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.

Qualitative research synthesis provides a comprehensive glimpse of what individual qualitative studies show. The authors describe the process of data analysis, synthesis and interpretation that users may follow and adapt.

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.

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.

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

'The fourth edition of Uwe Flick's Introduction to Qualitative Research remains the most comprehensive and thorough text in qualitative research. It is student-and user-friendly, thoroughly up-to-date in terms of the latest developments in the field, imminently practical. it is the single most important introductory book on qualitative inquiry in the social sciences today' - Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois The new edition of Uwe Flick's bestselling textbook has been fully revised, expanded and updated. An Introduction to Qualitative Research guides the student step-by-step through the research process of qualitative research. This classic text covers all of the main theoretical approaches to qualitative research, and provides unmatched coverage of the full range of different qualitative methods and approaches now available to researchers. A range of new features have been added to the new edition including: - New structure to better meet the needs of teaching qualitative research - A new chapter on Grounded Theory plus updated coverage on the full range of other qualitative methods - A summary section discussing the state-of-the-art in qualitative research - A glossary - Updated cases studies, exercises and guided questions This new edition will continue to ensure that An Introduction to Qualitative Research remains an essential introductory text for all students of qualitative research.

The updated Fourth Edition of Gretchen B. Rossman and Sharon F. Rallis’s popular introductory text leads the new researcher into the field by explaining the core concepts through theory, research, and applied examples. Woven into the chapters are three themes that are the heart of the book: first, research is about learning; second, research can and should be useful; and finally, a researcher should practice the highest ethical standards to ensure that a study is trustworthy. The Fourth Edition includes an elaborate discussion of systematic inquiry as well as a nuanced discussion of developing a conceptual framework.

This timely, engaging book provides an overview of the nature, logic, diversity and process of undertaking systematic reviews as part of evidence informed decision making. A focused, accessible and technically up-to-date book, it covers the full breadth of approaches to reviews from statistical meta analysis to meta ethnography. It is ideal for anyone undertaking their own systematic review - providing all the necessary conceptual and technical background needed to make a good start on the process. The content is divided into five clear sections: • Approaches to reviewing • Getting started • Gathering and describing research • Appraising and synthesising data • Making use of reviews/models of research use. Easy to read and logically structured, this book is essential reading for anyone doing systematic reviews. David Gough is Professor of Evidence Informed Policy and Practice and Director of SSRU and its EPPI-Centre and Co-Editor of the journal Evidence & Policy. Sandy Oliver is Professor of Public Policy and Deputy Director of SSRU and its EPPI-Centre. James Thomas is Reader in Social Policy, Assistant Director of SSRU and Associate Direcctor of the EPPI-Centre.

This practical guide provides step-by-step instruction for conducting a mixed methods research synthesis (MMRS) that integrates both qualitative and quantitative evidence. The book progresses through a systematic, comprehensive approach to conducting an MMRS literature review to analyze and summarize the empirical evidence regarding a particular review question. Readers will benefit from discussion of the potential advantages of MMRS and guidance on how to avoid its potential pitfalls. Using Mixed Methods Research Synthesis for Literature Reviews is Volume 4 in the SAGE Mixed Methods Research Series.