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Political Science

Introduction to research in Political Science.

Brainstorming Topics and Keywords

Concept Maps

Concept maps are great brainstorming tools for thinking about your topic and related concepts. They can also be great starting points for generating keywords that you will need when searching in the library databases. 

To make a concept map for your topic: 

  1. Start with the main topic in the center. 

  1. Add related concepts in bubbles, using lines to connect them to each other and to the main topic. 

Tools for Concept Mapping

Brainstorming Keywords

Start with the main ideas or concepts for your topic. For each important word/phrase, come up with similar or related terms such as: 

  • Synonyms (different word, same meaning) 

  • Narrower terms (more specific) 

  • Broader terms (less specific) 

  • Everyday language (words the average person would use to describe something) 

  • Formal or academic language (words that experts in a subject/discipline would use to describe something) 

Add "quotation marks" around phrases. This tells the database or search engine to treat the phrase as one term (rather than searching for each word individually).

Tip: After you start searching, add any additional keywords or phrases that you come across in your results.

Suggested Keywords

  • American government
  • American politics
  • Elections
  • Government
  • Impeachment
  • International relations
  • Law OR Legislation
  • Policy
    • Domestic policy
    • Environmental policy
    • International policy
    • Public health policy
    • Social policy
  • Political ideologies
  • Political institutions
  • Political parties
    • Democrats
    • Republicans
  • Political rights
  • Propaganda
  • Public administration
  • State government
    • Maryland government

Tips for Database Searching

Phrases as Keywords

Add "quotation marks" around phrases. This tells the database (or search engine such as Google) to treat the phrase as one term (rather than searching for each word individually).

Advanced Search

Using the "Advanced Search" option allows you to put each keyword in its own search box, which makes it easier to change out keywords for synonyms, narrower or broader terms, etc. It also gives options for limiting your search results by date, source type, and others.

AND, OR, NOT

Use database search tools AND, OR, and NOT (as drop downs in Advanced Search or between keywords in the search bar):

  • AND = will only show results that include BOTH terms

  • OR = will show results if they have at least one of the terms

  • NOT = will exclude results that use that term

Subject Terms

Subject terms (also called "subjects" or "controlled vocabulary") are the database's "official" keywords assigned to topics. When searching with subjects, your results will most likely be more precise and relevant. You can find subject terms in a few places:

  • Database record for an article - these are often hyperlinked
  • Thesaurus / Subject Terms - databases have a searchable list of all subject terms (often available from the Advanced Search page or in the menu bar at the top)

Limits

Limits can be added using Advanced Search or from the search results page. Databases usually include options to limit by:

  • Full Text (only shows sources you can access immediately)
  • Peer Review
  • Publication Date
  • Source Type (such as Scholarly or Academic Journals, Newspapers, Magazines, Books, Dissertations, or Media)
  • Subjects