Postgraduate theses published in the field of preschool music education in Turkiye: a bibliographical study

Preschool music education is an important field that affects and shapes the whole life of the individual. Preschool music education, which has not become a separate discipline for many years, has become a separate field of study both in preschool departments and in units such as music education departments and music departments with the development of the university structure and the diversification of departments. Rapidly increasing scientific studies and new approaches every year indicate the need for this field. At this point, graduate theses that contribute to the literature are important. In this study, which aims to examine graduate theses published in the field of preschool music education in Türkiye from a bibliographic point of view, all theses between 1985, the date of the first thesis, and the present day were included in the study. The study sample was limited to theses registered in the Thesis Documentation Center of the Council of Higher Education and open to access, and 94 theses were included in the sample. In the study, theses were examined in terms of university, distribution according to the years they were written, types, institute, method used, research design, sample selection, sample scope, data collection tools and analysis methods used. Frequency (f) and percentage (%) were used to analyze the data and the results were shown in tables and figures. As a result of the research, it was found that most of the theses were written in 2019 at Gazi University, within the scope of Educational Sciences Institutes, and that quantitative methods were mostly used as methods in the theses, experimental models were used, sample selection was determined randomly, and children between 26-72 months were generally studied. While questionnaires were mostly used as data collection methods, it was concluded that frequency and percentage analysis methods were used. In line with the results of the research, it is thought that conducting bibliometric studies at certain intervals will contribute to the literature.