How to Research on Google the Clever Way!

Research is essential to every student and professional alike.
Luckily for the new generation, Mr. Google is always there to help them.
With just a few hits on the keyboard, almost all the answers to our querries pop immediately.
I have one observation though, especially among students:
If the same subject for the whole class is to be researched, most probably they will all end up with the same find.
Did it occur to you as a teacher receiving the same assignment most of  the time?

The solution is to effectively use the Google Search Engine.

Here are simple yet not so popular way of having xhaustive or  narrow searches:

01 Use qoutation marks to group the words and be taken as a whole concept  rather than individual words.

What happens when you type more than one word in your search? All pages that contain these words even only one or some and not all of the words you typed will show up.
If you use qoutation mark, you are grouping the words as a phrase and only the page with the same grouped words appears.

Example :

If you type only .. stem cell fad... you may end up having separate articles on stem cell and another about fad.
But if you type "stem cell fad". you will really find what you are looking for.

02 narrow down your search by extending the phrase and adding more specific words

Using more descriptive and  specific words will limit your search to what you really have in mind.
Now if you want to land on a different page other than what's always available, try adding more words to identify what you really want to differentiate the result you get.

Example:

Instead of the usual...Chicken Dish Menu...
Try..Outlandish Chicken Dish.. or....Amazing Chicken Menu.. or..The Most Delicious Chicken Dish!
Never underestimate the web, and you will be surprised on what you will find.

03 using the + (plus) sign or the - (minus) sign to have a more focused search.

The + sign before a word means that you want to locate on the article all the words you typed

Example: 

+romantic+paintings .. means you want to locate pages that have both these words
You can still add other words  like +romantic+paintings+celebrities for example
This connected words means you are looking for pages that have all these words on them.

How is it different from just using qoutation marks?

With the qoutation mark, you tell the search engine to locate all the words you typed in that order the way you typed it.
With the +symbol you are telling the search engine that its OK if these words are not in order provided they are in the same page.

The -(minus) symbol  is useful when you're looking for one main word that is related with the second word but you'd like to exclude the second word from your search .
You feel dizzy now? Hmm...

Example:

Imelda Marcos -shoes ... meaning you want to find Imelda but not about her shoes.
More example: Imelda Marcos-shoes -congress . This means you want to have pages with Imelda Marcos sans shoes and any mention of congress.
Crystal clear?

04 Asterisk fill search

This way you tell the search engine to just fill the asterisk with any word available on the web.
This is gonna be exciting!
Try and you'll be susprised by what you will find.

Example: 

Typing.. how to * the funny way... will give you a wide array of interesting pages.
See what i mean?
Now try... how to * a man..or how to * a woman

05 Add database

For a wider search, try adding the word " database " in every word you want to search. It will give you more options if you are just browsing for more articles.
Try a word. Then try searching again with the word database this time.

Example:

Instead of just "guns"
Type ..guns database.. and you'll find more sources of the subject you searched.


There are still other technical ways on how to research, but for sure with only this five, the way you brows the internet will be greatly improved for a more exciting discovery of what's on the world wide web of information superhighway gonna offer.