Googling Smarter
Tip #1: Use the keywords that credible research sources would use… stress and teens vs. stress and adolescents
Stress and teens More self-help pages and pages for parents More organizations and periodicals designed to help people but not to do research (familydoctor.org, USA Today)
Stress and adolescents More research studies and fewer help pages More universities, government agencies like the NIH, and professional organizations (National Assn. of School Psychologists)
Tip #2: Use all the different sections of Google, for example News
Tip #3: Use Google Advanced Search
The first box, “all these words,” is an AND search. It looks for websites where all those words occur frequently. That’s your normal Google search You don’t have to put “and” between your search terms.
The 2 nd box, “this exact word or phrase,” looks for only those exact words in that exact order, so be careful that you’ve got it right! Good for quotations or terms that you’re sure about and you want to keep the words together (ex: “generalized anxiety disorder”)
The 3 rd box, “any of these words,” is an OR search. It looks for pages with this word, OR that word. It’s a broad search and best with synonyms…
The Site Operator: Limits Google to searching within one specific website or domain (.gov,.edu,.org, etc.)