Research in the field of education policy: theoretical and epistemological perspectives and the place of pluralism

ABSTRACT This paper presents an analysis of the theoretical and epistemological perspectives of a sample of 140 papers on education policy, written by Brazilian authors, and published between 2010 and 2012. Most works were classified in the combined theorization referring to methodological pluralism. It was concluded that: a) there is a need to deepen the discussions on methodological pluralism and the possibilities and limits of combined theorization as theoretical underpinning for the research on education policy field; b) the deepening of the studies on epistemology and the theories that have been used in education research emerges as an important task in the current context, as the theoretical framework plays a key role in research.