[Qualitative research training in graduate programs in Public Health: an overview in Brazil].

Abstract

This article analyzes the evidence of qualitative research training in graduate programs in Public Health accredited by Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) in Brazil in 2021. To map out the disciplines, the Sucupira Platform was accessed to locate the graduate programs in Public Health, and the institutional portals were searched. A total of 98 courses were identified. Using reflective thematic analysis, it was possible to group the data production and the characterization of the courses into the following macro categories of analysis: (a) workload and type of course offered (mandatory or optional); (b) teaching-learning objectives; (c) content (with emphasis on the investigation of scientific paradigms or different theoretical-methodological approaches to qualitative research); (d) teaching-learning methodologies. The results show that only 40.4% of the courses are mandatory and the predominant teaching-learning objectives focus on instrumentalization and enabling graduate students to create research projects. In total, 59.3% of the courses did not inform the type of teaching-learning methodology. There is a gap in the use of digital technologies and spaces and a predominance of the text-based approach. Furthermore, the epistemological-theoretical training is fragile. The learning of the Positivist paradigm predominates over the interpretive paradigm of critical theories/traditions. The article concludes by systematizing elements for a training itinerary with increasing degrees of complexity, intentionally structured and developed in an institutional environment that fosters decoloniality and epistemic reparation.