Objective: to characterize non-conventional technologies used for data collection of dissertations and theses available in the Catalog of Theses and Dissertations (CEPEn) of the Brazilian Nursing Association (ABEn).
Method: this is a documentary research, whose data were collected in the catalogs of theses and dissertations available at the ABEn website, from Volumes XIX to XXI. The indicators collected were: academic level; educational institution; year; qualification of the author; setting; non-conventional technology used; type of technology; association with conventional techniques; methodological design; benefits and methodological limitations.
Results: from a total of 6346 studies, only 121 (1.91%) used non-conventional technologies for data collection, representing the fi nal sample of the study.
Conclusion: it is concluded that Brazilian Nursing researches still need methodological innovations for data collection.