Research trends in the department of information and records management 2002-2022: A content analysis of PhD dissertations

The main purpose of this research is to reveal the research trends in the PhD dissertations completed in the Department of Information and Records Management throughout Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, Hacettepe and Marmara University) between 2002 and 2022. For this purpose, content analysis was carried out under the categories of research topic, perspective, social level, research strategy, data collection technique, analysis type and research type for a total of 121 PhD dissertations produced in 21 years at four universities. According to the research findings, Hacettepe University produced 41 PhD dissertations, Ankara University 30, Istanbul University 24, and Marmara University 15 respectively in 21 years. The most frequently researched subject in PhD dissertations was "research on library and information science service activities" (27.27%), and the most frequently used perspective was "process or service developer's point of view" (33.88%). The "organizational" (39.66%) social level was used most frequently in PhD dissertations, and the "survey" strategy (45.45%) was the most used research strategy. In addition, the most frequently used data collection technique was "interview and survey" (54.55%). Results showed that "quantitative analysis" (44.63%) and "descriptive (including historical)" research (69.42%) were dominant. This research can guide the planning of future research by revealing the trends in areas such as research topic, perspective, social level, research strategy, data collection technique, analysis type and research type in the PhD dissertations of the Information and Records Management departments.