Choosing Your Keywords
An effective database search depends on a good choice of keywords (you cannot type a question into the database). How do you pull out keywords from your research question or statement to use in your database search?
Here's an example:
Topic: Media
Narrower Topic: Media Violence and teenagers
Research Question: Does media violence cause aggression in teenagers?
Synonyms:
Media Violence OR Television Violence
Aggression OR Destructive Behavior
Teenagers OR Adolescents
Possible Search strategies:
Media Violence AND Aggression AND Teenagers
Television Violence AND Aggression AND Adolescents
Television Violence AND Teenagers AND Destructive Behavior
Media Violence AND Adolescents AND Destructive Behavior