Search Methods

There are many ways to approach information retrieval and therefore there are many ways to do the search in practise. Search methods include quick and simple search, narrow to broad search, tracking search i.e. pearl growing, browsing search, and systematic search.

Firstly,it is advisable to probe the topic and test the search:

Try individual words
Try simple search queries: 1 or 2 AND operations
Add more AND operations when needed
Gather more viable search terms
Try comprehensive search queries with alternative words
Remember the significance of search fields, truncation, and phrases

Sorting the search results might help to evaluate the success of your search. Databases usually offer a variety of options for sorting results. The best matches can be made to appear on top of the list if you sort by relevance. It is often recommended to also view the most recent results.

“Quick and simple” search is a good first step

In “quick and simple” search, the search is executed with an individual word or phrase. This gives an idea about whether the subject area is common or rare in the particular database (or even overall). There could be useful results among the matches.

"Quick and simple" search example

The search is focused gradually in the “from broad to narrow” method

In the “from broad to narrower” -search method, information retrieval begins by choosing a broad subject area for which you can find a lot of search results. The subject area is then outlined with concepts that specify and restrain it, e.g., language, year of publication etc. using the AND operator. Outlining is done until there are enough relevant search results.

"From broad to narrow" search example

The search is broadened by interpreting the results in the “from narrow to broad” method

In the “from narrow to broad” -search method, the broader concepts of exact search terms are explored and used as a part of the search query.

First, the search is done with an exact search term. In case a specific search term is only yielding few if any results, you should consider the broader subject fields that the problem is related to, or otherwise change the search term. The search is done again using a wider or modified search term.

When searching with a broader term, some irrelevant results will most likely also appear among the results, in which case you should be sure to evaluate their significance to your topic.

"From narrow to broad" search example

Tracking search aka pearl-growing advances by following the clues in the results

In tracking search aka pearl-growing, the search starts with a sparse amount of information. Publications are first searched using some relevant search term. Search results are then explored for clues to new relevant sources and developing or complementing the initial search query.

The results of pearl growing yield clues for new search terms, sources, authors, as well as for finding organisations or publication series in the field, or simply for focusing your own ideas. These findings can be used to modify the search query and improve searches, and thus find the most important publications.

Tracking search aka pearl-growing search example

Did you find a useful book or an article?

Browsing search may provide new ideas for the information retrieval

Browsing search is, as its name suggests, searching information by browsing. Although browsing search may sound ineffective and even random compared with searching with search terms and concepts, it is a good idea to keep in mind that interesting articles may also be found in this manner.

A good example of browsing search is browsing through the articles of a particular journal in a database.

Browsing search example

Systematic search is recommended for extensive research

Systematic information retrieval is necessary for comprehensive, systematic literature review. Systematic information retrieval is used to survey the relevant and accessible publications on the topic for scientific work (e.g., thesis).

Special features of systematic search

Systematic information retrieval covers:

National and international information sources
Different source types (books, theses, articles within journals, books, and conference proceedings)
- Books (both national and international)
- Theses
- Scientific articles (in journals, books, and conference proceedings)
- Conference proceedings and other such publications
Different databases and other tools for information retrieval
- Databases store information on various publications, such as scientific journals, books and other publication series and their articles. If the topic is multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary, information retrieval is done in databases of the disciplines in question.
- Searching from a single database is seldom sufficient. In the case that your topic is multidisciplinary, you should search from databases on all the relevant disciplines. The scope of the thesis naturally affects this: one database may offer sufficient literature for a bachelor’s thesis, for example, whereas much more extensive and comprehensive information retrieval is required for a dissertation.
Comprehensive search terms and their combinations that are relevant to the topic

You can search, for instance, from the following sources: UEF-Primo, Finna, Discipline-specific databases (see UEF Library, Information resources by discipline), Google, Google Scholar and Google Books.

Covidence helps with the screening of the results.

Plan the information retrieval and save the search history

Draft a strategy for the search. Formulate search queries for your topic and choose the relevant databases. See our tips on how to plan your information retrieval.

Save the search history of the previous searches for yourself. This way you may easily re-examine what information you sought and how you did it. Your search history may be helpful for the analysis of your search results.

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