Methodological Analysis of Media Literacy Theses in Turkey

Abstract

Media literacy is a field in between communication and educational sciences. The aim of this study, which is carried out using the meta-analysis method, is to describe the general state of theses written on media literacy and to attempt to reveal the trends and deficiencies of the area by examining the doctoral theses from a methodological perspective. Within the scope of this research, theses containing media literacy-related titles were collected and analyzed in accordance with their institutes. Accordingly, a total of 140 theses written on media literacy since 2007, 31 of which are doctoral dissertations, have been examined. The following conclusions have been reached as a result: almost all of the media literacy theses written on education and media/communication subjects had been gathered under the umbrella of educational sciences and social sciences institutes. They had utilized mostly mixed methods; preferred interviews and questionnaires as data collection tools and applied software only at a limited level in qualitative analysis. Moreover, methodological explanations such as purpose, method and scope were generally stated. In addition, methodological problems were identified such as the lack of prerequisite tests in data analysis, the incongruity between the applied tests and their interpretations, and the expression of data collection tools as a method.