As a part of their doctoral education, students complete a dissertation. Examining these dissertations can provide one analysis of research in a field. The primary purpose of this study was to analyze all physical education dissertations with a teaching focus that were completed between 1985 and 1999. All possible dissertations were examined through the electronic version of Dissertation Abstracts International. For the teaching dissertations (n = 201), each abstract was coded for (a) research type, (b) research focus, (c) student variable measured, (d) observation used, (e) interview used, (f) other methods used, (g) population, (h) general methodology, and (i) statistics reported/used. Most research on teaching dissertations addressed issues related to teacher effectiveness and focused on motor skill learning and attitude. There was an increase in qualitative methods from those reported in a previous study (Silverman, 1987). While there were methodological advances, many dissertations still used methods that were not informed by the research methods literature.

As part of a larger study, this paper describes teachers’ perspectives and strategies on including overweight and obese students (OWS) in instruction related to motor skill/game play and fitness development in physical education. Using the Social Ecological Constraints framework, a qualitative multicase study was conducted using multiple in-depth interviews, class observations, and artifacts from nine experienced and committed suburban middle school Physical Education teachers. Constant comparison was used to generate themes and trustworthiness procedures were used to confirm findings. Two types of strategies for including OWS in instruction were identified: First-order and Second-order. School resources, shared program goals, and beliefs about students and teaching were factors influencing teachers’ decisions and actions for teaching motor skill/game play and fitness content to OWS.

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