More Grad Projects Ideas

I was thinking during this weekend that it might be interesting to something having to do with marine life, swimming, women in the military, how forms of entertainment (movies, books, tv, games) affect us, rock music, men vs. women in sports, how has swimming developed over time? how pieces of fiction influence the world around us, comparing events in movies to events in real life or analysis of animal intelligence. I really like all of these topics, but I feel like my real problem, is how can I turn all of these topics into something that I can actively do out in the community? All of these topics I have no doubt would make an interesting Research Paper, but wht can I do to get first hand information from people in the community? So my problem now, is what do i pick as my topic, and how can I turn that into something I can get information from people in the community?