The method as a path and the path as a method: consumption habitus of students from São Paulo

Abstract

This paper discusses the consumption habits of private school students in the metropolitan area in Sao Paulo. The theoretical approach was based on the ideas of Bourdieu. The study was carried out using a qualitative method and the tools used for data collection included a questionnaire and a focus group giving emphasizing the socio-cultural aspects that emerged during the data collection. The following factors were evaluated at two different times: the students’ speech on the cultural and social aspects that permeate the relationship among young people studied and the groups that define them to approach their positions in relation to the topic of discussion. The categories of analysis show the meaning units that emerged from students’ speech and the context in which they were produced to better understand the concepts brought by young people. The study highlights the possibility that these techniques have to reveal unique meanings from the point of view of the research participants and development of critical thinking in relation to consumption by these participants.