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GEOG 160 Human Geography
Research Project
Overview
This project is an independent research. You are supposed to select a human geography
topic/issue that is of interest to you. You are required to research the issue and write a
research paper of approximately 5-12 pages that discusses the nature, origin, and outlook
for that issue. You may consult the instructor for possible research topics or/and talk to a
librarian for useful academic references.
Objectives
The objectives of this research project are threefold: 1) to encourage you to explore, in
some depth, the geographic issues on human activities; 2) to help you develop some basic
research skills (e.g. data acquisition, library searching, etc.); 3) to help you develop your
written communication skills.
Worth
The research project is worth 15% of your course grade.
Due Date
May 1, 2020. Please submit it on Titanium by 11:55 pm.
What to include in your paper?
In your research paper you should firstly address the research topic. Then you need to
analyze the nature of the issue, discuss geographic patterns discovered, provide possible
explanations for the observed pattern, and discuss the future outlook or policy implication
of the issue. You can find a short list of possible topics on page 2 & 3, which you are free
to do, but there are hundreds of other possible issues as well.
Reference
You are required to consult sources such as books or journal articles. You should make
reference to at least one academic source other than the textbook. You must cite any
sources you use. The referencing system you use is up to you (e.g. APA citation style or
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MLA style), but it must be consistent, and the reader must be able to determine exactly
where you got the material from.
You may ask a librarian for useful academic sources (a 24/7 online reference assistance
service is available at: http://www.library.fullerton.edu/services/ask.php).
Formatting Requirements
Your research paper should be of about 5-12 pages in length (including the title page and
bibliography but excluding tables, figures and maps). You may place all your tables,
figures and maps after the text and bibliography. If you have multiple tables, figures
and/or maps, they should be clearly numbered (e.g. Table 1, Table 2, etc.). Your paper
should be typed and double-spaced in 10 or 12 point font. You should include a title page
which clearly indicates the course code (GEOG 160), the title of your research project, as
well as your name and student ID.
Possible Topics
Please note that the topics below are only some suggestions to get you going. There are a
lot of other possibilities. You can choose anything that interests you.
1) Differences in the race composition between California and Michigan (or between Los
Angeles and Detroit). What are the possible reasons for the difference?
2) The top 5 states with highest foreign born population — Why they received more
immigrants than other states?
3) Urban Sprawl in Orange County
4) Family income for whites, blacks, Asians, Native Americans
5) Growth of agribusiness in the Midwest
6) Population aging in the U.S.
7) Language spoken at home in California
8) Poverty Status by ethnicity in California/ New York
9) Interstate or inter-metropolitan migration of immigrants in the U.S.
10) Educational Attainment of Women in California
11) Gentrification in San Francisco
12) Informal economy in ethnic enclaves
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13) Major languages spoken in the U.S.
14) Median age by sex for California, New York and Florida
15) Distribution of a certain ethnicity in the U.S. (e.g. Chinese)
16) Industrialization and deindustrialization in Detroit
17) The city of Rowland Heights – – Chinese, Korean, and other ethnicities
18) Population growth of the Inland Empire
19) The distribution of ethnic restaurants in Orange County
20) Hollywood and its film industry
Please feel free to share your research topics or research ideas on Research Project
Forum.