You can use these strategies in ProQuest databases such as Sociological Abstracts.
pre/# is used to search for terms in proximity to each other in a specific order; # is replaced with the number of words permitted between the search terms.
Sample Search: parent* pre/2 educational (within 2 words & in order)
- This would retrieve articles with no more than two words between parent* and educational (in this order) e.g. "Parent practices and educational achievement" OR "Parents on Educational Attainment" OR "Parental Values, Educational Attainment" etc.
w/# is used to search for terms in proximity to each other in any order; # is replaced with the number of words permitted between the search terms.
Sample Search: parent* w/3 educational (within 3 words & in any order)
- This would retrieve articles with no more than three words between parent* and educational (in any order) e.g. "Educational practices of parents" OR "Parents value motivation and education" OR "Educational attainments of Latino parents"
? (the question mark) is used as a wildcard
Sample Search: freshm?n and "college transition"
- This would search for freshman and freshmen.