Development of competencies of a doctors in education to plan and accomplish the research

Contemporary universities have to meet high requirements put forward in the Lithuanian state and international documents, these requirements in many cases are reflected in the missions of universities. Higher education is one essential pre-condition for the development of the state. The article presents a study into research methods used in doctoral student dissertations in education, defended during the recent decade. Out of all 206 defended doctoral dissertations in education 90 dissertations were selected on the basis of quota selection principle. While writing and defending dissertations, doctoral students should present the performed work and account for it according to the general regulations common for all. Therefore, doctoral students use sufficiently diverse methods of scientific research. Besides scientific literature, such methods as questionnaire survey, document analysis, experiment, interview, testing are used. Quantitative research methods are used more often than qualitative. Out of 90 analysed dissertations, various statistical data processing methods were applied in 81 dissertations. Descriptive statistics is the part of mathematical statistics used most frequently in dissertations. Graphs were drawn, various numeric characteristics were calculated (means, standard deviation, mode and etc.) in 81 dissertation (90%). Doctor’s in education science qualification descriptions is a document which describes the competencies of a person who completed doctoral studies and successfully defended doctoral dissertation. The presented activity areas reveal the doctor’s education science professional activity objectives which he / she performs researching various educational phenomena, performing different education development projects and growing personally and professionally. Doctoral students are planning to use questionnaire survey, document analysis, experiment, interview, testing [...]Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta