Aggregating Qualitative Findings: An Approach to Theory Development

Estabrooks, Carole A.; Field, Peggy Anne; Morse, Janice M.

doi:10.1177/104973239400400410

Cited by 222 publications

(198 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…24,25,28,[38][39][40] Identifying published papers and determining their relevance Published articles were identified from the Medline, CINAHL and Sociological Abstracts databases, crossindexing the text phrases: 'spinal cord injury' It was anticipated that qualitative researchers would have employed different methods, reflecting their different philosophical positions and epistemological assumptions (eg phenomenology, grounded theory, discourse analysis, ethnographic interviews). However, these various forms of research are all interpretive, in that they seek to understand and explain the experiences and perspectives of the group of people being studied.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…41 Unfortunately, many published qualitative studies are also of poor quality and lacking in rigour. 24 Therefore, as part of the process of the meta-synthesis, the quality of relevant studies was evaluated using predetermined criteria. 21,30 Krefting 42 observed that 'too frequently, qualitative research is evaluated against criteria appropriate to quantitative research and is found to be lacking'.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers contend that the most important indicator of quality for papers to be included in a meta-synthesis is clear evidence (through documentation of participants' perspectives) that the themes reported by the original researchers were rooted in the data. 21,24,28,39 Thus, papers were only included in the review if they included participants' words to support the researchers' interpretations (the 'audit trail'), and if they met those guidelines for rigour that are listed below. For the purposes of this review the following criteria were employed to gauge the quality of the studies, and were the guidelines for rigour that underpinned the present study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3 However, most qualitative research is undertaken with a small number of participants, leading to perceived difficulties with generalizing the findings. [24][25][26] The interpretive nature of data analysis can lead to perceptions of researcher bias and because most qualitative researchers attempt to allow their interpretations to emerge from their study data, few translate the themes they identify into the concepts previously employed by other qualitative researchers, thereby limiting comparisons between studies. 27 Further, while there has been 'an unprecedented accumulation of qualitative studies in the health sciences' there has been 'as yet, little accumulation of the understandings gained from these studies'.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Quality of life after spinal cord injury: a meta-synthesis of qualitative findings

Hammell¹

2006

Spinal Cord

167

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Study design: Meta-synthesis of qualitative research. Objectives: To identify, compare and synthesize the factors found to contribute to, or detract from the experience of a life worth living following spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: Published articles were identified from the Medline, CINAHL and Sociological Abstracts databases, a hand search through selected journals published since 1990, and from reference lists. These were assessed for their relevance to the focus of interest and appraised for rigour and quality. The key themes that emerged from the data were summarized, compared and synthesized. Results: The search located 64 papers and four books, of which seven papers met the review criteria for relevance and rigour, and in which 10 main concepts were identified: (1) body problems, (2) loss, (3) relationships, (4) responsibility for, and control of one's life, (5) occupation, and ability to contribute, (6) environmental context, (7) new values/perspective transformation, (8) good and bad days, (9) self-worth, (10) self-continuity. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the utility of synthesizing qualitative research to provide a greater depth of insight into the factors that contribute to, and detract from, quality of life (QOL) after SCI. It also provides a more nuanced understanding of the experience of QOL following SCI than is achievable by quantitative methods. Future qualitative research is required to probe further the concepts and connections identified in this study, and to identify how rehabilitation services might best address these issues. Sponsorship: N/A. The vast majority of research into QOL following SCI has adopted a quantitative approach, 3 reflecting researchers' assumptions that quality can be measured quantitatively; that the determinants of QOL following SCI can be reliably predicted by able-bodied researchers; and that the subjective experience of a life can be objectively and accurately discerned by another person. These assumptions have been challenged [5][6][7][8][9][10] and it has been argued that the results of these studies are both misleading and of questionable value. 11 Indeed, it has been suggested that how someone attempts to 'measure' QOL says more about their own values, priorities and fundamental orientation to life than it does about the QOL of the people whose lives are ostensibly being studied. 3,12 Quantitative research is hypothesis-driven, requiring researchers to predetermine the variables to be measured and thus to identify in advance those factors that are relevant and important to the issue under investigation. This inevitably limits the range of possible findings. For example, if 'pain' is not included as a variable in a quantitative study of QOL then pain will not be found to influence QOL. Quantitative methods are therefore Recognizing the inherent problems with attempts to quantitatively measure QOL among people with SCI many researchers have advocated the use of qualitative methods that can explore both the meaning of QOL for people with SCI and the f...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quality of life after spinal cord injury: a meta-synthesis of qualitative findings

Hammell¹

2006

Spinal Cord

167

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Qualitative metasynthesis: Issues and techniques

Sandelowski¹,

Docherty²,

Emden³

1997

Res. Nurs. Health

818

307

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There has been an accumulation of qualitative studies in recent years, but little cumulation of the understandings gained from them. Qualitative research appears endangered both by efforts to synthesize studies and by the failure to do so. Techniques used have included reciprocal translations of key metaphors and concepts and qualitative and quantitative comparative analyses to produce narrative and theoretical integrations. The major problem yet to be resolved is developing usable and communicable systematic approaches to conducting metasynthesis projects that maintain the integrity of individual studies.

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Overview of Methods

Evans¹

2007

Reviewing Research Evidence for Nursing Practice

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Aggregating Qualitative Findings: An Approach to Theory Development

Cited by 222 publications

References 5 publications

Quality of life after spinal cord injury: a meta-synthesis of qualitative findings

Quality of life after spinal cord injury: a meta-synthesis of qualitative findings

Qualitative metasynthesis: Issues and techniques

Overview of Methods

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