Research Methodology: Operations to Uncover Social Representations

This reflexive article, derived from research, presents a description and analysis of the methodological process that was used to reveal the social representation of excellence in four graduate programs of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, (UNAM-Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico). It describes in detail the craftmanship work of a researcher that ranges from the problematization task, up to how to present the findings, which involve the necessary choice of tools for data collection and the mechanisms for systematizing information. The final reflection highlights the importance of reviewing the methodology in its most dynamic part, and not only as an early description or a catalog of available resources. Transfer to practice This article is useful as it reveals the procedure to follow in educational research. It is an inquiry whose object of study is the social representation of academic excellence. It has a didactic sense as it shows, a specific research example, for instance, it describes effective processes performed when generating knowledge. Thus, it can be used for undergraduate or master professors that teach courses in the methodological area, to evidence and explain the operations and tasks that a researcher faces in the active process of inquiry.