Search Strategies - Steps 3 & 4
3. Group Like Keywords Together
Regroup like words together, including synonyms, plurals, and spelling variations:
| Child |
Poverty |
|
United States |
| Children |
Poor |
Homeless |
U.S. |
| Teen |
Destitute |
Homelessness |
U.S.A. |
| Adolescent |
Low Income |
|
America |
4. Combine Keywords Into a Search Phrase
Combine these word groupings into a search phrase using Boolean and other operators (we'll get to them later):
| Child |
AND |
Poverty |
AND |
|
AND |
United States |
| OR |
OR |
|
OR |
| Children |
Poor |
Homeless |
U.S. |
| OR |
OR |
OR |
OR |
| Teen |
Destitute |
Homelessness |
U.S.A. |
| OR |
OR |
|
OR |
| Adolescent |
Low Income |
|
America |
You should search like keywords first, and keep these together in a group. For the above example, you'll obtain four individual sets of like keywords.
Remember!
- Plural forms of keywords have to be considered, as well as variants forms and British spellings.
- Some databases allow terms describing the same concept to be entered in as one statement by joining the words with OR, such as "Child OR Children OR Teen OR Adolescent."
- Two or more different concepts should then be combined with AND, such as "Child AND Poverty."
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