I have this long ms in draft form and a number of documents in the Research Folder, some of which are in sub folders called “domestic life” “ambitions” etc.
When I do searches through my various documents for text relating to to either of those above topics, I first do a search (using the search field in the upper right hand corner) for everything relating to “cats” (for domestic life).
I first do a search to find out which documents contain those references.
Those documents are then listed along the left hand side.
Then I do an additional search inside each doc. listed on the left, until I find a reference to, “cats.”
I highlight the paragraph I found. I’ve already learned that creating a scriviner link will do me no good. What I want is to put just that topic (maybe AS a link, so I can check context later) INTO THE FOLDER within Research called Domestic Life.
The only way I can figure out to do that is to delete my search topic (cats) above, so that the left side panel will then show ALL my Research topics and folders. I then drag the highlighted paragraph into the folder.
Then I have to do a whole new search for “cats” within that same document, go through the whole routine again. And so on.
Then, on to the next document listed on the left hand side.
I type “cats” into the search field on the upper right. Then I begin on the next document which appears in the left hand sidebar, showing that the word “cats” is contained within the document.
SURELY, there’s a better, faster way??? 
P.S. I’ve searched the documentation but must not be searching correctly. Can’t find info about this.
Yes, there’s an easier way. 
In the binder, select all the documents you want to search and load them as an “Edit Scrivenings” session (assuming it’s more than one document) and lock the editor (opt-cmd-L) just to avoid accidentally switching out.
Now use the Edit>Find (cmd-F) option to run the word search. This will bring up a separate search dialogue and will highlight each instance of the found word in the loaded document(s) as you go. Use “next” or “cmd-G” to jump to the next occurrence and “previous” or “cmd-shift-G” to jump back. The keyboard shortcuts will work even if the dialogue box isn’t visible.
Then just select and drag your paragraphs to the binder folder as you were doing.
This won’t create a link back, but you can add a link with a little extra work:
Split the editor so you have your Edit Scrivenings session in one (for running your search) and in the other open in corkboard mode the research folder where you’re dragging everything and lock that editor too. Now when you drag a selection of text to that folder in the binder, an index card will show up in the corkboard. Open the inspector and show the reference pane.
Now when you create new document, use opt-cmd-R in the Edit Scrivenings session to “reveal in Binder” all the documents in that session. The title of the one you’re clicking in will be displayed in the header, and you can skim through the selected documents in the Binder to find the right one. Click it so the others are deselected. Then click on the appropriate index card in the editor (the new one you just created, presumably, which will likely be last in the list) and drag the document from the binder to the reference pane to create an internal link.
In Scrivener 2.0, that process is streamlined significantly because using the “reveal in binder” command on a document within the Scrivenings session will reveal only that document in the binder rather than the entire session, so there’s less fussing.
Hope that helps!
MM
thanks thanks thanks for your help. I’ll get the upgrade. 
You’re welcome! Definitely give 2.0 a try. It is a paid upgrade ($25 unless you bought 1.54 on or after August 1st this year), but well worth it. You can download the trial if you want to play around with it before you buy, but there are so many improvements–new features, fine-tunings, and optimizations–that you’ll probably fall in love instantly. 
