Research Guides: GNSCI 126: Getting Started

Developing a Research Question

An effective research question requires analysis and is appropriately scoped to the size of a project.

Create a Mind Map

A mind map is the visualization of a subject and its related concepts. For example, if you were going to write a paper on Fashion History, you would need to narrow it down. Using a mind map, you could visualize it's sub-topics until you found a good fit. These sub-topics can serve as a good starting point for your keyword searches.

There are several free tools online for creating a mind map, but sometimes it is easiest to use pen and paper!

Mindmup.com
You can use this free service to create a mind map of your own.
Coggle.it
A simple free mind mapping service

Concept Map Handout

Miro.com
Another free mind mapping software, which allows you to save and work on your map over the duration of your project.

Effective Search Strategies

Evaluate your research question for phrases and wording of importance. You may use or adapt these to act as your search terms.
Consider like terms. Rather than just searching the word "teenagers," you may wish to use "teenagers or young adults or teens or adolescents" in your search term field. This may yield a larger number of results.
Identify subjects. As you investigate your research area, identify commonly used language to describe how scholars are referring to your area of interest. Revising your search to use the terms that the scholars are using will improve the relevance of your search results. Often, article overviews will list these terms, names, or phrases as "subjects."

Catalog Tutorial Activities

Brief Orientation || Full Orientation

The video below will demonstrate effective searching in two of our go-to database picks for Kinesiology research (Health Source and MEDLINE Ultimate, both hosted by EBSCO).

Citation Chasing

Browsing & Searching Cited References
Some EBSCO databases provide the ability to "browse references." When you run a Basic or Advanced Keyword Search, any Cited References or Times Cited in this Database links that are available are presented with your search results.

Found in the library catalog, Citation trails is an exploration tool that helps to find related articles and to a topic further by showing both articles cited by and cited in the current article.