Thematic content analysis of phd theses on the nature of science

In this research, it is aimed to examine the distribution of doctoral theses written on the nature of science in Turkey according to various variables, to determine the trends in the studies and to guide future studies. For this purpose, the study group of the research consists of 54 doctoral theses written in Turkey, with the concept of nature of science in the title, and access to these theses was obtained from the database of the YÖK National Thesis Center. The doctoral theses included in the research were examined in depth with thematic content analysis method. Thematic content analysis of the studies was carried out under 9 themes: year, university, subject, method, sample, sample size, data collection tool, data analysis technique and suggestions. In the light of the findings, it is noteworthy that the most studies were conducted in 2015, and the number of studies has decreased in recent years. When the distribution according to universities is examined, it has been determined that the most studies were conducted at Gazi University, 54 studies were written on different subjects, and the most used method was the mixed research method. When the sample groups are examined, it has been determined that most of the studies are done with the pre-service teachers and the science branch is preferred the most on the basis of the branch. When the distribution according to the sample size is examined, it is noteworthy that more studies are conducted with groups of 21-40 and 61-80 people, and large group studies are not preferred. It has been determined that documents are mostly used as data collection tool, and content analysis is preferred more in data analysis techniques. When the suggestions in the theses were analyzed, it was determined that the most suggestions were made for teachers. It is thought that this study will be a guide for future doctoral theses. Based on the results, it is suggested that priority should be given to quantitative research, that prospective teachers should work with branches such as classroom and social studies, for which little or no work has been done, and among students, high school students at different grade levels should be studied.