Research Methods Core

After you have thought about what you want to research and have chosen your topic, you need to think of keywords you can use to start your search such as special education, ESL or rural schools.

If you think of keywords as hashtags, it can sometimes be easier to come up with a list.  For example, if your research question is "How are rural schools successfully serving their ESL special education students during the pandemic?" ask yourself, what hashtags would you use if you were going to post something about this on social media?

• Hashtags (keywords): rural schools, ESL, special education, pandemic

The next step is to think of related words/phrases.

• Rural schools: consolidated school districts
• ESL/special education: English as a Second Language, SE, special populations
• Pandemic: quarantine Covid 19

Now you have some keywords to start your search.

Think of keywords that relate to your topic to begin your research.