Meta-Ethnography

Meta-ethnography is a method that allows synthesizing qualitative studies in order to achieve a new conceptual understanding of a particular phenomenon. The possibility of combining and synthesizing qualitative studies is of growing interest for students and researchers, particularly in the field of communication research (e.g., healthcare communication, cross-cultural communication, advertising and marketing research) in which qualitative studies have been multiplying. Such a method can lead to more concise findings as well as to new conceptual frameworks, thus shedding light on gaps in literature. This entry provides an overview of the meta-ethnography method and discusses how to undertake such a literature review.