Understanding Mass Media - Prof. Stephens; FALL 2024: Getting Started - Background Information

When you do background research you can find:

• Words or phrases that are specific to your topic.
• Information that answers basic information on your topic. 
• Major ideas related to your topic.
• People, places, time periods that are relevant to your topic.
• Additional readings on your topic.

Use keywords and synonyms:

Start by taking keywords directly from your thesis statement.

Use synonyms and related concepts by thinking of other words that mean the same thing as the keywords in your question. Examples:

film or cinema or motion pictures

social media or Facebook or TikTok

gaming or video games or online gaming         

Look at the subject terms in your search results and see if you can use any of those.

Use truncation:

You can broaden your search results by typing an asterisk symbol  *  at the end of the root of a word. When you do this, the computer will search for alternative endings for the word you have typed.

For example:      

televis* 

     televise(d)     televising       television     television broadcasting