Brainstorming Keywords on Your Topic
Before you start searching on your topic, it's helpful to consider the various possible keywords you could use in searching. Here's why:
1. The more words you put into a database search, the fewer results you'll get, so breaking down your research question or topic down into the most important keywords is critical.
2. Computers are clueless and don't know that certain words are used interchangeably. For example, they don't know that a word like salary means about the same thing as earnings, wages, or pay, so it's important to think of terms that mean the same thing.
3. The terms that you naturally think of when you think about your topic may not be the same words that experts use to write about the topic.
This requires you to think not only of the terms that naturally come to your mind, but to brainstorm terms that mean the same thing or are related. You can identify other keywords by looking for a Wikipedia entry on your topic or simply doing a Google search on your topic and seeing what related or synonymous words are used in the titles of results. Try to think of as many synonyms or related terms as you can.
Here's an example research question: Does the presence of a smartphone impact people's ability to pay attention in face-to-face conversations?
The most important keywords are smartphone, attention, and face-to-face conversations. Now, I will brainstorm other keywords that are similar to those original terms:
Smartphone Attention Face-to-face conversation
Cell phone Focus Face-to-face interaction
Mobile phone Concentration Face-to-face communication
Mobile Device Distraction Face-to-face dialogue
Listening