The present disclosure relates to a pre-5th-Generation (5G) or 5G communication system to be provided for supporting higher data rates Beyond 4th-Generation (4G) communication system such as Long Term Evolution (LTE). The purpose of the present disclosure is to discover a small cell in a wireless communication system. An operation of a terminal in the wireless communication system includes receiving a first signal for informing of existence of a small cell according to a first measurement period and attempting to detect the first signal and a second signal for informing of a service coverage of the small cell according to a second measurement period after detecting the first signal. In addition, the present disclosure also includes embodiments other than the embodiment described above.