With intention to contribute for the use of the documentary analysis in research, this text presents the process of execution of an inquiry that aimed at to understand the relationships between psychology and education, into the context of the workmanship of an author - whose relevance in recent history is owing, especially, to the creation of a literacy proposal, the Programa Alfa - it was investigated the interchange between theoretical production from psychology and practical activity in education. The instruments and ways of accomplishment of the content analysis are described, pointing the course in that the decisions went being taken in relation to the handling techniques with the documents: from the organization and classification of the material until the elaboration of the categories of analysis. In this study it was adopted a perspective of the historiography that tried to overcome the dichotomy between the approaches internal and external of the history of sciences, propitiating to understand the partner-historical ambit in that was constituted the cited scientific production.
