A THEMATIC AND METHODOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS IN THE FIELD OF PHYSIOTHERAPY AND REHABILITATION IN TURKEY

Purpose: This research was conducted in order to evaluate the thematic and methodological characteristics of doctoral thesis in the field of physiotherapy in Turkey. Method: In this study, dissertations in the field of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, which are on the official website of the "National Thesis Center" of the Higher Education Council of the Republic of Turkey, were scanned. 422 doctoral dissertations conducted in the field of physiotherapy and rehabilitation between the dates of 1971 and October 15, 2020 were examined, which were registered in the Electronic dissertation archive of the higher education institution. Results: The number of universities having doctoral training in the field of physiotherapy and rehabilitation is 19 in Turkey. There are four foundation universities where doctoral education is given. It was determined that 81% (n=341) of the thesis consultants in the examined doctoral dissertations had the title of Professor. It was observed that the sample number in the thesis ranges from eight to 1563. When analyzed in terms of fields, it was seen that the most of the dissertations were conducted in the field of Neurology. It was determined that 329 of all researchers were female (78%) and 93 (22%) were male. Conclusion: We believe that it is important for physiotherapy students who receive or will receive doctoral education to take into account the priority areas, national and internationally accepted areas determined by the Council of Higher Education in the selection of the thesis subject. As a result, it is believed that this study will contribute to improving the quality of future doctoral dissertations.