peter M. C. Harrison, Malinda J. McPherson, Sophie Dolan, Alex Durango, Josh H. McDermott. Commonality and variation in mental representations of music revealed by a cross-cultural comparison of rhythm priors in 15 countries . Nature Human Behaviour , 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01800-9

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