GNED008 Week 3 Forming Research Questions

1
GNED008 Week 3Forming Research Questions
Concept Mapping
Catherine Kwok Library Reference lbckwok_at_ust.hk
2
Outline

• Isnt Google enough?
• Analyze a research topic
• How to convert a topic into keywords?
• related terms, synonyms, broader terms, narrower
  terms
• Build search statement / complete a search form
  in a database
• boolean connectors, truncation, etc.

3
Isnt Google Enough?

• Google search results best on top
• Not all good information comes free on the Web
• Often, the best information source is available
  via paid databases.
• Most databases do not support Google or natural
  language. You will get zero hits!

4
Develop Your Topic

• Understand the context issues involved, look
  for inspiration
• Check out an overview in general or subject
  encyclopedias.
• Grab a handbook/textbook and check out the table
  of contents.
• SmartCat
• Type air pollution
• Expand Subject on the right.

5
Test the Water

• Try these databases to see how much or how little
  is there
• Library catalog for books and media
• ProQuest / Academic Search Premier for general
  HSS topics
• Business Source Premier for business topics
• LexisNexis Academic for news
• Pick up new ideas and refine your topic.

6
Refine your Topic

• Choose a focus or angle with a manageable scope.
• Narrow a topic, eg.,"air pollution" ?
  "air pollution in Hong Kong or air pollution
  and respiratory diseases in Hong Kong
• Broaden a topic, eg., "acid rain impact on Lamma
  Island in Hong Kong" ? "acid rain impact on the
  environment in Hong Kong

7
Drugs Find a Focus

• Drug use among teenagers social, education
• Drug addicts and psychology
• Athletes and drug use sports ethics
• Drug trafficking social, political, legal
• Drugs laws legal
• Drugs research development for bird flu
  medicine, pharmacology
• Your focus will affect choice of databases.

8
Concepts and Keywords

• Translate your research question to concepts and
  keywords to help the database understand what you
  are looking for.

9
Consider This

• Your topic Investigate the effects of
  secondhand smoke on health.
• What are the main concepts?
• Think of keywords for each concept

10
Map Keywords to Concept

• Secondhand, smoke, health
• Secondhand?
• Smoke?
• Health?

11
Map Keywords to Concept

• Secondhand, smoke, health
• Secondhand? passive, secondhand
• Smoke? smoking, tobacco, cigarettes, nicotine
• Health? illness, disease, sick, cancer, tumor,
  etc.

12
Keywords Dos

• Synonyms, ie., words with similar meaning
• e.g., disease, illness /passive, secondhand
• Related terms
• e.g., smoking, nicotine
• Broader terms, narrower terms
• e.g., diseases, cancer, tumor
• Go to librarything.com ? Search harry
  potter ? member tags

13
Keywords Donts

• Type the whole sentence
• Include articles, prepositions, and unimportant
  terms such as "problem", "effect ,influence,
  discuss, investigate

14
Tools of Keyword Search

• Boolean Operators
• AND
• OR
• Truncation Symbol
• Proximity Operator
• Brackets (parentheses)

15
Boolean Operators

• AND
• All keywords must appear in the record
• Narrow a search find less
• e.g., health AND smoking
• Or
• Any one or two or all of the keywords should
  appear
• Broaden a search find more
• e.g., smoking OR tobacco Or nicotine

16
Truncation

• Means "make something shorter".
• Use a symbol to retrieve the various endings of
  words beginning with a common word root.
• Different databases use different symbols for
  truncation. The most common symbols are and
  ?. Some use ! or signs.
• Not applicable to Chinese.

17
Truncation- examples
Use it to catch all relevant records.
18
Write The Words That Can Be Retrieved
Computer
19
Do Not Over Truncate

• Pol will get
• politics, political, polymer, polytechnic,
  pollution, etc.
• Uni will get
• unity, united, union, universe, university, etc.
• How to truncate?
• university
• politics

20
Do Not Over Truncate

• Pol will get
• politics, political, polymer, polytechnic,
  pollution, etc.
• Uni will get
• unity, united, union, universe, university, etc.
• How to truncate?
• universit
• politic

21
Proximity Operator
ultraviolet within 5 cancer ultraviolet w/10
cancer ultraviolet n20 cancer

• Use to specify the word distance between search
  terms.
• So that they are close together? more relevant.
• Useful in full-text searching.
• Always check online help / search guide

22
Brackets

• Put related terms in brackets to specify
  priorities in searching.
• Terms within brackets will be processed first.

Health and (smok or tobacco or nicotine)
What happens if you dont use brackets?
23
Build Search Statements

• (health or disease) and (smok or tobacco or
  nicotine) and (secondhand or passive)
• pollut and (air or water or noise)
• (Skyscraper or highrise or tall building) and
  urban development
• (?? or ??) and ??
• Tips connect related, synonyms, broader/
  narrower terms with OR, connect different
  concepts with AND.

24
Which is Incorrect?

• Your research topic is "Sociology on and about
  the Internet.
• internet and sociology and sociological and
  sociologic
• internet and (sociology or sociological or
  sociologic)
• internet and sociolog

25
Which is Incorrect?

• Your research topic is "Sociology on and about
  the Internet.
• internet and sociology and sociological and
  sociologic
• internet and (sociology or sociological or
  sociologic)
• internet and sociolog

26
How to Broaden? You obtained just 3 records for
a search on the phrase moblie phone market

• phone OR telephone
• mobile phone market w/10 competition
• (mobile OR cell OR portable) AND (phone OR
  telephone)
• mobile phone OR cell phone

27
How to Broaden? You obtained just 3 records for
a search on the phrase moblie phone market

• phone OR telephone
• mobile phone market w/10 competition
• (mobile OR cell OR portable) AND (phone OR
  telephone)
• mobile phone OR cell phone

28
How to Narrow?You obtained over 1,000 records
for a search on rain

• rain
• rain AND acid AND pollut
• acid rain w/20 pollution
• rain OR acid OR pollution

29
How to Narrow?You obtained over 1,000 records
for a search on rain

• rain
• rain AND acid AND pollut
• acid rain w/20 pollution
• rain OR acid OR pollution

30
Search Tips
31
Discuss the impact of computers on teenagers

• What are the keywords?
• Think of synonyms or related terms
• Any broader or narrower terms?

32
What are the keywords?

• Discuss the impact of computers
• on teenagers

33
Brainstorm for Terms (Synonyms, Broader,
Narrower, Related terms)

• Computers
• Teenagers

34
Build Search Statements Discuss the impact of
computers on teenagers

• Set 1 computer, internet, web , www, cyber,
  online games
• Set 2 teenager, young people, students,
  adolescen

(computer or internet or web or cyber) and
(teenager or young people or adolescen)
35
Homework 2

• You have to submit a paper related to
  Genetically modified food
• It is too broad. Refine your scope. Write down
  your research question.
• Write down your mapping of concepts and keywords
• Build two valid search statements using And, Or,
  truncation, brackets.
• Email your answers to LBCKWOK by 3 March
• The subject line should read your name GNED
  008 - HW-2