Environmental Movements in the U.S.

1. Save time, prepare to research!

• Break your research question into key concepts (you'll connect these in your paper to make an original argument)
• For each of these concepts, brainstorm multiple keywords

• Try this keyword tool to brainstorm online and send the results to yourself.

2. Combine keywords using AND and OR:

• Too many results? Try using quotation marks around an exact phrase. Ex: "people of color"
• Still too many results? Narrow using AND. Ex:  "people of color" AND "environmental advocacy"
• Too few results? Broaden using OR. Ex: "people of color" AND (environmentalism OR sustainability OR ecological OR conservation)
• Put parentheses around synonyms.
• The asterisk finds multiple endings from a root word. Ex: wom* will bring back women, woman's, wombat, etc.

3. Brush up on the search tools available:

• Here are search tips for Google.
• Search tips for the Catalog are at the bottom of the Advanced Search page.
• Databases often include their own search tips. Tip: Look for a help link or a gear symbol.

A research question is what forms and guides your literature review. It is the question that you want the literature to answer for you. A research question should be specific, focused, and concise.

To develop a research question, start with a general topic of interest to you. You'll want to do some preliminary and background research on this topic to think through what specific questions you might have.

Examples:

Sample Topic: impact of social media on adolescent physical activity

Sample Research Question: Can social media serve as an effective tool for increasing physical activity among adolescents?

Need more guidance on developing your topic into a research question? Check out this video from the library at Northern Kentucky University.