What Were the Top Research Trends of 2020?
The most accessed dissertations reflect interest in health, technology, work and education throughout a tumultuous year.
The global COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected the ways all of us worked, learned and related in 2020. Many of our offices and classrooms were transitioned into our homes and online, and our connections with friends and family went virtually…well, virtual.
These issues and concerns also impacted the kinds of topics that interested students and researchers around the world. In looking at ProQuest’s most accessed dissertations and theses in 2020, we weren’t surprised to see most of the titles related to education, leadership, organizational management, technology and health care– or some combination thereof.
The top-most accessed title was Social Media and Self-Evaluation: The Examination of Social Media Use on Identity, Social Comparison, and Self-Esteem in Young Female Adults by Dr. Michelle Solomon (William James College). Given the increased amount of time spent on our devices and the reduction in person-to-person interaction over the past year, the influence of social media was more powerful than ever in our lives. Solomon’s study explores how engaging on these platforms impacts the ways we think about ourselves and others.
The second-most accessed title was Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs by Dr. Jill Jacobs-Biden (University of Delaware), US First Lady Elect. Along with concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on community colleges, curiosity about Dr. Biden’s research was likely stoked by viral backlash to a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed that criticized her use of the honorific.
Below is the complete list of most access doctoral dissertations from 2020. We suspect many of them will continue to be relevant in research and learning into this year.
1) Social Media and Self-Evaluation: The Examination of Social Media Use on Identity, Social Comparison, and Self-Esteem in Young Female Adults
Author: Solomon, Michelle
Subject: Clinical Psychology
Pubno: 10188962
2) Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting students' needs
Author: Jacobs-Biden, Jill
Subject: Community college education
Pubno: 3247570
3) Why Did You Stay?: A Case Study of Male Student Persistence in Technical College
Author: Froehlich-Mueller, Kerry
Subject: Community college education
Pubno: 10680855
4) A Correlational Study on Interactive Technology Use and Student Persistence In eLearning Classes at an Online University
Author: Edwards, Carol T.
Subject: Information Technology
Pubno: 10641768
5) Leadership Style and Leadership Education: A Phenomenological Study of Nurse Leader and Frontline Charge Nurse Perceptions of Leadership Style and Leadership Education in Hospitals
Author: Smith, Candace S.
Subject: Educational Philosophy
Pubno: 10690015
6) How High School Students' Perceptions of Their Teacher-Student Relationships Relate to Their Academic Achievement
Author: Short, Lori A.
Subject: Secondary Education
Pubno: 10638662
7) Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction at a Fast Food Hamburger Chain: The Relationship Between Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty
Author: Kabir, Jahangir M.
Subject: Business Administration
Pubno: 10169573
8) Organizational Change Readiness: Effects of Organizational Structure and Leadership Communication in Organizational Change
Author: Krishnan, Rajesh R.
Subject: Management
Pubno: 10791024
9) Factors that Influence Successful Organizational Change in Corporations: Examination of Change Management, Employees' Reaction to Change, and Change Outcomes
Author: Roberts, Augustus Dee
Subject: Management
Pubno: 10746805
10) Content Analysis of the Theory Base Used in the Conference Proceedings of the Association of Educational Communications and Technologies
Author: Flynt, Peggy R.
Subject: Education
Pubno: 10635947
11) Social Media and the College Student Journey: An Examination of How Social Media Use Impacts Social Capital and Affects College Choice, Access, and Transition
Author: Horvath-Plyman, Melissa
Subject: Communication
Pubno: 10937367
12) Rage and Social Media: The Effect of Social Media on Perceptions of Racism, Stress Appraisal, and Anger Expression Among Young African American Adults
Author: Maxwell, Morgan Lindsey
Subject: Social Psychology
Pubno: 10120165
13) The Effects of Watson's Theory of Human Caring on the Nurse Perception and Utilization of Caring Attributes and the Impact on Nurse Communication
Author: McMillan, Mary Owens
Subject: Nursing
Pubno: 10274624
14) Organizational Behavior: Perceptions Analysis of Micro and Macro Organizational Behavior in an Organizational Setting
Author: Delich, Joshua T.
Subject: Organizational Behavior
Pubno: 10075919
15) Blended Technology Rich Instruction Verses Blended Computer Managed Instruction in 8th Grade Digital Literacy Instruction
Author: Puccetti, Gregory Peter
Subject: Educational Technology
Pubno: 10149966
16) Application of Jean Watson's Theory of Transpersonal Caring in Nurses Practicing in a Pain Center
Author: Hubert, Patricia Malone
Subject: Nursing
Pubno: 10933489
17) A Quantitative Study of Grit as a Predictor of Online Course Success at a Suburban Michigan Community College
Author: Climer, Steven L.
Subject: Higher Education
Pubno: 10682242
18) The K-12 Service-Learning Standards and Fourth Grade Students' Math Achievement: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Georgia
Author: Clark, Tanner
Subject: Elementary Education
Pubno: 10743197
19) Managing Marketing Mix and Communications in a Digital Era: The Role of Traditional and New Media in a Multichannel Environment
Author: Kumar, Ashish
Subject: Marketing
Pubno: 3541126
20) A Study of the Relationship Between Skill Variety and High Internal Work Motivation, Task Identity and High Internal Work Motivation, Task Significance and High Internal Work Motivation, Autonomy and High Internal Work Motivation, and Intrinsic Job Feedback and High Internal Work Motivation in the Manufacturing arena
Author: Robbins, Jay Thomas
Subject: Management
Pubno: 9968179
21) An Assessment of Dropout Rates of Former Youth Ministry Participants in Conservative Southern Baptist Megachurches
Author: Shields, James Brandon
Subject: Social Sciences Education
Pubno: 3356773
22) Cognitive Effects on the Neurophysiology and Biomechanics of Stroke Recovery
Author: Diamond, Solomon Gilbert
Subject: Biomedical Engineering
Pubno: 3117980
23) Exploring Online Community Among Rural Medical Education Students: A Case Study
Author: Palmer, Ryan Tyler
Subject: Health Education
Pubno: 3594744
24) A Quantitative Study of the Relationship between Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Violence Training to Reduce Stress and Attrition
Author: Tucker, Angela
Subject: Teacher Education
Pubno: 10746978
25) Implications of a Social Media Course for Adolescent Social Media Usage
Author: Johnson, Nneka A.
Subject: Education
Pubno: 10261934
See the full list of most accessed dissertations and theses per month in 2020!