1. Using the Thesaurus In addition to serving as a guide to computer literature searches, the thesaurus from PsycINFO can also serve as a good source of ideas for possible research. For this exercise, you need to locate the latest version (10th ed.)

of the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (2005) published by the APA. You can find it in the library, or perhaps your faculty advisor would have a copy.

Start at the beginning of the thesaurus where there will be an appendix describing the content classification system (e.g., developmental psychology, social processes, social psychology, personality psychology, psychological and physical disorders, etc.). Browse through those headings to see what interests you most. Once you have identified the area that seems most interesting (e.g., eating disorders under the psychological and physical disorders), then you can go to the alphabetical section to read more about it (e.g., the section on eating will list eating attitudes, binge eating, and appetite disorders).

Because research is primarily about discovering relationships, it is important to identify other terms and concepts that you would like to relate to the area that you have just identified. For example, you may be interested in cultural influences; therefore you would look up the appropriate search term for that variable (e.g., crosscultural differences) in the thesaurus. You can then search for those terms in the PsycINFO database in the library (e.g., eating disorders and cross-cultural differences). Scanning those results would then enable you to further refine what aspects of this topic most interest you. Taking this example further, you may discover that several studies have examined the relationship between eating disorders and acculturation, and you want to pursue that topic further. You would check the thesaurus for the appropriate terms and then go back to PsycINFO and search the terms eating disorders and cultural assimilation.
Alternatively, you could begin your exploration either at the rotated alphabetical section or the cluster section (toward the back of the thesaurus). There is no one right way to identify a research topic that interests you.
Pick up the thesaurus and try either one of these routes with the follow-up procedures suggested above, and happy browsing!