OMP: Online Master's in Psychology

Searching databases can be tricky and take some practice to get used to. Here are 3 tips that might help you in your searching!

1. Keywords:
   •  Example: What are the impacts of age-related hearing loss on mental health?
     • For this example, the key concepts we would want to search are bolded. We are often inclined to add terms like "impact" or "outcome", but those terms are implied when searching a database.  
2. Thesauri:
   • Many databases have specific vocabulary that is used to identify articles on that topic. Using a combination of your keywords and controlled vocabulary can be incredibly helpful in your search. 
     • APA PsycNET's thesaurus is located in the blue banner above the advanced search 
     • In PubMED, it is called the MESH Database and is located at the bottom of the page 
3. Boolean operators: 
   • Boolean operators are used to connect search terms to better broaden or narrow your search
     • AND: Terms will BOTH be present in each article. Use to connect core concepts. Narrows your search.
     • OR: Each article will contain at least one of the searched terms. Use to connect synonyms. Broadens your search. 
   • Example (using the research question above): 
     • (Aging) AND (hearing loss OR presbycusis OR hearing) AND (Mental health)