Use the literature search plan to brainstorm keywords and related terms for your research.

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

• Thesaurus: Most databases have a thesaurus which 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). 

You can add some of these 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

For more information about research methods, see:

Sage Research Methods