Possible Things to Research

Since I chose to do my research project on a person that isn't famous or well-known, I'm faced with many challenges on how to incorporate academic research into my project.. I was thinking about researching how probable it is for someone who became pregnant at 16 to keep the baby. I also planned to incorporate the odds of someone dropping out of high school to go back and get their GED, like my mother did. She has worked her way up from being just a file clerk at an insurance company, to the "Supervising Claims Adjuster" where she presently works. I also wished to research the form of cancer my mother had, particularly the statistics of surviving the cancer. I figured showing all of these odds and statistics would help show how incredibly strong and determined my mother is, which is why I wish to model my life after hers. Additionally, I was thinking about researching the typical mother/daughter relationship and comparing the "typical" to the specific relationship my mother and I share. Any other ideas as to how I could incorporate more scholarly and academic research into this?