There is a big difference between research conducted in science and humanities. Scholars in humanities and social sciences (HumSS strand) are more interested in questions rather than answers.
Interpreting the known facts and looking at them from a new perspective is also a part of research in HumSS. There are no restrictive rules, like in natural sciences, so it can even be created in the form of art!
The research outcomes of humanities topics do not necessarily solve a world crisis. Usually, the results are intellectual. Still, in the long-term perspective, they aim to change the academic field and even society as a whole. It is quite easy to understand by looking through any social science research topics or even the topics on English literature.
We hope you got excited! The main point of this collection of humanities and social science research questions that Custom-writing.org experts have prepared is to get you inspired to write a paper! It starts with the examples of most interesting and controversial sociology topics. Then you’ll find titles and ideas for essays on anthropology, culture, literature, philosophy, and political science. We hope that this article will be useful not only for college students, but also for everyone interested in the field of humanities and social science.
📜 HumSS (Humanities and Social Sciences)
What is HumSS? Who even needs these studies? If you think about the nature of humans, you realize that we are all social creatures. Yes, even introverts are!
Humanities and social sciences are essential for our development. Let’s also see why practical research topics for HumSS students are so important.
HumSS studies our behavior in all contexts possible. It creates a complex overview of our nature on both individual and intercultural scales. Our identities, heritage, and culture are what make us conscious human beings. Also, religion is included as a prominent social science research title.
However, humanities and social sciences go beyond the topic of self-exploration and philosophy. They overview global political and economic issues. Therefore, political science research questions are also included. Together with sociology, it helps create the fullest picture of how the world works.
Moreover, the best thing about humanities is that it combines knowledge about the present and the past to create the model of our future development. Learning on our own mistakes and reinventing the best ideas from the past is the most effective strategy!
Students who chose HumSS as their major acquire many valuable skills. They develop critical thinking, effective communication, quick situation analysis, and objective decision making. With such a set of abilities, students are ready to take the leadership positions!
👪 Social Science Research Topics
Sociology is all about our behavior as individuals and society. You can see that from the social studies research questions here. Relationships always matter. In fact, they might be the only thing important in our lives!
Social science research paper topics on marriage might be among the most relevant nowadays. More and more people realize that focusing on the family is vital for their self-development. So check out the best 130 sociology research topics below!
Hopefully, you can find the one sociology research paper topic that you fall in love with. And it’s not an over-exaggeration because passion is everything!
📝 181 Sociology Research Topics
- What is the perception of aging in different cultures?
- The changes in social interactions associated with aging
- Ambient awareness and its connection to social media
- The concept of affirmative action
- Anti-vaccination as a new viral social movement
- What is the social background of a spreading anti-vaccination movement?
- Critical race theory: the analysis of the Black Lives Matter activist movement
- What reactions can be observed in response to Black Lives Matter on social media?
- Sociology: class systems and their social rules in different cultures
- The most apparent clashes between social classes in the world
- The phenomena of cliques: a case study of high school students
- Criminal organizations: social behavior of cliques in prison
- What kind of people tend to form cliques in high school?
- The Me Too movement as an example of conflict theory
- Conflict theory: how to prevent the fight over power in families?
- What are the leading root causes of consumerism?
- Conscious shopping as an opposition of consumerism
- The effects of consumerism on environmental sustainability
- Capitalist globalization and the ways consumerism supports it
- Counterculture as a social mainstream: a case study of a specific country
- What are the benefits of countercultures for society?
- The critical differences between cults and sects
- Do cults have anything to do with religion?
- Is cultural appropriation a negative thing?
- Why does cultural appropriation cause political contestations?
- The social effects of cultural assimilation: an overview
- How to differentiate race and ethnicity, and why are these terms so similar?
- Can new technology increase the gender pay gap?
- Sociological perspective: the connection between economic inequality and family issues
- The reasons why “fandom” should be a verb
- Why is being a fan of something more than just being a loyal customer?
- A social study: are fashion trends connected to culture?
- Fashion as a distraction from important issues for society
- Collective intelligence: the phenomena of the flocking behavior
- Sociology and gender issues: a case study of freedom of movement
- Mass media and fear of missing out: Millennials can’t live without updates
- The social role of mass media communication
- How do people treat their nationality in different countries?
- Social issues highlighted by the Occupy movement
- What effects does online dating have on real-life social connections?
- How do body image issues change with age?
- How do life quality dimensions occur nowadays?
- Time budget as the best way to balance life as a student
- Studying social behavior for more effective advertising
- What is the socio-cultural context of shopping?
- The social environment aspects that make youth migrate
- What political aspects influence occupational rating?
- The development of deviance in the youngest generation
- Social studies: what effect does deviance have on crime rates?
- Does reading more books make people more or less social?
- How do life values progress with the development of personality?
- How did new technologies change youth social leisure?
- What effects does parents’ separation have on children?
- Interracial adoption and child development: the sociological perspective
- Where are the limits of parental control over the child’s personality?
- Single parenting and child’s social connection: a critical analysis
- The most effective working ideas for regulation parent-child relationships
- Unconventional families: are they beneficial for child development?
- The specificity of growing up in a LGBTQ family
- When should children be taught gender studies?
- Social studies: is there a connection between the class and success?
- Globalism and international marriages: an overview of the development
- The national identity of children from international marriages
- Is foreign education really more beneficial for professional growth?
- The reasons why common racial stereotypes are born
- How does economic prosperity influence the feeling of patriotism?
- Do some societies need patriotism studies, and why?
- What social media social groups prefer: a case study?
- The influence does social media have on education?
- Why do social media make people feel lonelier instead of connecting them?
- The root causes of social media addiction: social aspects
- The correlation between age and social media addiction
- Socializing: the bond between women watching romantic movies together
- Can social media ever be a safe place?
- Do regulations help keep your personal data safe in social media?
- The types of social media different nationalities prefer
- Blogging as a new profession: the changes in social relationships
- Adverse effects of advertisement and social media on eating disorders
- What is the role of women from the spiritual point of view?
- What are the examples of gender-neutral professions?
- The impact of mass media on the spread of gender stereotypes
- The change of the gender roles in modern families
- Studying gender issues at school: advantages and disadvantages
- Do children have lower self-esteem if they don’t have gender studies?
- Religion and sex: why do some countries against sex education at schools?
- If there is sex education, should there be relationship education as well?
- Social aspects of the phenomenon of bullying in schools
- Why is it so hard to prevent bullying?
- High school sweethearts: the rates of failed marriages
- Who are hipsters, and what are their life values?
- Is it healthy for children to be forced into pursuing a career in sport?
- The development of the most recent subcultures: a case study
- How do stereotypes about generations affect self-esteem: Millennials
- Nationalism at a young age: the strong influence of parents
- Does a modern lifestyle require adding food education to the curriculum?
- Food and culture: the influence on well-being
- Family traditions connected with food: social aspects
- What is the connection between food and national identity: a case study?
- Eating habits: how have new technologies been ruining long time family traditions?
- Do people who have family dinners have more reliable social connections?
- Vegetarianism: social perception of it in different cultures
- Gender roles in cooking at home: what change has feminism brought?
- The connection between spirituality and the raw food diet
- Social effects of the growing fast-food chains around the world
- Is the traditional food culture dying because of fast food?
- The phenomenon of brunch: a case study of different countries
- The issue of national language in different countries
- What affects the productivity of students during their free time?
- Why does police brutality appear, and what are the social consequences?
- The new type of change-making: social media activism
- Is social media activism as effective as old-fashioned protesting on the streets?
- Social stratification and the reasons why it is worse than it seems
- How do superstitions shape cultural stereotypes?
- How does the lack of face-to-face interaction cause misunderstandings in social media?
- Body language, and why should we take online interviews seriously?
- The influence of mass media and youth self-determination
- Ethical issues with targeted advertising and nudging
- How do schools and higher education institutions work together?
- Social studies on gender issues: why some women are happier being housewives?
- The impact of the daily family routine on a child’s healthy development
- Gender and suicide rates in a chosen country: quantitative research
- What is the definition of healthy social connections in the workplace?
- Youth culture: why can’t older generations understand it?
- Twitter: how has it developed to become a political platform?
- Is there a connection between gender and spirituality?
- The social context of protests against poverty gaps
- How does a strong mother-child bond teach children the art of love?
- The solutions for gender biases related to growing children
- Royal families: does the title determine the affection of people?
- The recent tendencies in career counseling in high schools
- The influence of parents in children’s musical preferences
🗿 Anthropology & Culture Research Topics
Let’s talk about anthropology research topics. It studies our ancestors under the influence of different environments in the past. Quantitative research topics about the HumSS strand of anthropology may include studying cultural, physical, evolutional, and biological issues.
Cultural anthropology research topics are especially popular. Therefore, we included the best research topics for HumSS students possible!
However, it is not a typical list of anthropology research paper topics because we also added up some ethnographic research topics too!
💡 47 Anthropology Research Topics & Ideas
- Cultural anthropology: western music as the form of cultural capital
- The development of graphic practices in medicine
- The impact of theatre and film on modern public morality
- Intercultural fiction: high tech from the perspective of ethnography
- Visualization of the physical world to model differences in human behavior
- Enlightenment and social order: a relevant issue in anthropology
- Aboriginal inhabitants of Andes: the role of religion in politics
- Charismatic healer: a case study of treating addictions
- How does Hinduism influence the political development of India?
- What is the relationship between drug addiction and juridical responses?
- Anthropology and genetics: the causes of sickle cell anemia in Senegal
- Community identity and heritage after the wars
- Heritage policy and cultural resource in San Francisco Bay
- The influence of settler nationalism on the US anthropology
- Cultural patrimony and African past in the US
- Japanese women’s speech pattern and their connection to nationalism
- National identity: how is Italian fashion connected to Chinese?
- Anthropology and genetics: what was the effect of the Neolithic revolution on cognitive abilities?
- Human interaction with the new technology: cognitive abilities changing
- Nationalists’ violence in Mumbai from the psychoanalytic point of view
- Evolutionary changes in the mindsets of the indigenous tribal people
- How do our biological and race differences affect medicine?
- Collective identity: sects and Islam in modern Turkey
- What was folklore like in primitive society?
- Sexuality and gender issues in Ancient Egypt: an overview
- Is there a correlation between gender and the process of treating cancer?
- Shorthand technique and the Japanese using it hundreds of years ago
- Social assistance as the center of livelihood in African regions
- Owning land in Indonesia as a native, and what are the risks?
- Turkey: how are nationalism and the Alevi community connected?
- What are the significant issues with mining industries in Africa?
- International tobacco companies: what are the risks connected with it?
- Historical analysis of the migrant workers from South Asia
- Genetic ancestry of African roots in all of us: secrets of DNA
- How does the Chinese government intervene with the health of the citizens?
- Indigenous people of North America and the impact of Western culture on them
- What is the relationship between politics and cultural anthropology?
- How does modern Islamic society react to interracial marriages?
- Human behavior and moving towards automation
- The development of the political correctness up to nowadays
📚 Humanities Topics on Literature
When there are too many quantitative research titles for HumSS students, it’s time for good literary research paper topics!
Literary research topics are mainly about reinventing the known ideas, but it requires as much effort as other researches. You would need to use all your creativity to write a quality paper on research topics for literature.
Actually, there are no bad or good literature research paper topics for college students. It would be better, though, if you choose from the latest research topics in English literature.
That’s why we provided you with 50 such research paper topics in literature! And don’t miss Hamlet research paper topics since it’s classic!
✏️ 82 Research Topics in Literature
- Are characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby historically-based?
- Analysis of the symbolic characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
- The unusual behavior of realistic characters in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Life choices of Myrtle Wilson and Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby: compare and contrast
- Analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the philosophical perspective of Sigmund Freud
- The historical base of G.B. Shaw’s Pygmalion: Greek mythology
- How relevant is Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 nowadays?
- The most famous statements from Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea
- What is the meaning of the symbols that often appear across Ernest Hemingway’s works?
- Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: deconstructing the hidden racism
- Getting political: William Blake’s London from the perspective of Marxism
- What was the influence of social context on the works of Shakespeare?
- Economic context in which The Great Gatsby was written
- Stella’s issues in Dickens’ Great Expectations
- Shakespeare’s discourse on time in the selected sonnets
- Discussing the theme of wildness in the works Jon Krakauer and Jack London
- James Joyce’s The Dead: what is the attitude towards the outsider?
- What is the role of men in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women?
- Analyzing the influence of the class represented in Mark Twain’s work
- C.S. Lewis’ opinion on Chaucer’s works
- Cultural trends in relation to Walt Whitman’s elegy
- John Donne’s poetry in the religious context of England
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: religious theme via characters’ behavior
- Astronomy in Dante’s Divine Comedy: reading between the lines
- What is the role of women in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility?
- American literature: the development of tricksters in fiction
- What are the differences between the romances written by men and women?
- What makes a good love story: a case study of a selected work?
- Should writers know human psychology to write a decent piece?
- The representation of madness in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
- Edmund Blunden and Nella Last’s war literature
- Realism in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- How can literature be used as propaganda?
- The analysis of irony and sarcasm: studying a selected writing
- The influence of the Byronic heroes on the plot development
- Is it possible to avoid clichés in literature?
- How objective are the representations of good and evil in British Literature?
- How influential has feminist literature become nowadays?
- The critical reasons for the exceptional popularity of the Harry Potter series
- Where has the typical image of death come from in literature?
- How to choose the best literature for children?
- Should the characters in children’s literature be gender-neutral?
- Utopian literature and its connection to the American dream
- How influential has Victorian literature been?
- Is fanfiction worth reading: analyzing a selected work from a critic’s perspective
- The most outstanding modernist literature works: an overview
- Do we still need to study mythology, and what does it give?
- The role of invented languages from literary works
- How was the Stream of Consciousness writing style invented?
- Why don’t characters ever give up: analyzing a selected writing
- The American Dream: a case study of The Great Gatsby as a lesson to modern society
📃 Humanities Topics on Philosophy
Research in philosophy has no limits! It may seem like you can write a paper on pretty much anything your mind comes up with. Turning it into a philosophical question is not a way to create a good research title for HumSS students. Philosophy is all about analyzing the source and the development of knowledge.
We know that coming up with a qualitative research topic about the HumSS strand is never easy. But we have already taken care of everything! Just look through our list of 30 best philosophy research topics here.
🎓 30 Philosophy Research Topics & Questions
- The philosophy of war and movements for peace
- Analyzing the causes of wars: will there be peace on our planet?
- Aesthetic: can appreciating the beauty save the world?
- The most difficult ethical questions in the field of health care
- Medical miracle of life: the ethics behind the current reproductive technologies
- Morality vs. social rules from the perspective of positivism
- Animal rights in different countries: dogs as friends vs. dogs as daily food
- Mind philosophy and the issues with dualism
- Is determinism healthy for the development of society?
- The importance of critical thinking as a part of forming an objective thought
- How does scientific realism impact the judgments of scientists?
- What are the negative sides of pragmatism in the US?
- Analyzing the philosophy behind the Copenhagen interpretation
- Atheist and Christian types of existentialism: compare and contrast
- How is the concept of idealism applied in everyday life?
- Why getting rich doesn’t make us as happy as we think it would?
- The idea of happiness: can we control how happy we are?
- The development of morality over the past fifty years
- Where does the new moral code come from?
- Why is it so hard to understand other people’s feelings?
- The concept of free will from the perspective of religious people
- Utopia: how should a perfect government look like?
- The possibility of the lifestyle from the movie La Belle Verte
- Justice and wars: who has the right to judge?
- Afterlife: the Eastern concept of karma seeds
- Karma laws on practice: a case study of Geshe Michael Roach’s work
- The theory of meaning: how do semantic theories work?
- Semantic theory vs. foundational theory: compare and contrast
- The importance of women’s impact on the development of philosophy
- The philosophy of Black Holes: the impact on everyday life
✊ Political Science Research Topics
Political issues are not among easy research topics for HumSS students. The thing is, it is not only about the government. Political science research paper topics include everything to do with power, and often it works with history and geography as well.
Moreover, social and cultural issues can also be considered while writing about political science research topics. On the other hand, it gives you a chance to choose what you like!
Check out our collection of 120 politics and international relations research topics!
🌍 173 Political Science Research Topics
- How do mass media affect political attitudes and statistics?
- Why is awareness of public choice so important?
- What is the role of framing in the political field?
- The root causes of low voter turnout: a case study of a chosen country
- Can advertisements influence political views negatively?
- Analyzing political sophistication and blaming the government
- Why do people want the government to be responsible for everything?
- The influence of dual nationality on the political views
- Social media as the reason for mass actions as political protests and violence
- How does personality affect and shape political attitudes?
- Collective action and public policies: the correlation
- Changes in public policies – changes in public opinion
- How are regulatory policies implemented with the help of enforcement?
- The relationship between law-making and bureaucracy
- Intergovernmental relations and the role of fiscal federalism
- What is the role of public policy diffusion in the innovation?
- Protectionist policy benefits
- Public policy: the flawed processes of taxation and budgeting
- Politics and the application of behavioral game theory
- Comparative politics: executive vs. legislative branches
- Comparative politics: what led the US to a two-party system?
- How do different political institutions affect political outcomes?
- Democratic performance and political institutions from a citizen’s perception
- Democracy and government accountability in the US
- How interested is the democratic party in the material well-being of the citizens?
- Coalition and government formation: analysis of the political institutions
- What is the role of political institutions in environmental policy?
- The expectation and reality of the institutional performance
- What is the relationship between the electoral and party systems?
- The effectiveness of the party systems: contrast and compare two countries
- The importance of institutional design in different countries
- International relations: how are ethnic conflicts managed?
- The negative effects of interstate rivalry on the political situation
- Who should protect human rights on the international level?
- What are the differences between wars and militarized interstate disputes?
- The most effective negotiation methods on the example of the selected war
- The best ways for multinational companies to rule out a legal dispute
- What are the economic consequences of bringing a legal dispute to a court?
- The process of elections and its agenda: a case study
- Negotiation: hostage situations in a foreign country
- How do volunteers help as mediators: analyzing the UN cases?
- What are the non-standard but effective methods to resolve disputes?
- How are future mediators prepared for a hostage situation?
- The aspects that affect the outcome of the dispute
- Is it better to settle the issue via a mediator or a civil court?
- The problem with the modern whistleblowers in the US
- Are there any media that present unbiased news coverage?
- The influence of personal goals on the political leaders
- How do right-wing and left-wing parties settle disputes?
- The science of collaboration: a case of Afghanistan
- Analyzing the US oil conflict with Iran
- The disputes on a national security post 9/11 events
- How is authority regulated in the areas of the Arctic?
- Comparing and contrasting the foreign policies of different countries
- How to solve the issue with prisoners between Africa and America?
- How is cultural heritage preserved in post-war countries?
- What are the root causes of the civil wars: a case study?
- Should protest movements be banned on the stage of promoting via social media?
- The role of political powers in the Ukrainian division process
- Repression in Syria: what can we learn from it?
- The migrant crisis in Europe and its outcomes for the political situation
- Yemen crisis: what solutions are implemented?
- The detailed analysis of Reagan’s policies
- Iraq war, and how did it influence the crime rates?
- The root causes of the rebellions in the Central African Republic
- Political theories: perfect government from the Aristotle’s perspective
- How to change our “disciplinary society” by Foucault?
- Plato’s Republic: analyzing the pros and cons of this concept
- Why would Vladimir Lenin’s communism never work?
- Creating a model of an anarchist society and analyzing the outcomes
- Ruling out political and armed conflicts: compare and contrast
- Globalization: are current political leaders dependent on each other more than before?
- How does the legislative process change in case of urgent implementation?
- Social movements created after the wars
- What are the benefits of pardoning criminals for society?
- Fighting corruption: stories of success from European countries
- Globalization: how do cultural perspectives affect governance?
- Local features or why all countries can’t use the same environmental policies?
- The importance of the World Trade Organization for market forces
- What is the role of youth NGOs in national politics?
- The art of managing urban regions’ cooperation
- Federal crimes in the US and Sweden: compare and contrast
- Analyzing religion as a new social power
- Why do justice inequalities still appear after solving the conflict?
- What is the influence of the morality of criminal law?
- What difference does the judicial review make, and why do we need it?
- Police interrogation and the effects of social factors on it
- Custody: how can the system avoid gender biases?
- Public safety and its review from the perspective of judges
- What were the strengths of the most famous legislators in US history?
- Civil liberties: why don’t people trust national security?
- Public administrations: the development of the private sector in the US
- Developing communities: compare and contrast different countries
- Challenges of regulating environmental issues via laws
- Public administration and federal emergency: an overview
- How is the transportation sector secured by the government?
- Management effectiveness of public safety in the US
- The slow transition of former socialist countries: a case study
- Constitutional law and existentialism: a new perspective
- Political responsibility: tolerating each other as a virtue
- Neopatrimonialism and why is it not healthy for societies?
- Comparing the process of recruitment in different African countries
- Analyzing the issues with democracy: a case study of Kenya
- Communism in China: hierarchical structure of the party
- Comparative politics: why are the relationship between Japan and the US so tense?
- Is there a possibility of a new Soviet Union in the future?
- Politics and international relations’ role in the causes of global poverty
- Ruling out the issues with human rights in Uganda
- Amnesty International: is it biased, and what are the controversies?
- Corporations in Japan and the policies towards foreign actors
- Wars in the Arctic circle: what benefits will the winner get?
- Compare and contrast moral and legal aspects of tortures
- Politics behind the international military interventions
- Can all wars be considered religious: a case study?
- How does the government protect the victims of human rights violations?
- Voting patterns: can we predict the outcome via statistical analysis?
- Analyzing the justice systems in aboriginal societies
- Democratic political theory: what are the main issues with education?
- Political theories and history: learning from Rousseau
- Statistical analysis of American politics: decision making of the Supreme Court
- How is rational choice theory implemented in politics?
🌍 Conclusion
Let’s sum up! Altogether, this article is a treasure for HumSS students that are struggling with starting their research. Finding a relevant and interesting topic is the first and one of the essential writing steps. That is why the ideas above should be a great help for you!
We have covered various areas so that any HumSS student can benefit from it. There are precious topics on sociology and social studies. They’ll allow you to work on multiple issues in the social behavior of humans.
There is also a section on anthropology and ethnography. It would help you to dive deep into the history and culture of humans. Topics related to politics give you an overview of the most relevant international and national cases that need to be analyzed.
There is no need to describe philosophy topics. You can find there some topics about karma, the afterlife, and other questions that humanity is always concerned about.
All in all, these lists are an excellent source of inspiration for you! Just choose one topic you find interesting, adjust or paraphrase it, and start writing. So your next step should be checking out our article about how to write a research paper!
Further reading:
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