Özet:

Studies on the skills in social studies education have proliferated after 2005. The aim of the present study is to identify the research trends of the theses by examining the graduate and postgraduate theses on skills in the field of social studies education between 2010-2021 in view of various criteria. The research was designed as a qualitative case study. The data was obtained by document analysis. 113 postgraduate theses prepared between 01.01.2010 and 15.12.2021 in Social Studies Teaching and Social Studies Education in the National Thesis Center were selected for the data collection. The theses were examined by content analysis using the thesis review form developed by expert opinion which included the gender of the author, the type of thesis and the year of publication, the university where it was prepared, the investigated skills, the study/sample group, the research method and the data collection and data analysis tools. Purposeful sampling was used in the selection of the sample. The results show that the most theses on skills were prepared by female authors and; the most theses were released in 2019. The number of theses at Gazi University was higher than others. The most theses were on empathy, followed by critical thinking and map literacy, with no thesis on cooperation though. It was revealed that 7th grade students were mostly selected in the study group/sample. Quantitative methods were mostly used with different data collection tools and analysis methods. It was determined that interview form, achievement test and document scanning were frequently used. Based on the findings, it is recommended to conduct theses in which different study groups/sample are preferred, focus on uninvestigated skills instead of certain skills, and compare graduate theses on skills in social studies education in Turkey and abroad and published articles on the skills by various criteria.