The agricultural scientific field is the object of this study, which aims to investigate the construction of the dominant position occupied by Embrapa between those who turn to this field of knowledge and to formulate some inferences. In achieving these purposes, we chose to use bibliometric and sociometric methods for a reading in a positivist paradigm approach, considering it as more friendly to the scientists in the agricultural field, asking them to reflect, facilitating it by using methods of the same nature as their research. The evidence collected suggests that the projection of Embrapa is not explained by scientific merit, which meant the need to probe alternative explanations, when we employed the concepts of Bourdieu for the task. We conclude that Embrapa is central in the scrutinized field in caring for the projection of an image, as real as it is, as long as it is not contested beyond non-systematized claims and those which dispense with objective data - which in itself cause further questioning, also referred to in this research.
scientific field; agricultural R&D; Bourdieu
