HY 429 Studies in Latin American History: Latin American Revolutions: Search Terms

Our example research question for this project is: 

Was mass participation or charismatic leadership most important in directing the Mexican Revolution?

Use the key terms in our research question.

• "mass participation"
• "charismatic leadership"
• "Mexican Revolution"

We can also use synonyms or equivalent terms for each keyword. 

Example: "Mass participation" can also be: "collective action" or even "crowd psychology"

We can also search related ideas, such as looking for a monograph about one of the charismatic leaders in the Mexican Revolution.

Using Your Research Question

Turn your research question into search terms.

1. Write out your research question. How do short-term employment contracts affect hospital healthcare workers' mental well-being?
2. Identify the important words or terms. Look at the nouns that specify the scope of your topic. 
   1. What people? Contract healthcare workers
   2. Where? Hospitals
   3. What kind of issue? Mental health
3. Write out each important word/term. List synonyms or terms that have the same feel.

Using an Article You Like

Look at that article's keywords. Keywords are usually written underneath the article's listing in your search results. 

Different databases use different keywords. By reusing the keywords, you are learning to speak that database's "language".

Using Search Suggestions

Some databases will give you suggestions for search terms when you start typing in a search box. These are terms that the database absolutely recognizes. 

Sometimes, the suggestions will be several terms in the same text box, all separated by the Boolean Operator or. This means that the search engine will search for all those terms at once.

Always check before you select a string of terms. Some of the terms might not be equivalent for your specific research topic!