Creating a plan before searching for sources makes the process more efficient and successful. Follow along with the steps below by using this research worksheet.
NOTE: You will need to be signed into your Augsburg email to fill out the form.
What is your research question or thesis statement? What do you want to accomplish in your research assignment?
Thesis: Distracted driving has contributed to an increase in traffic accidents. Texting while driving should be banned in all 50 states.
Describe the concepts you need present in a resource for it to be helpful to you. Write down keywords describing each concept. Because the full-text of most resources is searched, consider listing out synonyms or related terms.
Concept 1: distracted driving
Concept 2: accidents
Concept 3: texting
This will ensure that all the terms describing a concept are included in your search.
Concept 2: accident OR fatal
Concept 3: text OR cellphone OR "cell phone"
This will ensure that all of your concepts are included in the same resource.
"distracted driving" AND accident* OR fatal AND text OR cellphone OR "cell phone"
Enclose terms of two or more words with quotation marks, utilize truncation, and try different combinations of concepts and synonyms to see what works best.
Search 1: "distracted driving" AND (accident OR fatal*) AND (text OR "cell phone")
Search 2: "distracted driving" AND (accident OR fatal) AND (text OR "cell phone" OR cellphone)
If at first you don't succeed, try and try again! Or, ask a librarian for help!
There are many ways to filter your results once a search has been performed. Here are some of the most frequently-used filters.
Check this box if you only want to see results that are peer-reviewed and scholarly.
You may want to use this filter when you are only looking for one format, such as articles for a research project, books for reading, or even movies for a film studies class!
This filter will let you search through materials published within a defined period of time. If you are looking for current articles, try limiting the publication date to within the past five years.
This filter lets you include or exclude subjects from your search results.