Meta-Synthesis as a Method for Synthesizing Qualitative Researches

Among studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, there is an increasing number of studies using qualitative methods for studying and interpreting various phenomena. Several studies have used qualitative methods to investigate a single phenomena. The variety of qualitative studies about a single phenomenon has enabled the synthesis of these studies to provide new interpretations of a social phenomenon. The meta-synthesis method is one of the emerging methods in qualitative studies that is expanding its use in social science research. This method is used to systematically interpret the results of qualitative studies to provide a new explanation of the single phenomenon under investigation. Increasing use of this method leads more researchers to familiarize themselves with the importance of meta-synthesis, its applications, the steps involved, the validation process, and the common difficulties researchers have to deal with when using this approach. Using the diverse literature on the methodology of meta-synthesis, here we present similarities and differences of meta-syntehsis compared with other similar methods, identify the processes needed to conduct this type of research, to improve the reliability of it, and finally we address the common errors researchers face when using this method