The content analysis of postgraduate theses in the field of political geography in Türkiye

The subject of this research examines political geography studies in graduate theses in Türkiye. The study aims to identify the quantitative deficiencies and qualitative presence of political geography research in Türkiye, providing guidance for new researchers. Such research is important as it reveals developments, changes, trends, and innovations related to the field of political geography. The research is based on the content analysis method applied to 50 theses obtained through searches in the Higher Education Council's National Thesis Center database. This analysis method has been chosen to yield clearer results regarding the topic. The developed analysis categories include the type of thesis, main field of study, subject, year, university and institute, index terms, language, keywords, data collection tools and techniques, as well as the methods used. It was found that most of the examined theses were in the field of geography; however, more specific topics such as international waters, global migrations, refugee migrations, problems related to globalization, potential future global and regional unions, studies focused on energy resources, and research on environmental issues were not adequately addressed. Most studies in political geography are concentrated in certain universities. There is a need for more theses to be written from different disciplines. Additionally, the low rate of field studies in the theses indicates issues regarding research methods and data collection techniques. There is a need for more theses related to political geography, an increase in field studies, diversification of sources, and encouragement of interdisciplinary collaboration.