Application of participatory research techniques in the socio-environmental study conducted in the Jacaré-Curituba settlement in Brazil

Abstract

This article initially presents reflections on existing qualitative methods and techniques within the social
sciences, and subsequently analyses how some of them can be effectively applied in socio-environmental research. The use of these techniques in case studies allows for greater representativeness of the
results, considering the descriptive and narrative nature of the data, which contributes to enriching the
research processes. The objective of this work is to present some methodological techniques applied in a case study as an example of successful application. For this study, participant observation and data analysis from semi-structured interviews were applied, conducted in the Jacaré Curituba Settlement,
located between the municipalities of Poço Redondo and Canindé de São Francisco, in the high
hinterland of Sergipe. The study enabled the identification, based on the population’s perceptions, of
different socio-environmental problems in the area. The results indicate that prioritising qualitative evaluation methods favours the consolidation of denser, more meticulous analyses. It has been observed that, in many cases, quantitative approaches in the field of environmental sciences face
limitations in measuring subjective dimensions, which is a critical factor in identifying problems and
estimating their impacts.