So, I’ve written about how to plan your search, now I’m going to tell you about how my search is going. In my previous blogpost I highlighted three basic elements to a literature search strategy:
- Plan your search,
- Search,
- Review and adapt your search.
Plan your search:
First, the plan. I’ve explored the keywords I want to use. There are going to be a variety and it’s going to change as I come across different ideas and thoughts in the project, but here they are:
Keyword table:
| Photovoice | “International students” | “Higher Education” | UK |
| “Participatory photography” | “Foreign students” | University | “United Kingdom” |
| “Photo elicitation” | undergraduate | College | England |
| “Photo novella” | postgraduate | Tertiary education | “Great Britain” |
| masters | “Northern Ireland” | ||
| “British Isles” | |||
| Wales | |||
| Scotland | |||
| GB |
My focus is photovoice, so you can see how I’ve tried to prioritise the different related terms and synonyms. The other elements of the keyword table can be added into the search or used separately. You can view the keyword table with the first column as my research focus, and the other three columns providing context. The UK context isn’t essential to my research, but it is helpful if I need to focus my search or relate the student experience to the UK educational environment, not all universities around the world teach in the same way.
I’ve also been searching separately in relation to research methods, as I plan the project, and looking ahead to writing up the project, thinking about the justifications and evidence for the decisions I’ve made. Below are some additional keywords I’ve been using and am considering using:
- Visual research methods,
- Visual research,
- Qualitative research AND sample
- Self-identification
- Samples / sampling
- Participant AND identity
- Qualitative research methods
Searching:
So far I’ve searched in a few different places. I’ve used broader search terms like “visual research methods” or “qualitative research” when looking for books on the catalogue (NELSON). When searching the databases, I’ve been using the below search string. I’ve tried to focus my search in abstract or keywords, but not all databases have the same functionality.
photovoice OR “participatory photography” OR “photo elicitation” OR “photo novella”
The search terms aren’t interchangeable, but they should pick up related literature that could help me understand the recruitment and facilitation of the research. Below are the databases I have searched and will search.
- JSTOR
- British Education Index.
- Education Research Complete.
- Educational Administration Abstracts.
- ERIC
- Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts.
Still to do: SAGE, Web of Science, Wiley.
Review and adapt your search:
This is really key, taking the time to look at the results you have and adapt your search based on what you get. I’ve noticed doing a general search just in relation to photovoice, has been fruitful. However, thinking about how to focus the search so I’ve got a manageable number to review is difficult. I don’t necessarily need to focus on peer-reviewed or published literature, but sometimes those filters (alongside date ranges) help to get manageable chunks of literature to review. I know I have to go back to the education databases to search more broadly around international students, also including a focus on transition and masters education, which aren’t currently featured in my keywords list.
I’m reviewing what I’ve done, reflecting on what worked (and didn’t) and identifying what and where I need to search next. Therefore, I’m making progress but there are more keywords to explore, more searches to do, and more literature to read!
Lessons learnt:
- Don’t underestimate the plan – it gives you a framework to follow.
- Do it in chunks, taking time to stop and review what you’ve done means you can take the next steps proactively rather than feeling overwhelmed.
- As you read make a note of anything you need to find out more about and add it to your search.