Investigative Essay Writing Tips And Topic Ideas

Some learners are excited about writing an investigative essay. That’s because this assignment entails picking an issue or problem that a student doesn’t understand and then investigating it. But, choosing the problem to investigate is not easy. Ideally, choosing topics for investigative essay is the main challenge for most learners. That’s because there are many and interesting things that a student can investigate. So, what should a learner focus on when asked to write this essay?

Well, the most important thing is to know that this assignment requires you to use research or interview to analyze and uncover facts about an issue. Unfortunately, some learners don’t have the necessary research skills to uncover facts about their chosen issues. And this makes writing investigative essays a challenge to some learners. Luckily, learners can follow the tips shared in this article to write brilliant essays. And if you encounter challenges when drafting your essay, don’t hesitate to seek assistance.

What is an Investigative Essay?

As hinted, investigative writing is about uncovering some information or facts. When writing this essay, you have to research extensively and present the facts that you gather. Educators want learners to find and build-up on the information they have collected and evaluated. Ideally, you have to collect and present strong evidence when writing this essay. This essay can resemble a research paper though it’s less formal. Thus, you can introduce personal opinions and experiences in this essay while you can’t do that with a research paper.

A personal investigative essay definition describes it as a write-up in which a student presents analyzed information collected from research. Essentially, a learner must employ analytical and logical skills when writing this essay. The purpose of writing this essay is to solve an issue or problem. In some cases, educators ask students to answer specific questions in their essays.

Completing this assignment is largely a creative writing process. Unlike other academic assignments, this essay doesn’t require the learner to sound scientific. Instead, students should be skeptical and curious when writing this essay. They should also double-check their sources.

How to Write an Investigative Report Essay

When writing this essay, a student reports findings from their research or investigation. As such, the process of completing this assignment is crucial. Here is a guide on how to make an investigative essay.

• Choose a topic or issue to investigate: Like with most academic writing assignments, you should start with the selection of a topic. As hinted, students have many investigative essay topics to consider. For instance, you can opt to investigate a famous person or event and write an essay about it. Once you’ve done that, brainstorm for the angle to take in your investigation. Ideally, decide on the information to gather and the research design to apply.
• Define your goals: What do you want to find out about the issue or topic? To come up with the goals of your essay, reflect on personal knowledge and interests. Your essay can also focus on a theory that attempts to uncover or explain facts about an issue. Nevertheless, you should set goals that you want to achieve through your investigation.
• Methods: This essay doesn’t have a different structure from the other writing assignments. Ideally, you should start by introducing your topic and setting forth your investigation essay thesis. After that, use appropriate arguments and facts to prove your thesis. Be curious and cast doubts on every viewpoint. Analyze and interpret facts using renowned conceptions or theories. Additionally, avoid being too subjective.
• Cite your sources: You must learn how to cite facts in an essay to enhance the credibility of your investigation. Ideally, find the most appropriate sources when researching and list them down. You can cite different sources when writing this essay. For instance, you can cite credible internet publications, newspaper articles, surveys, personal interviews, videos, and personal experiences. Nevertheless, check and analyze the content of any source you want to cite in your essay.

The Format of a Good Investigative Essay

Like most academic write-ups, this essay has three main sections. These are the introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Introduction: If you don’t know how to start an investigative essay, you can have a hard time completing this section of your write-up. The introduction should set a tone for the entire essay. It should also give the audience a hint of what you will be discussing in the rest of the essay. Also, include your thesis statement towards the end of the introduction to tell your readers the point you intend to make in the essay. Your thesis is a topic sentence that provides a direction for the entire essay. Ideally, use the introduction to ease readers into the topic and tell them what your essay is about.
• Body: This is the section where you provide facts and information to support findings from your investigation. Ideally, this part of your essay should support your thesis. It’s the most laborious and largest part of the essay. That’s because you state and support the main points of the essay with factual evidence. Every point you include in the body should support your main argument or thesis. And the evidence you include should be valid and clear. Focus on forming an organized and cohesive body that includes all the main points you found during the investigation.
• Conclusion: The conclusion should tie everything together. Show your readers that you uncovered useful information about the issue or topic. Show how your essay has proved the findings of your investigations and what that means. At this point, ensure that your readers know your stance on the issue or topic. Use the right words to show your readers that your essay is coming to an end. For instance, use words like “in conclusion”, “as you can see”, and “in retrospect” as your conclusion’s signpost. Ideally, you should let your readers know that you’re concluding your essay. You can also summarize the main points or restate your thesis statement.

Good Investigative Essay Topics to Consider

The topic you choose for this assignment will determine how easy or complex it will be. Therefore, be careful when selecting a topic for your essay. Generally, students should start with a few wacky and interesting ideas. If you don’t select a topic you’re interested in or passionate about, you will have a hard time completing this assignment. Even convincing your readers that your essay is based on truth or facts will be difficult. Therefore, choose a topic you’re comfortable researching and writing about. Here are sample topics to consider when writing an investigative essay.

1. How social media can cause a drastic invasion of privacy
2. How television can low mental capacity
3. How virtual reality can shape the future
4. Can AI and computers be better teachers than humans?
5. Can medical marijuana be a viable treatment?
6. How daily exercise benefits the human body
7. Smoking cigarettes- Investigating the pros and cons of the habit
8. Effects of retirement on the mental and physical well-being of a person
9. How the health of a person changes with age
10. How sporting stars become celebrities
11. How individual sports and team sports differ
12. An investigation of sporting greatness
13. The future of cryptocurrencies- Investigating the blockchain
14. The evolution of online gambling
15. How music can change your mood
16. How the choice of music reflects the personality of an individual
17. How serious is global warming?
18. Can a single person make any difference in the world?
19. How technology is making humans anti-social
20. How social media has created celebrities

Pick any of these topics and then follow the guidelines provided here to write a winning essay. Always remember that the primary goal of this essay is to show your thorough knowledge and understanding of the topic without being biased. Therefore, take your time to extensively research the issue or topic. Also, come up with ways of interpreting and presenting your research findings in an organized way throughout the essay. Additionally, articulate all viewpoints of the topic or issue under investigation.

Helpful Tips and Insights

• Pick a topic or issue you are interested in.
• Start by asking a relevant question and then focus on finding information that will answer it.
• Don’t choose a too narrow or too broad topic or issue to investigate.
• Take notes and list your sources when investigating the issue or topic.
• If unsure about how the educator wants you to complete the assignment, look for an investigative essay example and read it first.
• Always consider what your audience would like to know about the issue or topic when investigating or researching it.
• Start by providing a background of the topic to help your readers understand the major concepts.
• Make comparisons and distinctions among or between explanations, issues, and viewpoints.
• Include good supporting evidence in your essay.
• Be vivid and clear in your writing
• End your essay with a conclusion that wraps up everything together while showing the readers that you have done what you set out to do.
• Contact a professional writer service to get help.

Whether you’re writing sociology or investigative journalism essay, don’t forget to include or cite scholarly sources. However, students can provide personal experiences to prove their extensive knowledge of the issue or topic under investigation. Including personal experiences shows that the student can relate the topic to real-life situations. Nevertheless, make sure that your essay remains unbiased. And once you’re done writing, proofread your essay to eliminate all typing, spelling, grammatical, and factual errors.