Content analysis of Iranian Ph.D. Planning Theses emphasizing the relationship between knowledge and research

A Review of Iranian Planning critiques indicates significant points in relation to the quality of professional planning activities, research outputs and its knowledge production system. It is supposed that current knowledge, research and profession defections and shortcomings that each experience individually are the result of a general flaw in the relationship between all of them. However, the question is how the content of the Iranian planning knowledge-research relationship is defined and what content Planning PhD Theses in order to improve the Iranian planning knowledge, should cover?

Establishing PhD planning courses in various world universities have a significant history and its research outcomes have been trying to enrich planning knowledge base. Iranian PhD Planning courses began in 1968 at the University of Tehran. Since 2009, Shahid Beheshti and Tarbiat Modares universities, then other universities have joined this movement. This study aims to find out the effects of PhD Planning theses on the content of Iranian planning knowledge during these years and what role should they play in the coming years?

This article is a fundamental research type and the research method is based on qualitative content analysis. Therefore, 461 English PhD Planning theses, 20199 English articles, 5199 Persian articles and 123 Persian PhD Planning Theses were analyzed as study samples.

The study showed that the categories of philosophy and theories have been the first priority in both planning knowledge and research of the world as well as in Iran.

Comparing the relationship between Iranian and global knowledge-research, indicates that the PhD researchers can determine three goals to choose the subject of their theses. These goals include: enriching Iranian planning knowledge, take a step in the direction of global planning knowledge or considering a combination of these two goals. Based on the selection of each of these goals, a list of thematic priorities is proposed for PhD researchers.Keywords: PhD Theses, Planning Research, Planning Knowledge, Qualitative Content Analysis.