A well-focused research question helps guide your research, enables construction of a clear argument and will summarise the main topic of your research.
According to Foss and Waters, a well-defined research question has six properties:
| Theoretical Construct | Identifies the theoretical construct/s you want to learn more about. |
| Recognisability | Assists you to use terminology which is recognisable in the field of expertise |
| Transcends the Data | Transcends the data used to conduct the research. |
| Significance | Draws attention to the significance of the research. |
| Capacity to Surprise | Has the capacity to surprise the researcher as they research. |
| Robust | Encourages a complex answer (i.e., not a 'yes' or 'no' response). |
Visit the Researcher Skills Toolkit for more information on developing a research question including examples.
If all concepts are not identified, your search strategy may not be correct and the literature identified may not address your research.
For example, if your research topic is:
"The role of social media for promoting participation in sport by refugees living in rural areas"
Four concepts are included in this research question:
| Concept 1 | Concept 2 | Concept 3 | Concept 4 |
| social media | sport | refugee | rural areas |
Several frameworks are available that assist when developing a search strategy associated with the key concepts in a research question.
Visit the Researcher Skills Toolkit for more information on search strategies.
Returning to the example research topic :
The role of social media for promoting participation in sport by refugees living in rural areas
Synonyms and related terms which may be identified as useful for this research question could include the following:
| Concept 1 | Concept 2 | Concept 3 | Concept 4 |
| social media | sport | refugee | rural area |
|
social media social platform social network Tik Tok |
sport cricket football soccer basketball tennis rugby |
asylum seeker displaced person migrant undocumented immigrant illegal immigrant forced migrant humanitarian entrant |
rural remote isolated |
New terms and concepts can be added when found during the literature search.
Use the search planning form or something similar to document your key concepts, with any synonyms and related terms.
Visit the Researcher Skills Toolkit for more information on keeping track of your results.
Various techniques such as truncation, phrase and proximity searching, nesting, Boolean operators and wildcards, can help to maximise the effectiveness of search strategies. These techniques are explained below.
When used together the techniques and strategies included in this section will enhance the potential and scope of results in your research topic.
| What it does | Example of use | What to be aware of |
|
Truncation is used to search alternate endings of words. Many databases use the asterisk (*) as the truncation symbol. An asterisk is inserted at the point in the word where alternate endings exist and need to be identified. |
Child* will retrieve:
|
All databases and search tools allow truncation, but the symbols used may vary, so it is best to check the database help for details. Do not insert the truncation symbol too early in a term as it may retrieve large numbers of irrelevant records. Be mindful when using truncation. For example, if your research focusses on identifying the age group 5-12 years it may be best to search using the terms ‘child’ or ‘children’ rather than truncating child* |
| What it does | Example of use | What to be aware of |
|
Phrase searching allows users to search for literature containing a phrase rather than containing a set of keywords in any order. In most databases the phrase needs to be enclosed within double quotation marks. Phrase searching can be combined with truncation in some databases. Always check database search help to be sure. |
“social network*” “asylum seeker*” "high school" |
Sometimes it is unclear whether quotation marks are needed and using them can limit a search too much. For this reason, it is a good idea to experiment by conducting searches with and without them. |
| What it does | Example of use | What to be aware of |
|
Proximity operators can be used to further refine and focus searches by defining how close search terms must appear to each other in database records, and in some cases, in what order.
|
In ProQuest databases: school N/3 subject
In OVID databases: (infant* or child*) ADJ3 (health* or mortality)
|
Proximity operators may vary between database and may include N/, W, NEAR, ADJ, FREQ. Check the database help section for more details |
| What it does | Example of use | What to be aware of |
|
Nesting means using parentheses ( ) to specify the order in which a search should be processed. Search terms within parentheses will be searched first and then combined with the search terms outside the parentheses.
|
“avian flu” AND (transmission OR infection) (ranking OR quality) AND institution
|
Useful for more comprehensive searching. |
| What it does | Example of use | What to be aware of |
|
Boolean operators can assist to improve search results by allowing you to include multiple words and concepts. Three Boolean operators are frequently used:
|
OR (“social network*” OR “social platform*” OR “social media” OR Twitter OR Facebook) AND (children AND warts) NOT Intelligence NOT (artificial or emotional)
|
Ensure you use the correct Boolean operator when combining sets in searches. Some databases require Boolean operators to appear in capital letters – check for database help to confirm correct use. “NOT” must be used carefully, as it may exclude records that are relevant to the research topic. |
| What it does | Example of use | What to be aware of |
|
Wildcard operators are sometimes called internal truncation. They may be inserted at the point in a word where there is variation in spelling, taking the place of an unknown letter or set of letters. Wildcards are useful for searching when a word has different spelling (American, British), or word forms. Many databases use the question mark (?) as the truncation symbol. |
In the ProQuest and OVID databases:
|
Some databases and search tools may not provide the ability to search using wildcard operators. Wildcard symbols may vary between databases so it is best to check the database help for details. |
Using the research question:
The role of social media for promoting participation in sport by refugees living in rural areas
The concept terms and their synonyms can be truncated and phrases identified.
| Concept 1 | Concept 2 | Concept 3 | Concept 4 |
| Social media | sport | refugee | rural area |
|
"social media" "social platform* " "social network*" Tik Tok |
sport cricket* football* soccer basketball* tennis rugby |
refugee* “asylum seeker*” “displaced person*” migrant* “undocumented immigrant*” “illegal immigrant*” “forced migrant*” “humanitarian entrant*” |
rural remote isolated |
These terms and concepts can now be incorporated into any search strategy associated with the research question used as our example.
Visit the Researcher Skills Toolkit for more information on search techniques.
Journal databases are searchable collections of information. Databases have been developed to provide a structured way to search for scholarly information. They are the best place to search for scholarly literature. Databases can be subject-specific or multidisciplinary and are updated regularly, usually daily or weekly.
The University of Newcastle Library subscribes to hundreds of databases which can be freely accessed in the following ways:
Some information, such as government documents, reports, and other grey literature, are not indexed in scholarly databases, so you will need to expand your search online.
Although grey literature is not usually peer-reviewed, it may still be a reliable source of information for your research topic.
Use the Grey Literature Library Guide to identify government websites, grey literature repositories, databases, and other resources.
Using statistics in your review can strengthen your argument by providing supporting evidence for your work.
To find statistics, identify who might have collected the statistics you are looking for (e.g. government departments, companies, organisations, etc) and search their web pages for relevant data and publications.
Use the Statistics guide to find key sources of Australian and international statistics and data..
Theses and dissertations can be a valuable source of information for research.
Use our Theses and Dissertations guide to find theses by University of Newcastle graduates, and others completed in Australia and internationally.