Brainstorming Keywords

Start with Your Research Question

Start with a well-formed research question Links to an external site. and then circle or highlight important terms or phrases. You'll then be able to start working on alternative keywords for your research question.

Are Children who play video games more violent? with Children, video games, and violent highlighted

Develop Alternative Terms

Alternative Keywords
children video games violent
adolescent computer games aggression
juvenile electronic games disturbed
youth mobile games cruel
minor Grand Theft Auto reckless
teen Red Dead Redemption brutal
school-age Call of Duty vicious

If you struggle to come up with alternative terms and phrases, you can

  • look at an encyclopedia article on your topic to find potential keywords;
  • use a dictionary or thesaurus to find related terms; 
  • find a few initial articles, and look through them to find additional keywords; or
  • ask a librarian!