IDENTIFY A TOPIC | STATE YOUR TOPIC AS QUESTION  | IDENTIFY KEY WORDS/CONCEPTS | TEST YOUR TOPIC

STEP ONE: IDENTIFY A TOPIC
Ideas for finding a topic:

        Once you have a topic: 

       
Find the best search for the Information you need

          Use specific sites done by experts in their field:

        American Heart Association |  Better Business Bureau | Government Sites

STEP TWO:  STATE YOUR TOPIC AS A QUESTION
For example, if you are interested in finding out about use drug
use by college students, you might ask:

 "What effect does the use of drugs have on the health of teenagers?"

STEP THREE:  IDENTIFY KEY WORDS/CONCEPTS
"What effect does the use of drugs have on the health of teenagers?"

Key Words Synonym1 Synonym2 Synonym3
effect consequence fate result
drugs substance abuse marijuana* Intoxicants*
health wellness fitness well being
teenagers teen** youth adolescents

Finding Synonyms:

Merriam Webster | Roget's II | Roget's Thesaurus

STEP FOUR:  TEST YOUR TOPIC

Use the advanced search feature of the database with the key words/synonyms you found.


HINT: 
If you find too many hits use the AND operator.If you find too few hits use the OR operator.