Analysis of the Scientific Research on Inclusive Education

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the scientific research, including postgraduate theses and scientific articles related to inclusive education, carried out in Turkey in terms of some various variables. The study was designed using the document analysis technique, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The study data were collected from postgraduate theses in the Higher Education Council (CoHE) National Thesis Center and scientific articles found in the TUBITAK ULAKBIM TR-Index database. A descriptive analytic method was used to analyze the data of the study. The results revealed that the scientific research on inclusive education in Turkey is currently not at a sufficient level. A total of nine different universities published postgraduate thesis studies about inclusive education. These postgraduate theses are carried out in nine different fields of study. In particular, social studies education was found to be the field of study that examined the subject of inclusive education the most among postgraduate theses. On the other hand, it was found that the teaching activities or practices were mostly addressed in those research on inclusive education, and the sample group mostly consisted of teachers. Furthermore, the results showed that the scientific research was mostly designed using qualitative research methods, and that the interview method was mostly used as a data collection method. In light of the findings of this study, some recommendations were made to researchers.