Education Studies Research

There are many ways to find online articles in the field of education, including searching e-journals, databases, and interdisciplinary search indexes like UofT's Summon, or search engines like Google Scholar.

Advanced Search Techniques

Consider using the following techniques to make your search more efficient:

• Boolean Operators: Link key concepts and related terms with AND/OR.
• Thesaurus: Most databases have a thesaurus that lets you selects subject terms specific to that database.
• Phrase searching (""): Use quotation marks to search for a phrase (i.e. "experiential learning", "higher education")
• Truncation (*): Use the asterisk when you would like to search for different endings of a word (i.e teach* =  teach, teacher, teaching; Canad*= Canada, Canadians, Canadiana). 

Methodological Keywords

You can also add keywords to your search to find articles related to specific research methods:

Qualitative: "qualitative research", ethnography, phenomenology, "grounded theory", hermeneutic, heuristic, semiotics, "lived experience", narrative, "life experiences", "cluster sample", "action research", "observational method", "case study", "content analysis", "thematic analysis", "constant comparative method", "field study", "theoretical sample", "discourse analysis", "focus group", "ethnological research", ethnomethodology, interview.

Quantitative: "quantitative research", "experimental design", "data analysis", "sample size", "census figures", survey

Searching Multiple Databases

Searching multiple databases at the same time can make your searches more efficient, particularly when you have a research question that crosses multiple disciplines.

BrowZine is a web, Android, and iOS application that allows you to

• build a customized library of journals
• browse journals by issue
• keep track of new issues as they are published
• view, save, and share articles

Please note that not all education journals available through the University of Toronto Libraries are included in BrowZine.