Scientific production of the social and human sciences in health and some meanings

Abstract

The paper approaches the academic production of the Social and Human Sciences in Health, published in seven journals of the Public Health area in Brazil in the period 1997 to 2007, registered in the SciElo electronic database, and identified by an extensive list of key words. Of the 1926 papers and book reviews that were identified, 498 were selected because they referred to themselves as qualitative research. The main themes and their percentage distribution were: health policies and institutions ( 32,5%, health and illness (18.5%), gender and health (16.5%), violence and health ( 9,0%), old age and aging ( 7,%), human resources, professions and education (7,5%-), social studies production of sciences and techniques ( 5.0%), and health education and communication (4.0%). The qualitative analysis of the contents of the texts revealed the main theoretical and methodological approaches used by the authors and some typical meanings of this scientific practice. It was concluded that the academic production: has grown, 50.0% of which concentrated on the first two themes, with low degree of interdisciplinarity; used disciplinary approaches, combining theories and methodologies. In addition, there was the participation in this intellectual production of social scientists and health professionals with different degrees of adherence to the theories of social and human sciences in health and different meanings of research practice. The comparative analysis of similar studies in diverse moments showed permanence, exclusion and inclusion of themes.