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To discover keywords that can be used in a search, examine your topic, which you already have stated in the form of a question, and try the following steps.
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First, isolate the key concepts within your research topic. For example, if my topic is "How does the portrayal of women within advertisements affect girls' self-image?" my key concepts are:
- Women
- Advertisements
- Girls
- Self-Image
- Women: females
- Advertisements: commercials, media, advertising
- Girls: adolescents, young women
- Self-Image: self-esteem, body image, self perception
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Finally, think of terms that don't mean the same thing, but which are related to your concepts:
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Images courtesy of Taki Steve http://flickr.com/people/13519089@N03 |
- Women: feminine
- Advertisements: supermodel, marketing, actress
- Girls: school-aged girls, teenagers, children
- Self-Image: weight, beauty standards
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What is the point of this? Remember, you don't know how an author of a book or an article might have described the topic that you are researching. Creating a search by using many words, not just the first that pop into your head, will help you cast a wide net and retrieve relevant results.
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Monitor Your Progress
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