Qualitative Metasynthesis presents a research method developed for upcycling and synthesis of qualitative primary studies, aimed at researchers within medicine and health sciences. This book demonstrates how and why qualitative metasynthesis can be a method for reuse and expansion of medical knowledge. It presents the principles of metasynthesis as a qualitative research method, so that the reader can assess whether this is a research strategy that fits the aim of their study. The author offers practical advice for conducting research using this methodology. The presentation is illustrated by a study carried out by the author and collaborators, reflecting on real-life challenges and solutions as an example of meta-ethnography, one of the most frequently used strategies for qualitative metasynthesis. The author also looks at systematic reviews, a methodology developed within in the tradition of evidence-based medicine, discussing strengths, weaknesses and pitfalls of this methodology. Rooted in the interpretative paradigm, qualitative metasynthesis challenges several of the principles from the evidence-based medicine tradition, offering reflections on challenges when epistemologically very different methodologies intersect. This book should be considered essential reading for anyone carrying out qualitative research within the fields of medicine, health and social care.

This title provides step-by-step directions for how to conduct a meta-study, as well as recommendations for tools and standards for the application of this approach.

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A Guide to Qualitative Meta-synthesis provides accessible guidelines for conducting all phases of theory-generating meta-synthesis research, including data collection, analysis, and theory generation. It is a research methodology that is designed to generate evidence-based theory by extracting, analyzing, and synthesizing qualitative findings from across published investigations. These theories provide scaffolding that can be used by health-care providers and other professionals to make context-based decisions and implement situation-specific actions. Theory-generating meta-synthesis methods stem from the qualitative research paradigm, especially grounded theory. Systematic and rigorous methods are used to identify topically related research reports that provide qualitative findings for analysis. The subsequent analysis of the data goes beyond merely reorganizing and recategorizing research findings. Newly synthesized concepts are developed, and the dynamic relationships among them are fully articulated. The validity of the resultant theory is ensured based on theoretical, methodological, and researcher triangulation; unbiased data collection and sampling strategies; inductive-deductive data analysis and synthesis strategies; and continuous reflexivity. Meta-synthesis-generated theories are highly important in environments where the use of normalized algorithms, guidelines, and protocols are on the rise. The types of theories discussed in this book will help service providers customize standardized tools so that the most effective evidence-based, yet individualized, interventions can be implemented.

How can ethnographic studies be generalized, in contrast to concentrating on the individual case? Noblit and Hare propose a new method for synthesizing from qualitative studies: meta-ethnography. After citing the criteria to be used in comparing qualitative research projects, the authors define the ways these can then be aggregated to create more cogent syntheses of research. Using examples from numerous studies ranging from ethnographic work in educational settings to the Mead-Freeman controversy over Samoan youth, Meta-Ethnography offers useful procedural advice from both comparative and cumulative analyses of qualitative data. This provocative volume will be read with interest by researchers and students in qualitative research methods, ethnography, education, sociology, and anthropology. "After defining metaphor and synthesis, these authors provide a step-by-step program that will allow the researcher to show similarity (reciprocal translation), difference (refutation), or similarity at a higher level (lines or argument synthesis) among sample studies....Contain(s) valuable strategies at a seldom-used level of analysis." --Contemporary Sociology "The authors made an important contribution by reframing how we think of ethnography comparison in a way that is compatible with the new developments in interpretive ethnography. Meta-Ethnography is well worth consulting for the problem definition it offers." --The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "This book had to be written and I am pleased it was. Someone needed to break the ice and offer a strategy for summarizing multiple ethnographic studies. Noblit and Hare have done a commendable job of giving the research community one approach for doing so. Further, no one else can now venture into this area of synthesizing qualitative studies without making references to and positioning themselves vis-a-vis this volume." -Educational Studies

A considerable number of journal publications using a range of qualitative synthesis approaches has been published. Mary Dixon-Woods and colleagues (Mary Dixon-Woods, Booth, & Sutton, 2007) identified 42 qualitative evidence synthesis papers published in health care literature between 1990 and 2004. An ongoing update by Hannes and Macaitis (2010)identified around 100 additional qualitative or mixed methods syntheses. Yet these generally lack a clear, detailed description of what was done and why (Greenhalgh et al, 2007; McInnes & Wimpenny, 2008). Choices are most commonly influenced by what others have successfully used in the past or by a particular school of thought (Atkins et al, 2008; Britten et al, 2002). This is a substantive limitation. This book brings balance to the options available to researchers, including approaches that have not had a substantial uptake among researchers. It provides arguments for when and why researchers or other parties of interest should opt for a certain approach to synthesis, which challenges they might face in adopting it and what the potential strengths and weaknesses are compared with other approaches. This book acts as a resource for readers who would otherwise have to piece together the methodology from a range of journal articles. In addition, it should stimulate further development and documentation of synthesis methodology in a field that is characterized by diversity.

Providing a comprehensive guide for understanding, interpreting and synthesizing qualitative studies, An Introduction to Qualitative Research Synthesis shows how data can be collated together effectively to summarise existing bodies of knowledge and to create a more complete picture of findings across different studies The authors describe qualitative research synthesis and argue for its use, describing the process of data analysis, synthesis and interpretation and provide specific details and examples of how the approach works in practice. This accessible book: fully explains the qualitative research synthesis approach; provides advice and examples of findings; describes the process of establishing credibility in the research process; provides annotated examples of the work in process; references published examples of the approach across a wide variety of fields. Helping researchers to understand, make meaning and synthesize a wide variety of datasets, this book is broad in scope yet practical in approach. It will be beneficial to those working in social science disciplines, including researchers, teachers, students and policy makers, especially those interested in methods of synthesis such as meta-ethnography, qualitative meta-analysis, qualitative meta-synthesis, interpretive synthesis, narrative synthesis, and qualitative systematic review.