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Now that you have a research question or your main argument chosen, write it out as a sentence.
Example: Do teens have a problem with drugs?
What are the main keywords in this sentence? The answer is "teens" and "drugs." We don't need to use the word "problem" here. We're going to search for "teens" and "drugs" and let the research guide us to the question's answer.
However, we may find as we search that the search terms we're using aren't retrieving the results we want. It is a good idea to come up with synonyms for your keywords or different ways of phrasing your question. Some fields of study use their own specific language to refer to various terms.
So for example: What are other words we can use for teens?
teenagers, youth, young adults, adolescents, children
What about drugs? How else can we refer to a "problem with drugs?"
substance abuse, drug abuse, drug dependence, chemical abuse, chemical dependence, addiction, and if you want to be more specific or alter your topic slightly: cocaine, marijuana, alcohol abuse, opioids, heroin, etc.
Make sure you keep track of which keywords you have used and which ones have worked for you and which haven't. For some examples of keywords, subjects, or topics for interpersonal communication.
Potential Search Terms
Attachment behavior
Body language
Coach-athlete relationships
Gender
Commuter marriage
Interpersonal conflict
Counselor and client
Jealousy
Couples
Sex differences
Cultural relations
Dialectical tensions
Culture conflict
Dating (Social Customs)
Dating violence
Dependency (Psychology)
Discrimination
Divorce
Emotions
Family
Family
Fear
Friendship
Harassment
Hugging
Intercultural communication
Interethnic dating
Interfaith marriage
Intergenerational communication
Intergenerational relations
Interpersonal attraction
Interpersonal Communication
Cross cultural studies
Psychological aspects
Sex differences
Interpersonal communication in adolescence
Interpersonal communication in children
Interpersonal communication in infants
Interpersonal conflict
Interpersonal conflict in adolescence
Interpersonal conflict in children
Interpersonal confrontation
Interpersonal relations
Interpersonal relations and culture
Interpersonal relations in adolescence
Interpersonal relations in children
Interracial dating
Intimacy (Psychology)
Intimidation
Invective (verbal abuse)
Jealousy
Joking relationships
Kinship
Love
Love-hate relationships
Man-woman relationships (not Infotrac)
Married people
Minorities
Non-monogamous relationships
Nonverbal communication
Parent and child
Personal space
Physical – appearance-based bias
Race discrimination
Relationship addiction
Reverse discrimination
Self perception
Sex crimes (sexual abuse)
Sex differences
Sex discrimination
Social networks
Social networks
Social norms
Teacher-student relationships
Teasing
Unmarried couples
Verbal self-defense
Search Terms for ProQuest
Abuse
Attitudes
Behavior
Child abuse & neglect
Children & youth
College students
Conflict
Conflicts
Couples
Cultural relations
Culture
Differences
Divorce
Domestic violence
Emotional abuse
Emotions
Families and family life
Friendship
Gay & lesbians
Gender
Interfaith relationships (good for topic guide)
Interpersonal Communication
Jealousy
Marriage
Multiculturalism and pluralism
Older people
Parents & parenting
Perceptions
Personal development
Personal relationships
Roles
Self image
Sex crimes
Sex discrimination
Sex roles
Sexes
Sexual assault
Support
Teamwork
Teenagers
Verbal abuse
Violence
Women
There is a difference between a keyword and a subject search. When you search by keyword, the keyword behaves sort of like a magnet. It pulls out every single piece of information that contains that single word or words. Subjects are more like files in a filing cabinet. Your topic is filed under certain words or phrases in that filing cabinet, and if you don't know which ones, you may have a difficult time finding what you want.