Your Argumentation/Research Essay should include the following:
-4 or more citations inside the paper (MLA format)
-Works Cited page, listing all sources (MLA format)
-A variety of academic sources expected (i.e. scholarly journals and/or books)
-Websites ending in .edu or .gov. are usually acceptable. No more than 1 source can be from a website.
paper should be approximately two to three pages long.
Length does not include the Works Cited page.
Search for books, ebooks, articles and streaming media. To locate other library materials use the BC Libraries homepage.
Note: You may have to log in with your One Login (BC email) to access library resources.
100 Research Paper Topics
Abstinence programs
Do they work?
Advertising
Should certain kinds of ads be banned in the interest of health/morality/annoyance – alcohol, cigarettes, prescription meds, etc…?
Africa
Why so many wars? What’s the solution?
Airplane accidents
Who is responsible? Should families of victims be entitled to compensation?
Airport security
Should the government use invasive pat-downs and body scans to ensure passenger safety or are there better methods?
Al Qaida
Has U.S. policy actually spread terrorism rather than contain it? Will it get better or worse? Why and how?
Alcohol
Should the U.S. lower the drinking age to 18?
Animal rights
Should it be illegal to use animals for sports and entertainment?
Arming pilots
Good idea?
Art
A few years ago, an artist was criticized for depicting the Virgin Mary with elephant dung. When is art not really art?
Athletes in high schools
Should shoe companies be able to give away free shoes and equipment to high school athletes?
Beauty contests
Do they serve any purpose in society?
Bridges, roads, waterways
Why the government gets a bad report card on America’s infrastructure.
Bullying laws
Should the state or federal government put laws into place to prevent bullying?
Cell phones
How have they changed us socially?
Censorship
Should parents censor textbooks and other literature for children in schools?
Cheap labor
U.S. companies that move factories to undeveloped nations barely pay employees enough to live on. Is it unethical to pay cheap wages or are companies doing those workers a favor?
Child soldiers
Why and how children are used for war
Church arson
Hate crime?
Civil disobedience
Is breaking the law for a cause justifiable?
Civil unions
If civil couples have the same rights/privileges of married people, why get married?
Climate change
Is global warming a hoax? Is it being exaggerated?
Coal
Should the use of coal be subjected to stricter environmental regulations than other fuels?
College athletics
Should college athletes be paid?
Cyber crime
What are the latest ways to steal identity and money?
Divorce
Should we reform laws to make it harder to get a divorce?
DDT
Should DDT be re-approved for use in the wake of recent bedbug outbreaks across the country?
Electronic information preservation
Does the Information Age mean we are losing important historical information?
Exams
Exams often do little more than measure a person’s ability to take exams. Should exams be outlawed in favor of another form of assessment?
Fast food
Are we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurants for obesity? When is it individual responsibility and when is it appropriate to place blame?
Felons and voting
Should convicted felons have the right to vote?
Feminism
Is feminism still relevant? How do young women view feminism?
Fitness programs
Should companies allow employees to exercise on work time?
Flag
Should children be required to say the Pledge of Allegiance in schools?
Food
Steroids. Anitbiotics. Sprays. Are food manufacturers killing us?
Gap year
Should teens in the U.S. adopt the British custom of taking a “gap year” between high school and college?
Gay marriage
Should there be a constitutional amendment that allows gays and lesbians to legally marry?
Generations
How 4 different generations in the workplace can work together.
Grades
In some European schools, fewer than 10% of students get As. Is there grade inflation in the U.S.? Why so many As for Americans?
Health care crisis
Most developed nations have universal health coverage. Why doesn’t the U.S., the wealthiest nation, have it?
Holocaust
Should denial of the Holocaust be illegal?
Homeland Security
Are we safer since the creation of this department?
Infidelity
In some states, it is illegal to cheat on a spouse. Should we prosecute cheaters? Is a law that’s not enforced really a law?
Immigration
Should illegal immigrants be made legal citizens?
Internet and children
Are children smarter (or more socialized) because of the Internet?
Internet regulation:
Should the federal government be allowed to regulate information on the internet?
Intersexuals
What, if anything, should be done medically and socially?
Iraq War
Is America winning or losing the War? What is the measurement of success? Have the benefits outweighed the costs?
Iraq War Vets
Are they being cheated on medical benefits?
Journalism
Should newspaper reporters be required to reveal their sources?
Juvenile offenders
Should juvenile offenders be tried and punished as adults?
Kyoto Protocol
Should the U.S. join Kyoto to curb greenhouse gases?
Lead poisoning
Should the U.S. stop importing Chinese-manufactured toys?
Literacy
Are Americans “literate?”
Malpractice
How can we balance the need to lower the cost of malpractice insurance with the fact that physician malpractice is one of the leading causes of death?
Marijuana legalization:
Should the federal government legalize the use of marijuana?
Media
Does the media, both print and broadcast, report fairly? Does it ever cross the line between reporting the news and creating the news?
Military
Should the U.S. have mandatory military conscriptions? For whom?
Mining
What safety measures made the recent Canadian mining accident a non-casualty event, while recent U.S. mining accidents have been fatal?
Models
Should there be a minimum weight limit?
Moms
Should stay-at-home moms get a salary from the government?
Muslim Americans
What is life for them like in the U.S. after September 11, 2001?
No Child Left Behind Act
Is it working?
Noise pollution
How much is too much noise? What, if anything, should we do to curb it?
Nonverbal communication
How do men and women communicate differently using body language, and why does it matter (in dating, the workplace, social circles)?
Obesity and weight loss
Should thin people have to pay Medicare and other health costs for the health problems of obese people? Should obese people have higher premiums?
Oil companies
Do oil companies make big bucks while the rest of us pay over $3 a gallon?
Organ sale
Should we legalize the sale of human organs?
Overpopulation
What would happen globally if the demand for natural resources is greater than the supply?
Paparazzi
What, if any, limitations should be applied to the paparazzi?
Parents
Should parents be held responsible when their children break laws?
Pornography
Parental filters on the Internet. Does censorship actually increase curiosity and use of pornography?
Prescription medicines
Should there be a national database to track controlled substances (i.e., oxycodone) or should it be a state issue?
Privacy
Should the government be allowed to wire tap without permission?
Privacy
What medical information should be confidential? Who, if anybody, should have access to medical records?
Public figures
Does the public have a right to know about a public figure’s private life?
Racial bias in media
Does news coverage favor whites?
Religion
Is there one true religion?
Road rage
Why do normally patient people become impatient behind the wheel?
School lunches
Should government impose restrictions on what kinds of foods can be served in school cafeterias?
School uniforms
Pros and cons of school uniforms.
Sex offenders
Once they leave prison, are laws about where they may live and be employed unfair?
Single sex schools
Do children learn better in boys-only and girls-only schools?
Smoking bans
Should the federal government pass a nationwide indoor smoking ban?
Social anxiety
How is it different from shyness? And, are we a society of anxiety?
Spanking
Should it be outlawed?
Sports parents
What are the effects on children whose parents push them in sports?
Statutory rape
Recently, a 17-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl. Are statutory rape laws patronizing to girls and discriminatory to boys?
Steroids
Should they be legalized?
Suicide bombers
What kind of person becomes a suicide bomber?
Terrorism
Can terrorism ever be justified?
Title IX
Has it helped women’s sports? Has it harmed men’s sports?
Tough love
Does parental “tough love” really work?
Toys
Do certain children’s toys create social or emotional problems?
Vaccines
Should parents avoid vaccinating their children?
Wage gap
Women still earn only 75 cents for every $1 a man earns. Explain why.
Wages
There’s a minimum wage, but should there also be a maximum wage/salary a person can earn?
Wind energy
Is wind energy really that cheap? Is it effective? Is it practical?
Women in the clergy
Should women be priests, pastors, ministers, and rabbis?
Workaholics
Do Americans work too hard? Does working more actually reduce productivity? Is a 40-hour work week too much? Should there be a mandatory cap on the number of hours a person can work? Should there be changes in employment laws to give Americans more relaxation time?
Working mothers
What differences, if any, are there in children who are raised by stay-at-home moms and working moms? Does society today still discriminate against working mothers who wish to have flexible work schedules?