Sociology 15 (Xiong): Research Strategies & Search Terms

#1 Identify your question. Identify the key concepts and related terms. Tip:  You may want to re-phrase your question. Background reading can help you identify related terms and further define or narrow your topic. 

#2 Find an appropriate search tool. Consider your subject matter, discipline of study, type of information needed (e.g. peer reviewed articles)

#3 Start with a simple search based on your key concepts. Tip: You may also have to look at literature that refers to one (not all) aspects of your research question.

#4 Use specific search strategies.

• Use AND to join dissimilar terms. Use OR to join synonyms or related terms.
• Truncate words with * to pick up variations of that word.
• Use "quotation marks" for phrase searching.
• Use database filters e.g. limit to scholarly journals.
• Consider searching in a specific field e.g. title (article title) or source (journal title)

#5 Search and skim results. Look for the language and terms that researchers use and that the database assigns to articles (Subjects).

#6 Switch up your searches.  Use promising new terminology.  Your search may become more sophisticated.

#7 Explore bibliographies to locate other articles, books, or authors who have written on the same topic. Find known items. Tip: See "Find a Known Item" tab on this guide.

#8 Explore citing literature to locate other articles, books, or authors who have written on the same topic. Look for "cited by" information to access citing articles.