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McNair Scholars Program

Keywords and Search Strategies

A. "Generating and Using Keywords" (by Arizona State University): This video explains how to determine keywords/concepts. It also explains the importance of finding synonyms or related concepts.

Research Question: How does play video games affect teenage girls?

 

Concept 1

AND

Concept 2

AND

Concept 3

Extract the major concepts from your research question.

teenage

 

girls

 

“video games”

List alternatives for each concept:

  • These can be synonyms, or they can be specific examples of the concept
  • Use single words or short phrases.
  • Find additional terms in abstracts and summaries of articles.

 

Search Terms

Search Terms

Search Terms

adolescent

female

“online games”

OR

OR

OR

teens

“teenage girls”

Nintendo

OR

OR

OR

 

 

 

OR

OR

OR

 

 

 

 

 

 

B. Watch "Using Boolean Operators" (by Pfaul Library"): This video explains how to combine search terms to narrow or broaden your search of library databases.

 

Developing a Research or Guiding Question

"Developing a Research or Guiding Question" (by Arizona State University): This video will help you understand the difference between a topic and a research question. It will also help you develop good research questions.

Using RefWorks

Go to the Reference Management with RefWorks page for instructions on:

  • Setting up RefWorks account
  • Using RefWorks to:
    • Store and manage reference information
    • Integrate RefWorks with Microsoft Word/Google Docs
    • Produce quick citations/reference lists

Librarian Contact Information

Photo of librarian Barbara Anderson

Barbara Anderson, Ed.D.
Head of Instruction and Learning

Office: 1030 AUD
Phone: 312-341-3647

Email Me