The approach to social issues in research on science clubs: notes from a qualitative meta-analysis

Abstract

This study has as its guiding question “which social themes are addressed in research on Science Clubs (SC)?”, with the aim of bringing together national and international studies on SC to list notes that justify the importance of including contemporary social issues in these spaces. To achieve this, qualitative meta-analysis was used as a type of research, in an exploratory and interpretative movement. As a database to search for productions, the library of the International Network of Science Clubs (RICC), SCIELO Network and ERIC were used. In total, 14 productions that addressed social themes in SC were selected, including: 4 national articles, 5 international articles and 5 dissertations. The studies were organized into a corpus and analyzed using Content Analysis – Thematic Category, proposed by Bardin (1977). Through Content Analysis, studies were grouped into three categories according to their social focus: 1. Studies with an environmental focus; 2. Studies with a historical-cultural focus; 3. Studies focusing on inclusion and diversity. After analyzing the data, it was found that the inclusion of social themes in the SC is relevant, as they allow science to be brought closer to the students' multiple life contexts.