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HEALTH Research Process

Before you can start your research you need to select a topic. Your topic should:

fit the requirements of your assignment
not be too general (broad) or too specific (narrow)
interest you!

To help you focus your topic, it's best to put your topic into the form of a question.

For a refresher on Topic Development, check out Module 2 Topic Development of BILT: Basic Information Literacy Tutorial.

Next, break your topic into 2 or 3 main concepts.

Then brainstorm keywords for each concept. Think of synonyms or related terms. A thesaurus, dictionary, or your textbook can be useful when thinking of related terms. Sometimes broader or narrower terms can be helpful too.

Why brainstorm? When searching, it's hard to know what words authors will use when they're writing about your topic. It's a good strategy to have a list of possible keywords ready so you can swap out terms as you search and hopefully get more and/or better results.

Think about:

clinical terms versus lay terms
- myocardial infarction vs. heart attack
- neoplasm vs. cancer
acronyms versus the term(s) spelled out
- HIV vs. human immunodeficiency virus
- HIPAA vs. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
variations of a term
- ultrasonography, ultrasound, sonography

The way you combine your keywords in a search can make a big difference in the quality of results found.

Review Module 4 Search Strategies of BILT: Basic Information Literacy Tutorial for more details on the following strategies.

Boolean Logic: these operators are used to combine keywords:

AND:

use to combine concepts
each term MUST be present in the search results
narrows your results
finds fewer results
example: visitation AND intensive care units

OR:

use when searching for synonyms or related terms
broadens your results
finds more results
example: ICU OR intensive care units

Truncation:takes a root word and finds all endings of that word. The truncation symbol is the asterisk, *.

expands your search
finds more results
helpful when searching for both singular and plural forms of a word
example: infect* will find infect, infects, infected, infection, infecting, etc.

Phrase Searching:is useful when you are searching for keywords that are more than one word. Use quotes, " ", around terms.

focuses your search
use when you want your terms to appear together, exactly as entered
more precise than combining terms with AND
example: "intensive care unit" will find better, more focused results than intensive AND care AND unit

Information Flowchart

Below is a flowchart giving an overview of the search process. One path begins with the EFSC Library web page and leads to the online catalog for books and subscription based databases. The other path begins with an Internet search engine to search the free resources on the Web. No matter which path you choose to search, you will need to evaluate all sources you find for accuracy, currency, and authority.

HEALTH Step 4: Where to look?

Reference Books: give you a general overview of a subject.

For eReference (digital) books try Gale eBooks.

Books give a broad, thorough treatment of a subject.

To find books or eBooks use the Library Search OR eBook Collection (EBSCO).

Periodical Articles provide information that is focused, usually from a contemporary point of view. Usually the most current source of scholarly medical information.

For scholarly peer reviewed journal articles search CINAHL Complete OR MEDLINE with Full Text
For consumer health information search Health & Wellness OR Health Source: Consumer Edition

Web Pages can include all information types. Since web publication is fast, use it for very current information.

Use Advanced Search in Google to limit search results to .edu or .gov.
Use Google Scholar to search for scholarly content on the web.

Media Resources provide visual and auditory details which can not be captured in written text.

Use Public Domain Pictures to locate images.
Use Academic Video Online Premium OR Nursing Education in Video to view streaming videos.

Research Question | Topic Development

Once you have selected a topic and before you start searching for resources, it is helpful to perform these steps:

Topic: Should victims of sexual violence receive drug therapy for HIV infection?

Step 1: Break the topic into main concepts:
sexual violence
drug therapy
HIV

Step 2: Brainstorm keywords for each concept:
Try thinking of synonyms and related terms. A thesaurus may be helpful.

sexual violence

drug therapy

HIV

sexual violence

sexual assault

sexual abuse

sexual offense

rape

drugs

drug therapy

medications

prophylaxis

antiviral agents

HIV

human immunodeficiency virus

sexually transmitted diseases

Step 3: Combine your terms in a search

Step 4: Search an appropriate resource

Step 5: Review results for alternative keywords or subjects and redo search (as needed)

Example Research Topic

Once you have selected a topic and before you start searching for resources, it is helpful to perform these steps:

Topic: Should restrictive visitation policies be changed in intensive care units?

Step 1: Break the topic into main concepts:

ICU
visitation

Step 2A: Brainstorm keywords for each concept:

Try thinking of synonyms and related terms. A thesaurus may be helpful.

ICU

Visitation

ICU

intensive care unit

intensive care

critical care unit

critical care

visitation

visit

visits

Step 3: Combine your terms in a search.

visit*

AND

ICU OR "intensive care unit*"

Step 4: Search an appropriate resource

Step 5: Review results for alternative keywords or subject headings and redo search (as needed)

Example Topic

Once you have selected a topic and before you start searching for resources, it is helpful to perform these steps:

Step 1: Put your topic in the form of a question.

Topic: Does telemedicine improve treatment outcomes?

Step 2: Break the topic into main concepts:

telemedicine
outcomes

Step 2 Part 2: Brainstorm keywords for each concept:

Try thinking of synonyms and related terms. A thesaurus may be helpful.

Telemedicine

Outcomes

distance medicine

e-Health

interactive medicine

online medicine

remote medicine

telehealth

telemedicine

teletherapy

effect

impact

outcome

result

Step 3: Combine your terms in a search.

telemedicine OR telehealth

AND

outcome OR result OR effect

Step 4: Search an appropriate resource

Step 5: Review results for alternative keywords or subject headings and redo search (as needed)

Last Updated: Dec 5, 2025 11:18 AM
URL: https://libguides.easternflorida.edu/repository
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