Trends of Research in Education: Relevance and Significance

Abstract

A longitudinal research study has been conducted to identify the trends in the field of Education. The trends have been studied with the help of the PhD theses submitted during the years 2011-2021 of three universities of India which have made noteworthy contributions to the development of the subject. A total of 202 PhD theses has been studied to identify the patterns of research in the field of Education. The objectives of the research include identifying areas of education or sections and premises in the subject area which have been given more importance, the research design, methods of research, stages of education that have been actively studied by researchers. It also identifies the geographical expanse of a research study and the social background of the researchers carrying out the study. It also studies the future suggestions made by the researchers. This will indicate the future direction of a particular study. The study is not just relevant to the field of Education but also to other disciplines of Social Sciences as the research designs and methods opted by researchers in a particular discipline have seen overlap in other similar disciplines. The social representations in research cut across disciplines and become relevant in any field except some gendered professions and areas of study. There is an overall lack of representation from the reserved communities in any discipline as the hospitals, educational institutions, and government institutions fail to fill reserved seats at the higher levels of an organization. The study tries to correlate the trends of research and the problem of accurate representation where no or less representation leads to false narratives in research and improper solutions. It is to highlight that the people suffering from the problem could be trend setters in research and themselves move towards probable solutions.