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Intro to Research (1.0)

Introduction

If you're already comfortable coming up with search terms and filters, or if you've tried searching and you're just not coming up with anything, there are some additional tips and tricks you can use to find additional research! First, you can modify your search to find articles that are more relevant to your research question - depending on what sort of results you've found so far, you may find it useful to either broaden or narrow your search. You can also use literature reviews and bibliographies to get a sense for what research has already been conducted on your topic, and mine them for additional sources.

Modifying Your Search

The words and terms that you use while searching can affect the results that you get (whether you're searching a library database or Google!). When you group these terms together, it's called a search string. This can be something as simple as "literacy instruction" or as complicated as "literacy instruction AND (elementary OR early childhood) NOT english language learner".

Unfortunately, you'll very rarely find all of the articles you need during your very first search - half of the research process is being able to modify your search as you go. If you're having trouble finding relevant results, you may want to modify your search string. How you modify your search will depend on your results – sometimes you get too many results (see "Narrow Your Search"), or too few (see "Broaden Your Search"). If you find your results are completely off base, you may need to re-think your key words and start from scratch.

Here are a few general tips for modifying your search string:

  • Boolean Operators. These are words like AND, OR, or NOT. You can insert these to search for multiple terms ("literacy AND elementary" will produce results that feature the terms literacy and elementary); to include alternative terms ("elementary OR early childhood" will produce results for both of these key words); or to exclude search terms ("NOT english language learner" would exclude all results about English language learners).
  • Phrase vs. Word Searching. If you’re searching for a particular phrase, like “middle school” or “achievement gap” and you notice that your results only contain one of those words, you could try forcing the database to search for a phrase rather than individual words by putting the phrase in quotation marks. This tells the database or search engine to look for the full phrase ("English language learner") rather than results that have any of these words ("English", "language", and "learner"). 
  • Synonyms/Plurals. Most search engines and databases automatically include close synonyms, plurals, and alternative spellings (color, colors, colours, hue), but not all do. Searching for synonyms and/or plurals might increase the number of results you retrieve, while searching for the exact terms will limit your results.
  • Truncation. If the database doesn’t automatically search alternate forms or spellings, a way around this is to use truncation or wildcards.  This allows you to use a symbol in place of a letter or letters.  You may need to check to see what the truncation sign is in the database, and if there are any rules for its use. Common truncation signs are #, *, ?, !, and $. For example, “teach*” returns teacher, teachers, and teaching.

If you've tried searching and you aren't getting enough results, you may need to broaden your search. (If you still aren't finding relevant results, you may need to re-think your key words or search terms. If you need help, you can always email us at library@relay.edu!).

  • Search additional sources and databases. If you're using a particular database like ERIC or Education Research Complete, consider including additional databases or searching a new database. If you've been using the Relay library search, try browsing Google Scholar or your local public library. If nothing else, searching a different database might give you ideas for new key words to try!
  • Eliminate concepts. If you're using terms like "AND" or "NOT", try removing one or both of them, since both of these limit results.
  • Add synonyms or related terms. You can use the "OR" function to add similar key words. If you're not sure what words to add, you could look at any relevant results you've found so far. Most articles and databases will include a list of keywords or subject headings; or you could look to see if the database you're using has a thesaurus option.
  • Look for related articles. Most databases automatically suggest similar articles, or provide the option to search for similar results. If they don't, you can also manually search for similar results by looking for articles written by the same author or published in the same journal.
  • Use a cited reference search. Look at any relevant results you've found so far - are there any useful articles listed in the bibliography or works cited? You can also use Google Scholar to look up which other articles have cited a relevant article (learn how to do this in the box above!).

If you've tried searching and you're getting too many results (or your results are too broad), you may need to narrow your search. (If you still aren't finding relevant results, you may need to re-think your key words or search terms. If you need help, you can always email us at library@relay.edu!).

  • Search more targeted databases. Most aggregators like ProQuest, EBSCO, or JSTOR will let you choose which databases you're searching. If you are looking for best practices on guided reading, you probably don't need to include medical databases in your search.
  • Look for limit options. Look for filters on the sidebar - you can usually filter by date, type of publication, and subject at the very least.
  • Add "AND" or "NOT" concepts. What are some other synonyms or keywords that you can add to your search? You might look at relevant articles that you've found to find additional concepts to include. You can also use "NOT" to exclude particular words, but be careful - it's easy to accidentally exclude articles that might just mention a term in passing.
  • Search by a specific field. If you're doing a full text search (which most databases automatically do), try just searching the title, abstract, or subject – these are the fields most likely to contain important words. For example, if an article is primarily about gender and student mastery in STEM classes, it’s highly likely that the term ‘gender’ will be included in the title, abstract, or subject. If you do a full text search, there are a lot of articles that might just mention the word ‘gender’ in passing.
  • Combine searches. Many databases have a “Search History” feature. You can “AND” or “OR” past searches together. “AND” is the one you’ll want to use if you’re narrowing your search.

Using Literature Reviews and Bibliographies

Literature Reviews

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a systematic analysis of published research - 'literature' - on a specific topic or research question. They typically provide a description, brief summary, and critical evaluation of works that address the topic or question, and often give a perspective of the state of the field and where it is heading.

Literature reviews (also frequently titled 'systematic reviews') can be published as works in and of themselves, but many papers - particularly theses and dissertations - have a literature review section where the authors identify and acknowledge key works in the field.

How can literature reviews help me in my research?

Literature reviews can be exceptionally helpful as you begin your research! First, a literature review is a great place to start if you want to get a feel for what sort of work has already been done in the field. They're useful for providing a general overview of a particular topic.

Literature reviews can also be a great place to look for additional sources to back up your argument. If you're looking for research to justify your research question, skimming a literature review (and its bibliography) can be a great 'one-stop-shopping' resource to find new articles and research on a particular topic.

Bibliographies

How can bibliographies help me in my research?

Skimming a paper's bibliography can be useful in a number of different ways! First, skimming a bibliography can give you an idea of what sort of research the author has done. Has this author done their research? What sources are they citing? Do you notice any gaps in their research?

Bibliographies can also be a great place to find additional sources! This is particularly helpful if you've found the perfect article and you want to find something similar to it; or if you've found an article that's really close to what you want, but just not quite perfect. If you've found the perfect article, looking through the bibliography may help you to find similar articles on the same topic. If your article is close, but not quite what you're looking for, checking the bibliography might highlight similar articles that are more in line with the research you are doing. (This works in reverse, too! Some websites and databases, including Google Scholar, offer a 'Cited By' feature that shows what other articles have cited a particular resource. This can be a useful way to find more recently published articles on a similar topic.)