A list of topics taken from "Choose a Topic" in the University of Illinois LibGuide: www.library.illinois.edu/ugl/howdoi/topic.html#resources:

Business

• Cybersecurity
• E-business
• Ethics
• Glass ceiling
• Online retail
• Outsourcing
• Sweatshops
• White collar crime

Crime and Law

• Acquaintance rape
• Animal rights
• Assisted suicide
• Campus violence
• Capital punishment
• Civil rights
• Drinking age, legal
• Drug legalization
• Gun control
• Hate crimes
• Insanity defense
• Mandatory Minimum sentencing
• Patriot Act
• Police brutality
• Prisons and prisoners
• Roe vs. Wade
• Serial killers
• Sex crimes
• Sexual harassment
• Three Strikes Law

Drugs and Drug Abuse

• Alcohol
• Cocaine
• Doping in sports
• Drug testing
• Drunk driving
• Heroin
• Marijuana
• Nicotine

Education

• 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
• Hazing
• Home schooling
• Intelligence tests
• Learning disabilities
• Literacy in America
• Mascots in Sports (Chief Illiniwek)
• No Child Left Behind
• Plagiarism
• Prayer in schools
• Sex education
• School vouchers
• Standardized tests

Environmental

• Acid rain
• Alternative fuel/hybrid vehicles
• Conservation
• Deforestation
• Endangered species
• Energy
• Global warming
• Greenhouse effect
• Landfills
• Marine pollution
• Nuclear energy
• Oil spills
• Pesticides
• Pollution
• Population control
• Radioactive waste disposal
• Recycling
• Wildlife conservation

Family issues

• Battered woman syndrome
• Child abuse
• Divorce rates
• Domestic abuse
• Family relationships
• Family values

Health

• Abortion
• AIDS
• Attention deficit disorder
• Alternative medicine
• Alzheimer's Disease
• Anorexia Nervosa
• Artificial insemination
• Autism
• Birth control
• Bulimia
• Cancer
• Depression
• Dietary supplements
• Drug abuse
• Dyslexia
• Exercise and fitness
• Fad diets
• Fast food
• Heart disease
• HIV infection
• In vitro fertilization
• Medicaid/Medicare reform
• Obesity
• Organic foods
• Prescription drugs
• Plastic surgery
• Sleep
• Smoking
• Stem cell research
• Teen pregnancy
• Vegetarianism
• Weight loss surgery

Media and Communications

• Body image
• Censorship
• Children's programming and advertising
• Copyright Law
• Freedom of speech
• Materialism
• Media bias
• Media conglomerates/ownership
• Minorities in mass media
• Political correctness
• Portrayal of women
• Reality television
• Stereotypes
• Talk radio
• Television violence

Political Issues

• Affirmative Action
• Budget deficit
• Electoral College
• Election reform
• Emigration
• Genocide
• Illegal aliens
• Immigration
• Impeachment
• International relations
• Medicaid/Medicare reform
• Operation Enduring Iraqi Freedom
• Partisan politics
• Prescription drugs
• Social Security Reform
• Third parties
• Taxes

Psychology

• Child abuse
• Criminal psychology
• Depression
• Dreams
• Intelligence tests
• Learning disabilities
• Memory
• Physical attraction
• Schizophrenia

Religion

• Cults
• Freedom of religion
• Occultism
• Prayer in schools

Social Issues

• Abortion
• Adoption
• Airline safety/security
• Affirmative Action programs
• AIDS
• Apartheid
• Birth control
• Child abuse
• 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
• Poverty
• Race relations
• Reverse discrimination
• Suffrage
• Suicide
• Test biases
• Textbook biases
• Welfare

Terrorism

• Bioterrorism
• Homeland Security
• September 11

Women and Gender

• Abortion
• Birth control and Pregnancy
• Body image
• Cultural expectations and practices
• Discrimination
• Eating disorders
• Education
• Feminism
• Health
• LGBT issues
• Marriage and Divorce
• Media portrayals
• Parenting
• Prostitution
• Sex and Sexuality
• Sports
• Stereotypes
• Substance abuse
• Violence and Rape
• Work

1. Identify a research topic/thesis

• Does your topic meet the requirements of the assignment;
• Is your topic possible to complete given the available resources and services?
• Do you need to broaden or refine your topic? 

2. Next, identify types and extent of information needed

•  Do you need: Books, journal articles, newspapers, websites, videos, music, podcasts, blogs, interviews, radio shows, mashups, social networking sites, government documents, reports from non-profits, statistical data, experiments, etc. ?

3. Do you know where to look for your information?

• Through Library Search?

• Electronic databases – journal articles and other information

• Public websites? 

4. Finally, don't start searching empty handed.  Create a brief research plan that includes

• a list of keywords

• types of information you are looking for

• a working outline that identifies subtopics/specific questions of the bigger research project

1) Use the AND connector to search for different concepts

     Example:  prisons AND animal training programs

2) Use the OR connector to search for variant words for the same  concept

     Example:  cars OR automobiles

Note: To use the AND connector and OR connector in a single search string use parenthesis around the similar words

    Example: (white collar crime* OR corporate computer fraud) AND whistleblowing

3) Use truncation to capture different possible endings for a word

     Example:  child* (captures child, children, childhood)