How do I make keywords for my topic?
I need to find some articles in the databases for my topic, but I'm not sure what I should type in to find this information. Here is my research question: How can community partnerships strengthen early childhood programs?
Answer
First, figure out what the important words in your research question, claim, or thesis are. In this example, the words "how can" and "strengthen" can be removed. It is also usually a good idea to remove words that imply relationships or judgments between or about your key terms. Common examples of these words that are probably not needed are: cause, effect, affect, benefit, advantages, disadvantages, pros/cons, strengthen, weaken, ban, allow, etc.
Then divide the remaining words into categories based on the ideas they are describing, ideally with one to two words per category.
This example research question can be divided into three categories of terms:
- Community Partnerships
- Early childhood education
- Programs.
The next step is to think of as many ways to say each of these terms as possible. For example, for community partnerships: community relationships, local partnerships, local partners, community volunteers, etc. It also helps to use specific examples - so are there specific groups you think might be good partners? If so, add those - food pantry, park district, etc.
Then, in a database, put one term from each of the three categories into it's own search box. (Local partnerships in box 1, early childhood education in box 2, programs in box 3.)
See what kind of results you get, and choose other terms from your list as necessary. Sometimes you might find that EVERYONE uses the term community partnerships, so you don't need to change it much, but that they use a million different terms for early childhood education, so you need to change that one a lot. It's a trial and error process, so don't feel bad about changing the terms if you haven't found anything useful. Also pay attention to the wording you see in the results that you do get - that might give you more ideas for other terms to search for.
You might sometimes combine those last two categories. For example, using the term "pre-school" or "daycare programs" might combine both ideas into one term. In that case, you will probably only use two boxes for your search: one with "pre-school" and one with something from the community partnerships list.