This study aimed to: survey the number of nursing theses and dissertations produced between 1975 and 2001 with a social representation approach (RS); characterize the products with regard to the institution of origin, country region, study subjects and representation objects; to group in to theme categories and research lines in nursing. The data were collected from the Center of Studies and Research in Nursing at the Brazilian Nursing Association. The result evidenced 131 studies with RS support, originated in 1990, with higher production in the year 2000, mainly in the South East (83.1%). It registered 145 subjects; the most common objects are "disease", "health-disease process", "nurses' professional practice" and "care delivery". In the thematic categorization, the care area joins the greatest quantity of studies. In short, nursing has been seeking to appropriate itself of this theoretical-methodological framework as the basis and guide for part of its knowledge production.
nursing research; classification; methods
