Research Paper Issue

I am still in the beginning stages of formulating my research topic, but here are two topics that I find interesting:

1)   Are students in online classes receiving the same quality of writing instruction as their counterparts who take traditional classes?  Or…Is the teaching of writing the same in an online classroom as it is in a traditional classroom?  I am honestly still trying to formulate the right question; I know what I mean, but am having a difficult time writing out the issue.  I am basically looking to discover whether students in online classrooms are getting the same quality of instruction as traditional students.  Is one superior to the other? 

My reason for researching this issue is that (like Crowley mentioned), I already have an opinion, but I would like to research it more to see if my feelings are correct.  By researching the issue, I hope to become a more effective instructor in both online and traditional settings.  I am hoping to find additional techniques to help all of my students write better.

2)  Another issue that I am concerned with is Plagiarism.  While most students know what it is, I struggle with how to avoid it in the first place.  Is plagiarism caused by students who ‘truly’ do not know how it happens, or is it caused by students who don’t really care if they are caught?  Can instructors do something to lessen plagiarism?  This is an issue to me because for the life of me, I cannot understand why someone would take such a risk.  It saddens me when it happens, and I would like to see it diminished in all of my classes.