Cartography in scientific research: an integrative review

Abstract

We propose in this article to analyze the use of cartography as a research method. We conducted an integrative review from September to October 2014 in the Lilacs, PubMed, Web of Science and Electronic Library SciELO databases. 37 articles fulfilled the selection criteria. We identified an increasing occurrence of publications and highlighted the multiplicity of settings, participants, and method uses covering the great complexity to pose problems and investigate collectives and forces in the subjectivity processes. Cartography leads us to explore the uniqueness of each emerging reality studied, which allows us to understand how it has been used in researches.

Keywords:
cartography; review; method; research