CADR 200 (Lombardo)

Keywords are the first (and, often, most skipped) step in your research. We can talk about the same issues using completely different words; if you only identify one of those words to search, you might miss some key research! Searches for a computer vs. a Dell vs. a desktop will get you very different results, after all. 

Perhaps you generate your keywords (and alternate keywords) in the concept map. Or perhaps, you prefer to generate a cleaner looking list, like the one below.  It really is what works best for your brain and research topic. Just make sure you're writing it down!

One way to start your research is with a few rounds of brainstorming using the guiding worksheet below to create a large word bank you can go back to throughout your searches. 

Example conflict: The Vietnam War (1955-1975) > Vietnam War = starting key term

First, ask yourself: why did you select this conflict to study? What drew you to it or what do you know about it already?

You might come up with good additional keywords to use in your searching from this approach alone. Then, you can look for related words in a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia to understand it even better.

Maybe in this example, I first was thinking about public perception of the war and the peace protests I knew about, which led me to thinking about the civil rights movement at the same time, which turned into me thinking about keywords that could help focus the research on finding opinions about the war and its larger social effects as a conflict. 

Then, I could create a keyword list of terms related to the Vietnam War to reference in searches, such as:

• United States Military

• Guerrilla Warfare / Trench Warfare

• US Anti-war Vietnam Movement

• Anti-war Protests

• Civil Rights Movement; MLK 1967 Speech

• The Paris Peace Accords

Especially when you are just starting research, you may not know which word will be best for a particular database or the field of study until you start looking. Give yourself options!

Try it yourself using the worksheet below.

Concept mapping is just one approach to keyword development & brainstorming that is a bit more visual than strategies on the keyword worksheet. Besides that, this can help you map out how your paper could go to be sure you cover all areas that you deem necessary.

Example from CUNY Guttman Community College