Dataset – Exploratory Literature Review on Ethnography in Educational Policy Research (BDTD, Brazil, 2017–2024)

This dataset contains the systematization of an exploratory literature review on the use of ethnography in educational policy research in Brazil. The dataset is based on the analysis of 60 master’s theses and doctoral dissertations retrieved from the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD), covering the period from 2017 to 2024. The data were manually collected between October and December 2025 through the reading of abstracts and introductions of the selected studies. The sample consists of 30 works from each CAPES evaluation period (2017–2019 and 2021–2024), selected according to their order of appearance in the BDTD search results. The dataset includes structured and qualitative information about each study, such as authorship, year, institution, and region, as well as analytical categories related to methodological approaches (e.g., use of interviews, document analysis, participant observation), presence of ethnographic or anthropological frameworks, and the researcher’s relationship to the research object. Additional files included in this record provide detailed methodological procedures and the full list of references analyzed in the study. This dataset supports the findings presented in the article “Ethnography in Educational Policy Research” and aims to ensure transparency and reproducibility of the research process.