IA Historical Investigation Topics. Stuck between four :S

[dhabyahalk]

I am supposed to have a topic / research question by the end of this week. So far i have narrowed it down to four :

1. to what extent did U.S involvement affect the outcome of the Mexican Revolution?
   
2. to what extent did the Chinese involvement affect the outcome of the Korean War?
   
3. To what extent did Lysenko-ism play a significant role in the creation and existence of Soviet Russia / (or communist china)?
   
4. to what extent did the capaci massacre of Sicily encourage the expansion of crime organized by the Sicilian Mafia?
   

Personally, i'm leaning towards Sicilian mafia, since it is a topic that intrigues me. But the first question, with the Mexican revolution would have a LOT of information available. Which is a downside to numbers 3 and 4.

ARGH. I'm so confused. I love history, i want to do all four. SERIOUSLY. but i have to pick one. so what do you suggest?

THANK YOU.

All you guys need to do is do the poll. I swear i don't have the guts do choose a topic. - I'm such a softie for Historical Investigations.

[Julie]

I can't decide between 1 and 4 Let me think on it for a bit...

[BronxNerd]

Number four sounds the most interesting to me. If I had to read or write my investigation on either four I would choose four. Hope this helps!

[Scade]

To me number 3 sounds the most interesting and original. Especially 1 and 2 lack originality so if you want to do an IA around those topics I would suggest limiting the question further down.

When it comes to number 3 I might reverse the question and ask 'To what extent was Lysenkoism formed by the Soviet ideology?' or something around those lines. Although to determine which way it is better to look at the question you should play close attention to dates and when various ideas and tendencies took hold. Determining cause and effect might be a difficult thing. What I would suggest doing is to try to search if it is possible to get hold of any of Lysenko's writings in English (or whatever language accessible to you) and maybe contrast the ideas portrayed in them to ideas argued by various Soviet ideologues and leaders. You might also try to look at whether Lysenko was simply exploiting the system, or did he genuinely believe in his own ideas.

However, in the end I would go where your own interests lie. It will probably end up being a better and more engaged IA if you do that.

[dubyawhy]

2 is the easiest and very widely used.

3 is original and interesting; but may prove a tad more challenging

[misfit]

if you can find enough information for number four, definitely do it!

if not, go for number one because that'll be easier than the others.

good luck!

[Proletariat]

I feel like I'm just repeating what others have said, but I also agree that number 3 is the most original one. I would avoid 2.

Maybe start on 3, and have 4 as a backup?

[Drake Glau]

I chose 3 and 4. Simply because they seemed like the most focused question of the 4 The first two seemed too broad in my opinion.

[dhabyahalk]

Hello people.

Based on your advice, my personal biases, the lack of resources, and my History Teacher's comments, i have morphed my question into the following:

To what extent did the involvement of Italy in the Cold War influence it's subsequent political corruption?

Here, i can mention the Mafia, and involve myself into politics, and subsequently, have more information, which was the major draw-back to the Sicilian Mafia (number 4) topic.

Thank you all

Just thought i would update