Avaliação de quarta geração: reciclagem de dados

Abstract

This article discusses the methodology used in the research Education on health in the labor process of a Psychosocial Attention Center (CAPS). It is a descriptive and analytical research, qualitative approach, carried out in a CAPS of Rio Grande do Sul, as a subproject of the evaluation research of CAPS from southern Brazil-CAPSUL, based on fourth generation evaluation, and approved by the Committee of ethics in research of Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Pelotas (of. 074/05). The study made possible to reaffirm the fourth generation evoluation as an important method of qualitative assessment of health services, and the use of Dialectical-Hermeneutical Circle for data collection, which was essential for recycling data, not only allowing update information and historical context, as well as raising relevant new issues to the study. The analysis allowed an understanding on the facts and their consensus, without leaving aside the criticism and the necessary estrangement, when the look of the researcher goes beyond description of results, but the faces with the historical context implied in reality under study. Descriptors: Fourth generation assessment; qualitative research in health; health services assessment.