Ideas of children from the rural area on health and research: the "great health" and the "great other"

a "grande saúde" e o "grande outro"

Abstract

This study intends to record the ideas of children from areas with endemic hookworm, in a rural zone, about health and the work done by researchers. From the discourse of the children it was shown they see health as something transcendental, and scientists as virtuous people, doing good to others, providing them with health. This health ideal can be described as a "great health" because it is brought by the "other", the grandiose, powerful, totalizing scientist. This work is significant in that it shows the relevance of using different techniques and methods to identify the social representations of children from the rural areas which make it possible to show the semantic universe of the object studied, as well as its imagery, in a quicker and more dynamic way than conventional instruments.