Examination of Abstracts Presented at the 6th International Preschool Education Congress

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the abstracts in 6th International Preschool Education Congress abstract book in terms of research subject, method, model, sample type, data collection tools, data analysis techniques, validity and reliability. This study is a qualitative study and was conducted using document analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods. 295 papers in the abstract book of the 6th International Preschool Education Congress held in Kars, Turkey were included in this study. Each abstract consists of at least 500 words in the 1206 pages abstract book. Descriptive analysis, one of the qualitative data analysis techniques, was used in data analysis. The data obtained in the study were visualized through graphics. As a result of the study, it was determined that child development, teacher training, educational environments, education programs and family participation were most studied in the abstract of the papers. It was concluded that quantitative and qualitative methods were preferred in the studies, but the mixed method was not preferred by the researchers. Preschool children, teachers, parents and prospective teachers were most studied as sample groups. It was observed that there are a few studies conducted with faculty members and administrators. The quantitative research mostly used the screening/descriptive design; the experimental designs were very low and longitudinal studies are not preferred. In qualitative research, case study design is generally preferred. Scale and interview forms were the most used data collection tools. It was concluded that correlational analysis and content analysis are the most used data analysis techniques. It was determined that the use of advanced statistical techniques is very low. Also the validity and reliability information is generally not available in the abstracts. It was concluded that ¼ of the abstracts in the congress abstract book do not include any results and conclusion.