Dr. Hab., Professor B.N. Shustin¹
Dr. Hab., Professor A.A. Gorelov^2
1Federal Scientific Center for Physical Culture and Sports (FSC VNIIIFK), Moscow
²St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, St. Petersburg

Keywords: thesis, research specialty, Doctoral thesis, PhD thesis, research field, physical education and sports, Dissertation Councils.

Background. Progress of the modern physical education and sport science may be effectively tracked by analyses of the thesis topics and the thesis quality and priorities rating studies. Timely analyses of the Dissertation Councils’ reports give the means to rank priority research interests classifiable by the research specialties and find the potential growth points in the ongoing physical education and sports research activity [1-3].

Objective of the study was to highlight the priority physical education and sports research thrusts in 13.00.04 discipline based on the theses analysis.

Results and discussion. The thesis statistics analysis found 19 PhD theses defended for the study period in the sports theory and practice; 15 theses in the professional/ applied physical education; 8 theses in the physical education theory and practice; 6 theses in the adaptive physical education theory and practice; 2 theses in the health physical education theory and practice; and 1 thesis in psychology.

Given in Table 1 hereunder is the PhD/ Doctoral theses flow statistics by the research fields for the study period. By the Dissertation Council, 9 theses were defended at the Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health Dissertation Council; 8 theses at Kuban State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism; 7 theses at A.I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University; 1 thesis at Adyghe State University; and 1 thesis at Buryat State University.

Table 1. PhD/ Doctoral theses (13.00.04 specialty) flow statistics by the research fields and Dissertation Councils

The Federal “Sport as a Life Norm” Project under the national “Demography” Project encourages the research initiatives geared to lure different population groups to mass physical education and sports and facilitate the physical education and sports motivational programs with a special priority to the relevant modern application digital technologies. A special emphasis is made on the individualized recommendations on how the health physical education projects should be designed and customized to the age-specific physical progress needs including those for disabled trainees. Having analyzed the physical-education-and-sports-related research progress trends, we have outlined the priority research thrusts for the near future.

It should be mentioned that lately the national research community urged the decision-makers to list physical education and sports research field with the Nomenclature of Scientific Specialties of the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. The physical education and sports research requires psychological, pedagogical and biomedical interests and competences with concern to the human motor activity. In addition, a growing priority is being given to the social functions of modern physical education service in the context of the age-specific individual socialization needs and the progress facilitating physical education methods and tools. Of special promise in this context are a few other sciences that could contribute their research resources to the priority physical education fields and health programs to find solutions for a few modern phylogenetic problems. These considerations give grounds to rank physical education and sports among the independent and rapidly progressing research fields as the physical education and sports research gives, on the one hand, a versatile toolkit for the human lifecycle studies and, on the other hand, offers a system of new efficient technologies to expand and reinforce the modern pedagogical, psychological, biomedical, social, historical and other knowledge bases.

Conclusion. The study data and analysis of the theses for the study period confirmed the physical-education-and-sports-related theses reduction trend in every physical education and sports research field. The trend may be explained, among other things, by the more stringent requirements for the theses and theses management establishments, associated with reductions in the state-supported post-graduate fellowships and, as a result, largely lost interest of the young researchers. The physical-education-and-sports-related theses analysis also found a contraction in the foreign study reports citations by the national research community.

References

1. Baranov V.N., Shustin B.N. Development trends in domestic physical education and sports theses. Vestnik sportivnoy nauki. 2018. no. 6. pp. 65-70.
2. Baranov V.N., Shustin B.N. Analysis of dissertations in elite sports and sports reserve training.   Vestnik sportivnoy nauki.  2019 no. 1. pp. 4-9.
3. Gorelov A.A., Podlipnyak Yu.F., Shustin B.N. Examination of theses in 13.00.04 - “Theory and methods of physical education, sports training, recreational and adaptive physical education” in 2016. Teoriya i Praktika Fizicheskoy Kultury. 2019. no.7. pp. 96-98.
4. Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia of October 23, 2017 No. 1027 “On approval of the nomenclature of scientific specialties for which academic degrees are awarded (as amended on March 23, 2018)” [Electronic resource] Available at: http://docs.cntd.ru/document/542610966 (date of access: 6.12.2019).

Corresponding author: vniifk@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to highlight the priority physical education and sports research thrusts in 13.00.04 discipline based on the theses analysis.

Methods and structure of research. The thesis statistics analysis found 19 PhD theses defended for the study period in the sports theory and practice; 15 theses in the professional/ applied physical education; 8 theses in the physical education theory and practice; 6 theses in the adaptive physical education theory and practice; 2 theses in the health physical education theory and practice; and 1 thesis in psychology.

Results of the study. The analysis of current trends in the scientific research in the field of physical education and sport enabled to determine the vectors of development of modern science and formulate proposals for the formation of relevant research areas covered in the thesis works for the foreseeable future.

Conclusions. The study data and analysis of the theses for the study period confirmed the physical-education-and-sports-related theses reduction trend in every physical education and sports research field. The trend may be explained, among other things, by the more stringent requirements for the theses and theses management establishments, associated with reductions in the state-supported post-graduate fellowships and, as a result, largely lost interest of the young researchers. The physical-education-and-sports-related theses analysis also found a contraction in the foreign study reports citations by the national research community.