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U : RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS
THE NINE FORBIDDEN CATEGORIES
We will spend a lot of class time on your research paper projects.
By the third week of class, therefore, you must have a SUBJECT to write on. By the eighth week you must have a THESIS STATEMENTconcerning that subject.
Here are some suggestions for you to help you to select a general topic or subject, and to narrow it down to a specific thesis.
GENERAL TOPIC
This project is a RESEARCH PAPER. You will have to prove some thesis about your topic using EVIDENCE (also called PRIMARY SOURCES), together with consultation of the works of other researchers (we call them SECONDARY SOURCES) and logical reasoning (or HOW TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS from your evidence).
Therefore you should observe the following limits upon your general topic:
The Nine Forbidden Categories
NOT PROVABLE
Do not pick a topic which, by its very nature, cannot be proven, or researched using normal standards of evidence.
For example: Avoid such topics as: ESP; the existence of God; mystical events; Gods from Outer Space; alien abduction; miracles of any kind; whether there is life after death; etc.
Its best to avoid any kind of religious topic except, possibly, an historical one.
STRONG FEELINGS OR BIAS
Avoid any topic which you feel so strongly about that you could not have an open mind about it.
For example: If you passionately hate Fidel Castro, or Newt Gingrich, do not write on them.
If you choose such a topic, you will not be setting out to discover the truth.
Instead, you will be setting out to find examples or evidence to support preconceived ideas you already hold.
But research is the attempt to discover the truth. So you will not be doing research.
However, if you are interested in a topic, and at the same time feel you could have an open mind about it, then that would be a good topic for you. You will be more interested and motivated to spend the long hours of research, and will think more creatively and better about your topic, if you are interested in it.
STATISTICS
Do not pick a topic where you will have to rely upon complex statistical information which you cannot understand.
If you do, you will be choosing to "believe" the source of your statistics. Believing authorities is not research, and can never lead you to discovering the truth.
Exception: you can use statistics from the U.S. government or the United Nations, provided that you know how to use them, and look for critiques of them. But avoid statistics from private research organizations or foundations.
TECHNICAL
In general, do not pick any technical topics. Only those who have technical skills can do research in technical areas. If you believe you have such technical skills in some area, please consult with me first.
LEGAL
Avoid legal topics -- amy topic which involves determining whether something is, or might be, "legal" or "illegal."
Legal research is not research in the sense in which we are studying and using it here. Legal research is concerned with finding precedents in previous law cases decided by various courts. This is a specialized skill. It is not concerned with discovering the truth.
MORAL
Avoid choosing topics in which your "research" would mainly be deciding whether something is "right" or "wrong," "good" or "bad."
Moral judgments cannot be proven true or false in the same way that other statements can be.
CONTEMPORARY
Do not pick a topic which involves events that are so recent that it would be difficult or impossible to find other research on them.
One of the most important ways of learning research methods is to study good research done by experienced researchers on the same topic you are interested in. This won't be possible to do in the case of a very recent topic. Therefore, you should avoid such topics.
NOT RESEARCHED BEFORE
Do not pick any topic which has not been researched before in research studies which you can find and study yourself.
It is possible, of course, to do research on subjects which no one has researched before. But it is far too difficult an undertaking for an introductory class on research methods.
CAN'T GET AT THE EVIDENCE
Don't pick a topic where you obviously can't gain access to the evidence, or to the object to be studied.
This point is so important that I go over it again in the section called "the X-rule" below.
For example: Don't plan on doing research on the African elephant, unless you can go to Africa to study them (or have good access to them in a zoo, for example).
I'll go over these questions in class, and we can discuss them.
What you should pick
This means you should pick topics from the fields of the Humanities or Social Sciences. In other words: History; Political Science; Literary Analysis; Sociology (but not statistics); etc.
These fields are very broad. For example, there is an historical aspect to every subject, including many subjects which you could not research in other respects.
So, instead of "Abortion -- Right or Wrong" (Forbidden Category #6), you could do something on the history of abortion; the politics or the pro- or anti-abortion movements (but watch out for Forbidden Categories #2 and #7). Likewise, the history or politics of Physical Education, sports -- almost anything.
You may already be interested in some subjects in these fields of learning. Or, you may not be. If you are not, you should work hard to develop an interest in them. No one is born "liking" football, dancing, or anything else (except Mommy, perhaps) -- these are learned interests.
All Interests Are Learned.
You should try to develop an interest in something you don't know anything about. This is called "education."
If you are not "interested" in a subject, ask yourself: Why? Such a lack of interest indicates a failing on your part. You should resolve to do something to overcome this failing.
REMEMBER THE "X" RULE:
In order to come to correct conclusions about X, you must study X directly
where X is any object of study.
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