Investigation of the phd thesis in the field of mathematics education between the years 2010-2020 in Turkey in terms of the theory, the theoretical framework and the conceptual framework

The aim of this study is to contribute to the literature and guide new studies by examining the doctoral level theses, which are done in the field of mathematics education in Turkey between 2010-2020, in terms of theory, theoretical framework and conceptual framework. For this purpose, 374 studies that are open to access in the Thesis database of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) were examined. The data were collected by document review method and the analysis of the data was carried out by descriptive content analysis method. The researches were examined in terms of sub-problems respectively according to the years in which the theses were prepared, according to the universities in which they were prepared, according to the department, according to the curriculum/branch of science, according to the research method adopted, according to the distribution in terms of the theoretical framework and conceptual framework (model), according to how the distribution should be in terms of the theoretical framework and conceptual framework (model) and according to the classification of the theories, theoretical framework and conceptual frameworks (models) used in the theses. According to the results of the analysis, it was determined that the most research on the subject was carried out in 2019. According to the universities where the theses are prepared, the university that has done the most work at the doctoral level has been determined as Atatürk University. According to the department in which the theses are prepared, the most work is done in the Department of Primary Education and the Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, while according to the branch of science in which the theses are prepared, it is determined that the most research is in the science of Mathematics Education. It has been seen that the qualitative research approach is the most widely adopted approach in theses. When the distribution of theses in terms of theory, theoretical framework, conceptual framework (model) was examined, it was determined that 185 of the doctoral theses written in the field of mathematics education used the theoretical framework. The theoretical framework was followed by the literature /literature review with 118 studies and the conceptual framework (model) with 66 studies, respectively. Also, it was seen that conceptual and theoretical framework were used together in 5 studies. As a result of the analysis of how the theses should be distributed in terms of theory, theoretical framework, conceptual framework (model), it was determined that 77 of the total 374 doctoral level theses could be evaluated in the theoretical framework and 297 in the conceptual framework. When the distribution of the classification of theories, theoretical frameworks and conceptual frameworks (models) in the theses was examined, it was determined that 210 of the theoretical framework and conceptual frameworks (models) were the most in the learning and teaching class. In the light of these findings, it is emphasized that the concepts of theory, theoretical framework and conceptual framework (model) can be given more space in scientific research courses in graduate education programs in order to be fully understood especially by researchers who have just started academic life.