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Economics: Plan Your Search

This guide contains resources and guidance to help students studying Economics.

Why plan your search?

 

At university you are expected to find and use scholarly information:

  • in your assignments
  • to prepare for class
  • to explore new theories and ideas

However, to find scholarly information you need to search in a particular way to get good results.

Use this page to learn how to plan your search and find the best scholarly information sources to use. 

Step 1: Identify your key concepts

 

Before you find any information, identify the main ideas (or key concepts) in your assignment question or research topic.

The following video shows you how to break down your assessment and to get started brainstorming keywords you can use.

Example:

Does economic growth contribute to wealth inequality?

The key concepts are: 

Economic Growth Wealth Inequality Contribute

Step 2: Brainstorm keywords & synonyms

 

Different words can be used to describe the same concept, and sometimes your concepts can be very specific or very broad. 

Think of other words that could be used to describe your key concepts, including:

  • synonyms,
  • broader ideas & terms
  • more specific ideas & terms. 

Example:

Economic Growth Wealth Inequality Contribute

Economic Development

Economic Progress

Wealth Distribution

Income Distribution

Factor

Cause

Tips: 

Some resources to help with brainstorming: 

  • Google & Wikipedia
  • Dictionaries & Thesauri
  • Reference books & Encyclopedias

Step 3: Build your search 

 

There are multiple strategies that you can used to build a search so that you get the results you want. Start with building a basic search, then learn to build an advanced search.

Boolean Operators are a way of telling a database or search engine how to do your search. Watch the video to learn how.

Example: 

Choose the keywords you want to use, and use OR to combine those synonyms & similar words:

Key Concept Keywords & Synonyms Search
Economic Growth

Economic Development

Economic Progress

 (“Economic Growth” OR “Economic Development” OR “Economic Progress”)

Use AND to combine your key concepts together:

(“Economic Growth” OR “Economic Development” OR “Economic Progress”) AND (“Wealth Distribution” OR “Income Distribution”)

In addition to Boolean Operators, there are other strategies you can use in your searching. Learn about Advanced Search Strategies in the video below.

Example: 

Choose the keywords you want to use, and use OR to combine those synonyms & similar words:

Key Concept Keywords & Synonyms Search
Economic Growth

Economic Development

Economic Progress

 (“Economic Growth” OR “Economic Development” OR “Economic Progress”)
Wealth Inequality

Wealth Distribution

Income Distribution

 (“Wealth Distribution” OR “Income Distribution”)
Factor Cause (Contribut* OR Factor OR cause)

Add * to the end of truncated keywords to search for multiple endings:

(Contribut* OR Factor OR Causes)

Use "double inverted commas" when you are searching for an exact phrase that is two or more words long:

(“Company Tax*” OR “Corporate Tax”)

 

Finally, use AND to combine your key concepts together:

(“Economic Growth” OR “Economic Development” OR “Economic Progress”) AND (“Wealth Distribution” OR “Income Distribution”) AND (contribut* OR Factor OR cause)

Step 4: Start searching

 

You will need to find different types of information during your studies. These may include: 

  • Books & book chapters
  • Journal articles
  • Newspaper articles
  • Standards & statistics
  • Reports
  • Grey literature

The type of information you are looking for will determine where you search, and how you search. 

Using the steps above will help you find most of these information types, but there are also other places to look.

Explore this study guide or ask a librarian to discover more. 

Step 5: Review your results

 

Not all the information you get from a search will be useful. A successful search will show results relevant to your topic. If your results are not relevant go back and try different keywords in your search.

Find relevant results by checking the: 

Even if your information is relevant, it might not be good quality. Check if it passes the C.R.A.P. test before you use it.