Building knowledge in collective health: an analysis of thesis and dissertations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze scientific production in Collective Health developed by Collective Health Nursing Department of the School of Nursing Sao Paulo University within 1992 and 2004. A total of 86 master dissertations and doctoral thesis were produced, concerning a variety of study objects, mainly epidemiologic profiles and social reproduction, connected to health-illness processes of social groups. Qualitative analysis predominated, as well as the historical and dialectical theoretical referential. Empirical data were obtained predominantly from different social groups of specific territories. The adoption of analytical categories such as social production and reproduction, gender and generation enabled approaching to comprehend and propose intervention on the study objects, thus improving Collective Health scientific knowledge.