Topic suggestions for Argumentative Research paper

Topic suggestions for Argumentative Research paper:

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Remember: for your preliminary assignment (and for the success of your argument paper), you must frame your issue in the form of a arguable thesis statement. Asking a question isn't a thesis; providing an answer is. Stating a problem isn't a thesis; offering a solution is. So you must articulate a position on an issue. If you doubt your thesis, use the word "should" in the thesis to ensure that the thesis statement is arguing for or against something.

As for potential topics that could be framed in a thesis statement, you know that much exists on the web, in newspapers and magazines, and certainly on TV and radio that lend themselves to potential topic ideas. If you need help finding a topic, here are a couple of websites to help get you started:

Cal State at Long Beach Hot Topics page (this one has a large collection of links to other college and university argument topics websites)

The New York Times has a list of topics as good as any, but not every topic will work for our assignment. At minimum, the list should give you some ideas.

Use our library. They have both the Opposing Viewpoints database, and access to the CQ Researcher.

You could certainly just google "argument topics" or "research topics" and wander through the results until you hit upon something you believe might work. Otherwise, consider the suggestions below. (Each has been proposed as a topic for this assignment and I consider each a viable topic choice.)

We should develop some sort [what sort?] of internet censorship. Not all free expression is protected by the First Amendment.

We should initiate a single-payer health insurance program in the United States or perhaps Medicare-for-all and model the program on successful ones used in Europe [or Canada]. Or we should implement a voucher-based system of health insurance nationwide.

We should use death row inmates as subjects for medical testing rather than animals.
Drivers in the state of Minnesota who are over 70 years old must pass an annual test for eyesight and physical ability before they can renew their driver's license.

All Minnesota K - 12 public schools should adopt a school uniform policy.
We should not allow novels that include explicit or mature content in high school libraries (examples include The Crucible or Huck Finn).

Physician-assisted suicide should be legal in cases where death is certain and consent is from the dying (in writing).

Parents should consider plastic surgery to alter physical features of a child born with a handicap (such as Downs Syndrome or other birth defect), and insurance should pay for it.

The classroom size of grades K through 5 statewide should be set at a maximum of 20 students.

We should not lower any physical requirement guidelines so that women may be admitted in the military [or fire or police departments].

Fathers should be allowed the same treatment as mothers in family court decisions. Too many times the mother is favored because of the "nurturing" stereotype.

Children should not be exposed to computer technology until late in the education process [which year?] because computers often distract young learners from learning the basics, or have the basics done for them by computers.

We should legalize marijuana as a legal recreational and therapeutic drug. Or we should ban the use of marijuana for recreational purposes statewide.

We should encourage alternative medicinal solutions to diseases first [such as?] before attempting conventional treatments. Furthermore, alternative medicine should be covered by conventional health insurance policies.

Every state should enact a divorce counseling law that requires married couples to go through counseling before being granted a divorce.

Genetic modification should be banned until necessary safeguards and precautions can be established to allow the research to be conducted safely and prudently.
The misdiagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have caused doctors to over-prescribe Ritalin. We should develop new diagnostic procedures [which ones?] to curb this trend.

Home schooling provides an exceptional education under controlled circumstances. Nevertheless, I would advocate that every American child should receive at least two years of public schooling before graduating from high school.

There should be no drug testing in the workplace because this violates a citizen's privacy rights.
We should implement immigration reform to provide those immigrants already here but not yet legal with a path to citizenship (DACA or DREAM Act).

Avoid topics of taste, fashion, and recreation:

Rap music is not real music
Fad diets never work
Professional sports' salaries are too high
Baseball is harder to play than basketball
Professional wrestling is real wrestling
Skateboarding is not a crime

Avoid topics that simply cannot work:

History of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956: a matter of historical facts.
Alternative versus rap: a matter of personal music preference.
We should punish drunk drivers: no controversy.
Any religion-only topic, such as proving God exists or arguing for/against virtues of religion: matter of faith
Why I am a parent: a matter of personal preference.

Avoid topics that have skimpy evidence on one side of the issue. (There's a reason for that!):

We should teach creationism in high school or college biology classrooms (most scientists do not consider this science but religion).
For the same reason, this won't work: We should not teach evolution in high school or college classrooms (objections are religious not scientific).
Climate change is not real (97% of scientists do not agree--climate change denier websites are mostly funded by the fossil fuels industry).
Arguing that tobacco products are not harmful falls into the same category as climate change: scientists are in agreement about dangers.
Any conspiracy theories, such as "false flag" theories or cover-ups, or 9/11 was an inside job, or the U.S. government is actually run by a deep state.

Resist topics that are extremely volatile and likely have no neutral audience:

Making abortion illegal (or keeping abortion legal): argument has been overworked and often depends on sensationalism.
Gun control or conceal-carry laws have been really worked over. Avoid if you cannot treat rationally or bring anything new to the discussion.
Any issue about which you can only see one side. Check loaded language in thesis.

Topics that haven't been tried but that might work:

Drug testing should be required only for those in public transportation sector jobs.
Since minors can’t vote, marry, or drink, we should treat crimes committed by minors with more leniency than adults (right now, Supreme Court says minors can be tried as adults and receive the full penalty for crime).
Students should not graduate from college until they pass a comprehensive exam in their major.
Compulsory national service is needed. People ages 17 – 25 would serve country for two year stint. This includes military service or public service (6-week training course would count towards two-year time) such as forest ranger, park ranger, Outreach volunteer, Headstart volunteer, daycare worker, national guard, Red Cross, postal worker, food shelf and homeless shelter staffing, etc.
Voting apathy won’t change until we overhaul the entire system: abolish the winner-take-all system. Allow up to one dozen candidates and use "ranked choice voting." And make voting compulsory.

Try your hand at discerning which of the following sample topic suggestions in the form of potential thesis statements might work.