CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO THE FORMATION OF THE SOURCE BASE OF PEDAGOGICAL RESEARCH OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE STUDENTS

Abstract

This article explores productive approaches to developing a foundation for pedagogical research at the current stage of digital society's development. It has been established that contemporary scholars interpret the interdisciplinary terminology of «approach» in various ways, often equating it with concepts such as «technology», «principle», «method», «paradigm», and «learning type», leading to ambiguity and terminological inconsistency within the terminology system. In the field of pedagogy, the concept of «approach» is traditionally regarded as a methodological category denoting a complex multidimensional phenomenon whose systemic structure comprises principles, technologies, methods, techniques, tools, and forms of instruction. Within the framework of this study, the concept of «approach» is interpreted as a way of organizing actions aimed at solving specific tasks and achieving defined goals, the main characteristics of which are conceptuality, methodological grounding, and goal orientation. The analysis and synthesis of scholarly contributions in the field of pedagogy on the stated issue make it possible to assert that the contemporary source base of pedagogical research has transformed from the passive accumulation of multidisciplinary literature into a dynamic intellectual system. This system reflects the innovativeness of scholarly thinking, erudition, the strategy of the author’s research inquiry, methods of processing scientific information, and the interpretation of processes and positions related to issues in the educational field, which, in turn, has led to changes in approaches to the formation of the source base of pedagogical research. The synthesis of the results of scholarly studies conducted by contemporary researchers in the field of pedagogy made it possible to identify priority approaches to the formation of the source base of pedagogical research, namely: (1) the network-based approach; (2) the interdisciplinary approach; (3) automated source management; (4) the hermeneutic approach; and (5) the comparative approach, which enable the dynamic generation of references in accordance with DSTU or APA requirements. It has been stated that each of the described approaches to the formation of the source base of pedagogical research is continuously supplemented and modified in accordance with trends in the digitalization of all spheres of contemporary society, as well as the processes of globalization and integration in international cooperation. Under the dominance of the digital paradigm, traditional archives are giving way to electronic resources; therefore, the ability to work with scientometric databases such as Google Scholar and Web of Science becomes critically important for novice researchers. It is emphasized that an essential component of a researcher’s scholarly activity is the use of open educational resources (OER) and digital repositories of higher education institutions, which enables rapid access to the necessary sources of information, timely processing, analysis, and synthesis of available open-access materials, as well as the implementation of theoretical generalizations and the formulation of conclusions. The approaches to the formation of the source base of pedagogical research of Doctor of Philosophy degree students outlined and analyzed in the article are considered as a three-dimensional phenomenon that integrates the technological dimension (automation and the use of bibliographic managers such as Zotero and Mendeley), the methodological dimension (the integration of hermeneutic interpretation with comparative analysis of international experience), and the ethical dimension (uncompromising adherence to academic integrity and the critical selection of scholarly sources).