Skip to Main Content

COMM 1700 Interpersonal Communicaiton

List of possible topics for research

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

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

Steps to maximizing your time researching

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

Keyword Search Strategies

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)