The development and dissemination of the Social Representations Theory within the Anthropological Paradigmatic Approach

The So.Re.Com. Joint-IDP research training programme ( http://www.europhd.eu/SoReComJointIDP) is conducted within the framework of the Social Representations Theory, and its overall research objective is to perform the meta-theoretical analysis of all the literature on Social Representations produced globally, by both mapping its development over time and across different geo-cultural contexts and according to the different research paradigmatic approaches within which it was employed (de Rosa, 2015b). Goal: To present some results based on the meta-theoretical analysis of approximately 300 publications inspired by the "anthropological approach" to social representations. Methodology: The publications selected for the meta-theoretical analysis if relevant for the "anthropological approach" to social representations were extracted from the total of 10325 bibliographic references currently present in the SoReCom“A.S.de Rosa”@-library (de Rosa, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, 2014d, 2015a). The instrument is the Grid for meta-theoretical analysis (last version 2014) developed by de Rosa, which consists of five parts. We present the results of the analysis conducted by employing data and meta-data based on the first part of the grid related to "bibliographic item". Results: Among many other variables under analysis, regarding the “type” of publication, most of the items are book chapters, followed by journal articles, and conference presentations. Other types of contributions include books, theses, university reports and manuscripts. Concerning "the continent of the author's affiliation", the majority are from Europe and Latin America (in order: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile), followed by North America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. Based on "the year of publication", there is an upward trend starting from 1982, which peaks between 1992-2001 and maintains itself between 2002-2011. Conclusion: The empirical data presented here provides a systematic overview of the literature inspired by an "anthropological approach" to social representations and its dissemination over time and across different geo-cultural context