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Social Science Research Topics

Nov 19, 2021

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The Best Social Science Research Topics to Choose from


The social sciences encompass a wide range of fields that all present interesting research opportunities for college students and professionals. We’ll share some interesting social science issue topics and research ideas to get you started.

Social Sciences: What is it?


Social science is a branch of science that studies human behavior, relationships, and society. This ranges from the human mind and brain functions to societal functions and how human actions affect the world. Research topics in social studies are wide-ranging and have branched out into specific fields.

  • Anthropology – studies what makes us human, comparing how different groups of humans lived, as well as how humans lived compared to other animals. Social science research topics in this field often require years of field research.

  • Sociology – studies how individuals, relationships, and institutions shape each other.

  • Psychology – studies the human mind and cognitive functions related to development and behavior. This field has social scientific research topics that often require applications of statistics and biology.

  • Economics – is the study of how people use resources and how they respond to incentives. It also studies how political and historical events affect the availability of resources.

  • History – the study of past events to understand how they are all connected and led to the present, with hopes of understanding how to approach the future and avoid the disastrous mistakes of the past.

  • Political science – studies systems of government and power, public policies, political thought and behavior.

  • Law – studies legislation enforced by international, national, and local governments to regulate the behavior of people, organizations, business entities, and so on.

  • Geography – is the study of the natural environment and its relationship with people or groups of people.

  • Linguistics – is the study of human language, its nature, structure, and other various aspects, as well as the evolution of language.


These fields require a lot of research. So, if you’re studying any of these fields, you may already be required to research and write essays on a variety of social studies topics. That is a preparation for the research and articles you will likely write once you start your career after graduation.

Writing Essays for the Social Sciences


In writing essays for this field, you need to use your scientific skills—observing, measuring, classifying, inferring, predicting, experimenting and communicating. Be ready to conduct a lot of research. Essays require you to apply your scientific skills and follow the standard essay structure:

  • Introduction

  • Main Body

  • Conclusion


Another important requirement is that you cite evidence for your arguments and use theory to explain your ideas or analysis. While in other fields, you may use a scholar’s opinion, ideas, or theories as evidence, but in social science, you need to have data to cite as evidence. It is common for students to conduct small-scale research studies for their term papers to answer their social science research questions.

Evidence is always paired with theories in the social sciences. Theories are analytical frameworks that attempt to explain and rationalize the world. The student must have a theory relevant to their social research topic to analyze and explain their findings.

Writing an essay is no walk in the park. Students must think and act like social scientists and embrace the rigors of scientific research.

Choosing a Research Topic


Before you can write an essay, you must choose a research topic. This part of the essay writing process is indeed a tedious one since your essay could benefit from it or make the writing process difficult for you. Before we proceed with social science research topic ideas, here are expert tips for choosing social science research topics for college students.

  1. You should find the topic interesting. You will be working on the same topic for weeks, so at the very least, you should find your social science topic interesting.

  2. Your social science research topics should be manageable. You need to consider the length of the paper you need to write and the amount of time you have to research.

  3. The topic should meet the purpose of the assignment. More often than not, you have some prompt or set of instructions for your essays. Make sure you understand the instructions and what it expects, and from there, check if your chosen topic meets these expectations.


Research Topics for Social Sciences


Here, you will find the most current social science topics list, as well as some social science research question examples, that you can use for your essays.

Anthropology


Evolution of traditional medicine in India

Intercultural contact in the ancient Mediterranean

The impact of culture on health

How did the bronze age economy affect cultural and religious systems in Central Europe?

Sociology


The concept of nationalism in multicultural societies

Evolution of terrorism in modern society

How does pop culture influence cultural evolution?

What are the similarities and differences between groups of people of the same religion living in different countries?

Psychology


The impact of meditation and yoga on human psychology

Is racism innate in people, learned, or is it a choice?

The role of media in bullying

How does an abusive relationship affect the psychology of the victim long after the relationship has ended?

Economics


The impact of the cashless economy on small businesses

Exploring a policy framework for mitigating the economic impact of the COVID-19 recession

Minimum wage trends in the USA and factors that affect it

The economic impact of natural disasters on third world economies

History


American public opinion to the Holocaust

Causes and motivations of the Salem Witch Trials

An analysis of American propaganda during the Vietnam War

Analysis of authoritarianism in the Middle East

Political Science


A comparison of Chinese and Soviet Communism

Economic and political impacts of the European refugee crisis

The traumatic impact of structural racism on the youth

Analysis of anti-corruption policies in Southeast Asia

Law


Gender disparities in criminal sentencing

Ethical and legal issues to international humanitarian intervention

Analysis of hate crime laws across the US

Obstacles to enforcing international laws on human trafficking

Geography


Transboundary issues in managing volcanic risks

Recent advances in seismic risk management

The economic geography of fossil fuels

Impact of atmospheric dust and acid rain on soil’s ph level

Linguistics


Code-switching patterns in a population

Influence of cross-linguistic influence in second language acquisition

Code-mixing innovations in bilingual Indians

Phonological problems of Chinese learners of English

There are so many social science essay topics to choose from. Make sure you follow our tips as you consider the topics we have suggested.

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