Information gathering in social studies: quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyze reference service centers to women in situation of violence

Abstract

Introduction: reports research experience that explores three different methodological approaches in the analysis of Reference Centers for Assistance to Women in Situations of Violence in order to verify the quality of services provided and to identify existing practices. Method: first, the "Centers of Reference Service to Women in Situations of Violence" were defined based on specific standard of the Special Secretariat of Policies for Women. This normative document also describes the structure and actions of these centers. Indicators were established to analyze the quality of the services provided by the Centers. The research were built on three concurring approaches, namely: a quantitative approach, based on secondary data taken from the Profile of Brazilian Municipalities (a publication of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics); another quantitative approach, with primary data collected with a questionnaire sent by email to a sample of centers chosen by the criteria of size of municipality; and a qualitative (ethnographic) approach, involving engineers and technical staff of the Centers. Results: the analysis of secondary data enabled an outline a general overview of the Centers. The analysis of primary data allowed the identification of ongoing practices performed at the Centers, although not in depth. The ethnographic study identified practices developed in the Centers under the perception of the coordinators and staff. Conclusions: the intersections and complementation of quantitative and qualitative approaches enriched the collection of data, allowing the further development of stages of description and analysis the proposed subject, which reinforces the use of mixed methodologies and techniques to collect information on studies in the Social Sciences area.