Your concept map or topic worksheet should have helped you to identify key terms that you can use to search for information that relates to your topic in online databases, book catalogs, or on the Web. In the previous section, you learned how to identify and select different types of resources, and you practiced selecting a database appropriate to your topic.
Most databases allow you to enter multiple terms in combiniation to find the articles that most closely match your specific topic. By combining terms in your search, you get fewer results, but your search results will be more relevant to your topic.
Remember, you should begin by writing your topic as a research question. For example,
How does video game violence affect children?
Next, you should identify the key concepts in your research question.
How does violence in video games affect children?
Because authors do not always use the same terms to describe specific concepts, it is helpful to think of some synonyms for these terms before you begin to search:
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