A second part of topic analysis is to determine the types
of information you need.
- Do you need historical or current
sources?
- How many sources do you need?
- What types of materials
do you need?
The
majority of your sources will probably be articles
from magazines and journals. Your literature review
will include a balance of information resources.
A final component of topic analysis
is preliminary reading. Reading about your topic in encyclopedias
or general sources, such as news magazines, can provide you
with useful keywords, overviews of the current status of the
topic, and the names of the important scholars in the field.
Creating a Search Strategy
The online library environment
has made information research easier in many ways. But, successful
research depends upon a search strategy that follows the protocols
of the computer search process.
Keyword vs. subject searching:
begin by performing a keyword search. In most databases, this
will lead to more precise subject terms. Many databases also
have online thesauri to help you locate the terms they use.
Boolean operators present
subject terms in a manner easily processed by the computer.
For example, if your topic is the influence of ethnic identity
on marketing to women, you should not type "the effect
of women's ethnicity on marketing." Instead, use "AND"
and "OR" to construct search statements.
AND to narrow your search
to find both terms.
Example: ethnic identity AND
marketing
OR to broaden your search
to retrieve either of the terms.
Example: women OR females
Your final search statement
could be:
(women or females) AND ethnic*
AND marketing
Truncation is a search
technique that is used by many electronic databases. Usually,
but not always, it is the asterisk (*). For example, elect*
would retrieve any of the following: elections, election,
elective or, unfortunately, electron! |
