EC 316U Introduction to Health Care Economics: Search Strategies

Topic -> Research Question -> Search Strategy

Going from Topic to Research Question is the process of going from broad to narrow and from general to specific:

  1. I'm interested in the topic of union representation.
  2. I want to know, "is union representation good for public employees"?
  3. Define what is "good" related to health economics: improved health care coverage, increased healthcare access, more healthcare utilization, or better health outcomes?
  4. Possible research questions:
    • Does union membership impact the likelihood of having health insurance coverage?
    • Does union representation impact health care utilization?

The search process is to 1) brainstorm all possibilities of describing a concept (broader, narrower, or related terms) 2) create searches that combine these keywords:

  1. Break down your research question into its core concepts: union representation, public employees, health.
  2. List alternative ways of describing these concepts
Core Concept Brainstorm
Union Representation: Collective Bargaining labor union union membership
Public Employees: workers state worker employee
Health Insurance health insurance coverage health plans health insurance generosity
Health Care Utilization health care use/usage hospital visits healthcare access
Effect relation(ship) impact correlation

 

Create multiple search strategies by combining words from your concept brainstorm list.

  1. Union AND employee AND ("health care access" OR "healthcare access")
  2. (Labor Union OR collective bargaining) AND "public employee" AND "health insurance" AND "coverage OR provision OR availab*)

Tips:

  • Use truncation (an * at the root of a word to find different word forms. For example, librar* will find libraries, librarian, librarians, etc.
  • Use parentheses and the OR operator to "nest" your search--different terms/phrases that represent the same concept.
  • Use quotation marks for phrase searching
  • Use Boolean operators to connect search terms:
    • OR -- finds results with either or both terms -- it is used to broaden your search.
    • AND -- finds results with both terms -- it is used to narrow your search.

Acknowledgement: The content in this box was based off of Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh's work at Georgia State University Library.

 

Where Should I Search? Video Tutorial

Using What You've Already Found to Find More Video

Even if you just find a few articles or books, it may be enough to get you going. Watch this two-minute video to see how you can stop searching and use what you've already found to find more.