If you are unfamiliar with your selected topic, use the databases listed under Background Research to get an idea of the main issues, people and events of your social justice movement. Those will allow you to help focus your results.
Many of these movements have occurred internationally, it will be useful to add 'United States' or other geographic limiter to your search parameters.
You may need to broaden or narrow your search terms depending on your results :
Broader Search: Gender instead of Women
Narrower Search: Racism instead of Discrimination
Use the asterisk * to truncate words and widen your search. Discriminat* will search for Discriminate, Discrimination and Discriminating
Use quotation marks to keep phrases together: e.g. "Disability Rights Movement" "Young Lords"
e.g. search "Gay Liberation Movement" AND United States
Gay Rights AND Stonewall
Frank Kameny AND Gay Rights AND Supreme Court Case
"First Wave Feminism" AND United States
Women AND Voting Rights AND United States
Coverture AND Women And United States
Try your search terms in different combinations to get the greatest number of results.
These sources are good places to start for background research if you are unfamiliar with your topic. They will help you with specific issues, events, organizations, people, and/or legislation that may give you ideas of how to best start your research.
THEY DO NOT INCLUDE PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES!
Browse through the articles you find to look for additional keywords to search.
Note any organizations, projects, regulations, studies to search (E.g. Affordable Care Act, U.S. National Health Interview Survey) that may give you ideas on how to formulate your own study.
From the U.S. National Health Interview Survey we can find how the survey was set up and who was in it.
The NHIS also posts the questionnaire used in the survey which shows the types of questions asked (e.g. has anyone in the household been diagnosed with asthma; has anyone taken prescription medication in the past 12 months) and survey parameters set (e.g. what is defined as a family).
