Consider the database's: 

• scope: subject specific or multidisciplinary 
• types of resources indexed: books, peer-reviewed articles, newspaper articles, legal documents, data, primary sources, etc. 
• publication date coverage
  • JSTOR has excellent historical and disciplinary coverage however does not include the most recent 3-5 years of journal articles.
• full text, citation only, or a mix
• search functionality and features 

Since every database has different holdings (some unique, some overlap) you will need to search at least a few databases to ensure you have explored as much of the resources available to you as possible. 

From Assignment 2: For example, you could look at quantitative data set looking at how acreage of land planted with GM seeds in China has changed over time and a recent policy document outlining new regulations surrounding the safety of GM seeds

Main Concepts & Potential Search Terms

Acreage of land: agriculture, farm

GM Seeds: genetically modified, transgenic, crop, rice, cotton,

China: Heilongjiang province

Policy: regulations, law

Safety

Sample Searches

China AND (GMO OR "genetically modified" OR "genetically altered" OR transgenic) AND (crop OR rice OR cotton OR seeds)

ProQuest Social Science Collection

Web of Science

Policy Commons