The examination of the studies developed in the field of Organizational and Work Psychology in Brazil shows that researchers choose to study occupational categories whose workers are relatively well educated. This reality diminishes the possibilities of generalization and application of the results to other levels of instruction. Some researchers, however, persist in paying attention to categories of analysis in which they have many participants with low instructional level. In such a case, what are their methodological options? What instruments do they use? Trying to answer these questions, we identified the data collection technique used by the researchers. The use of the structured questionnaire becomes viable by means of color gradations, which replaces the traditional scales of numbers. At the end, a proposal based on a combination of techniques is presented. The present communication may contribute to facing the challenges of social relevance and generalization of research results.
Analphabets; Methodology; Data collection; Questionnaire
