Let's work through the process of creating a search string:

 

Step 1: Identify your research question How does television affect children?
	Step 2: Identify the main ideas or keywords television  and  children

 

Step 3: Brainstorm for more keywords

television				children
synonyms	broader	narrower	related	synonyms	broader	narrower	related
TV	media broad-casting	films movies programs cartoons	advertising radio violence	kids	people society	pre-schoolers toddlers primary secondary teenagers adolescents	education learning reading brain activity exercise nutrition health behavior develop-ment psychology

 

Step 4: Put together some search strings from the brainstormed keywords. Follow the checklist:

 

	Start with a simple search string that includes your main ideas joined by the Boolean operator AND
	television AND children
	Would it be helpful to include synonyms for any of the keywords, or ideas that are similar?  If so, include these and join them with OR.  Remember to put parentheses around the words connected by OR.
	(television OR TV) AND children
	Are there any narrower or related ideas that you would like to include to make your search more specific?  If so, add them and join them with AND
	(television OR TV) AND children AND brain activity
	Do you need to add any quotation marks around phrases?
	(television OR TV) AND children AND "brain activity"
	Would truncation help?  If so, add the appropriate truncation symbol to the appropriate word root.  If you are not sure which truncation symbol to use, use the asterisk (*) or check the search tips/ help link of the search tool you are going to use, to see which truncation symbol will work for that tool.
	(television OR TV) AND child* AND "brain activity"
Now you are ready!  Try your search string in the search tool you have decided to use (internet search engine or online database).  See what kind of results you get and then you can change your search string according to what you have found.  The next screen shows some of the most common reasons you might need to change your search string, and how to deal with them....