Construction and Surveying

Planning your search

Try not to search your entire question at once. This won't find many useful results. The techniques below can help you plan your search.

Break your question into key words

Start by breaking your question down into individual ideas and terms. We call these keywords.

Example topic: How can modern methods of construction help the construction industry become more sustainable?

From here, select what you think are the keywords or concepts. You can usually ignore verbs such as 'discuss', 'analyse' for your search. 

• Modern methods of construction

• Sustainable/sustainability

• Construction industry

Find alternative terms

Once you have your keywords, take a moment to decide if there are other words that mean the same thing (synonyms). Not all authors use the same words to describe the same ideas.

If you're stuck, try Googling the term and seeing what comes up. You can look for words that mean the same thing, more specific terms or broader terms.

• Modern methods of construction: site-based MMC, volumetric construction, panelised system, sub-assemblies

• Sustainable/sustainability: green, Net Zero, environmental impact

• Construction industry: building industry, housebuilding, commercial construction

Other ideas for keywords

• Acronyms and abbreviations - MMC, modern methods of construction
• British and American spellings - globalisation, globalization
• Terms you can write as one or two words - time frame, timeframe

Information sources

For this topic, you might be interested in the following types of information:

• Concepts and definitions around fmodern methods of construction, perhaps from books or professional websites.
• Reports from relevant government bodies, international organisations or professional institutions, e.g. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
• Journal articles for the latest studies on modern methods of construction and sustainability.

This is not a comprehensive list. Our section on Information sources has more details on source types.

Use limits and filters

There are millions of books, articles and websites available, and you won't have time to look through all of them. To help with this, you can decide on limits to your search. This can include:

• Publication date - depending on your topic, you may only want the most recent information available. 
• Language - you can limit your search to specific languages.
• Geography - you may only want research from or about a certain place.

Choosing your own topic?

If you have chosen your own topic, it's important to start with some general searches to make sure there is information out there before you finalise it. If the topic is very specific or new, you may struggle to find enough information. If your topic is too broad, you will find too much information.