The study focuses the application of the content analysis method in empirical research in psychology, according to the technical procedures identified under that methodology. It presents in the first place a brief discussion on the variations in CA and an analysis of the scientific validation criteria that support the method practice. Then it describes the most frequent modes of uses of the CA, extracted from a review conducted in 83 articles published between 2004 and 2009 in six psychology journals in Brazil. The selected journals were classified as A1 and A2 in a triennial assessment for the CAPES periodicals (2007- 2009), and were retrieved from the Scielo base of journals. The final discussion highlights the evaluation assessment of methodological rigor accuracy associated to the practice of the method, suggesting clear information about the CA approach, implementation of the CA and careful explanation of the steps and technical procedures adopted in data analysis.
Research method; Psychology; Content analysis; Qualitative Indicators
