Resources like encyclopedias can help provide background information on a topic. They aren't sources you can cite in your research paper, but the knowledge you acquire from them will help you locate better sources that you can use.
Identifying key concepts and what other words or phrases describe that concept you will get more meaningful results. Here is an example of how you can break down a question into concepts and their related phrases.
Original Phrase | Related words or ideas |
---|---|
eyewitness testimony | eyewitness identification/misidentification, false testimony, police lineup, eyewitness errors, lineup identification, eyewitness evidence, eyewitness memory |
wrongful conviction | innocence, false imprisonment, exoneration, false arrest, wrongful incarceration, criminal justice errors |
how often | statistics, data, history, frequency, extent |