Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Research
Michael Saini and Aron Shlonsky
Abstract
Qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews meets an urgent need to use knowledge derived from qualitative studies to inform practice, research, and policy. Despite the contingent nature of evidence gleaned from the synthesis of qualitative studies, systematic synthesis is an important technique and, used judiciously, can deepen our understanding of the contextual dimensions that emerge from qualitative research. This book presents an overview for planning, developing, and implementing qualitative synthesis within existing protocols and guidelines for conducting systematic re ... More
Qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews meets an urgent need to use knowledge derived from qualitative studies to inform practice, research, and policy. Despite the contingent nature of evidence gleaned from the synthesis of qualitative studies, systematic synthesis is an important technique and, used judiciously, can deepen our understanding of the contextual dimensions that emerge from qualitative research. This book presents an overview for planning, developing, and implementing qualitative synthesis within existing protocols and guidelines for conducting systematic reviews. The book also explores methodological challenges, including: the philosophical tensions of integrating qualitative synthesis within the family of systematic reviews; the balance of comprehensive and iterative information retrieval strategies to locate and screen qualitative research; the use of appraisal tools to assess quality of qualitative studies; the various approaches to synthesize qualitative studies, including interpretive, integrated, and aggregative; and the tensions between the generalizability and transferability of findings that emerge from qualitative synthesis.
Keywords:
qualitative synthesis,
systematic reviews,
evidence-based practice,
qualitative research,
qualitative methods,
implementation science,
social work
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780195387216 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2012 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387216.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Michael Saini, author
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
Aron Shlonsky, author
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
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