The article deals with the great expansion in opportunities for access to higher education in Brazil, with special emphasis on the case of one of its major institutions - the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. We point and reflect on the first methodological difficulties encountered in the construction of data collection instruments as are the survey and semi-structured interviews. These were used to take as object of study the students of Pedagogy entering in 2011 and 2012 (first groups after the institution of quotas for public school students), that had a profile of economic and cultural difficulties for completion of studies. The reflections gathered synthesize some of the potential limits and challenges in studies that aim to contribute to the planning, design and improving of institutional policies for democratization of access, permanence and assistance to the so-called ‘new students’.
Methodology; Higher education; Affir-mative action
