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Informed decisions about sampling are critical to improving the quality of research synthesis. Even though several qualitative research synthesists have recommended purposeful sampling for synthesizing qualitative research, the published literature holds sparse discussion on how different strategies for purposeful sampling may be applied to a research synthesis. In primary research, Patton is frequently cited as an authority on the topic of purposeful sampling. In Patton’s original texts that are referred to in this article, Patton does not make any suggestion of using purposeful sampling for research synthesis. This article makes a unique contribution to the literature by examining the adaptability of each of Patton’s 16 purposeful sampling strategies to the process of qualitative research synthesis. It illuminates how different purposeful sampling strategies might be particularly suited to constructing multi‐perspectival, emancipatory, participatory and deconstructive interpretations of published research.

In recent years, there has been an extraordinary accumulation of qualitative research in special education. However, as yet, there has been little accumulation of the understandings gained from these studies. This omission has important implications for knowledge development, the utilization of findings in practice, and providing implications for policy. In this chapter, we review and discuss perspectives and procedures from other fields with respect to aggregation of qualitative data. Additionally, we propose a specific method for the meta-synthesis of qualitative research in the area of special education. This synthesis would not be a numerical compilation of outcomes, as in traditional meta-analysis, but would treat individual research reports as “informants,” and employ procedures, such as analytic induction and the constant comparative method to develop higher understandings across individual cases. Such efforts are thought to be essential to reaching higher analytic goals and also to enhancing the generalizability of qualitative research. It is argued that meta-synthesis efforts could do much to promote the impact of the shared understandings gained from individual qualitative research efforts.

Meta-synthesis of the research evidence adds value to the process of literature reviewing, providing useful knowledge for researchers, practitioners and policymakers. The aim of the chapter is to explain what meta-synthesis involves and how it illuminates our understanding of concepts. Previous papers on meta-synthesis (by the author) have reviewed research strategies in information behaviour research and methods for meta-synthesis, discussed application of meta-synthesis to research on information behaviour of women, and proposed methods suitable for integrating information literacy research. Meta-synthesis methods have been applied to many areas of social science research. The literature review examines how to reduce the risks involved in suitable for integrating qualitative research or qualitative and quantitative research; outlines the main approaches used in meta-synthesis before explaining the processes used in a meta-synthesis of research on information behaviour of women, reflects on the meta-synthesis methods used, and which might have been used, and shows what meta-synthesis achieves. Meta-synthesis should be used more in information behaviour research, but it is a rigorous process, requiring time and effort to get useful results. On the other hand, meta-synthesis provides more new knowledge, and a deeper understanding of our ideas, than a conventional literature review.

Research syntheses play a powerful role in shaping further research, practice, policy and public perceptions. Accordingly, the ethical issues associated with how perspectives of different groups are included or censored in a research synthesis report must be paid adequate attention. Any research synthesis is inherently influenced by subjectivities associated with multiple layers of interpretation, selection and representation. In framing a research synthesis, it is vital that synthesists take into account: multiple interests and influences of different stakeholders; potential impact of the synthesis on different stakeholders; synthesists’ own multiple and shifting identities within the synthesis; synthesists’ methodological positioning within the synthesis; status accorded to authors and participants of the primary research studies included in the synthesis; influences of funding agencies; politics of who/what gets published; and biases introduced through common strategies for retrieving primary research studies. I have raised strategic questions and issues to structure and inform critical decision‐making throughout a synthesis process. I hope this article will stimulate debate and discussion on various ethical considerations associated with the process of synthesising research.

The purpose of this paper is to address the qualitative synthesis and use of existing management research to inform management practice.

Three methods of qualitative synthesis, each with contrasting methodologies, are presented and their potential contribution in the management field explored.

Professional practice could be improved if practitioners had better access to the products of a large body of management research. Evidence‐based reviews of the literature in the management field could form a crucial bridge between research and practice. The task of reviewing and synthesising qualitative studies comprises a key challenge.

The key issues in conducting qualitative synthesis are highlighted and the barriers and enablers to the application of the product of qualitative synthesis in practice are discussed.

The paper stimulates debate about what counts as an effective synthesis of qualitative research and highlights the growing array of approaches. In so doing the paper presents new models for the production of evidence‐based reviews.

The purpose of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of the overall process of facilitating co-creation of e-government services, focusing on the government's role in fostering citizen engagement.

This study conducted a meta-synthesis of qualitative case studies encompassing analyses on a case-specific level followed by syntheses on a cross-study level.

Through meta-synthesis, the study developed an integrated framework, the process theory view of enabling co-creation of e-government services, illustrating how co-creation could be initiated and facilitated by the government.

By providing critical insights into co-creation steps, the process theory view offers a holistic theoretical understanding of enabling co-creation by identifying factors driving and motivating governments to initiate co-creation activities, interpreting the prerequisites for co-creation and the importance of impact assessment.

This study offers important implications for public authorities, administrators and policymakers by helping them enhance their knowledge base on the co-creation process to facilitate a higher level of collaboration between citizens and government for effective and efficient public service delivery through e-government.

While it is widely acknowledged that citizen engagement is crucial for improving and transforming the development and delivery of e-government services, it is equally recognized as a challenging and complex task. Through a meta-synthesis of qualitative case studies, this study is one of the first to develop a process theory view for offering a holistic understanding and crucial insights for addressing the concerns over the co-creation of e-government services.

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize a body of research addressing changes in academic identity brought on by neo-liberal university management while proposing a new interpretation based on the institutional work theory and a relational approach to agency.

The authors analyzed 19 qualitative empirical studies regarding the impact of new public management policies on academic identity within universities from different countries to support a qualitative meta-synthesis.

The meta-synthesis established a classification of work identity and self-identity that reflects variable but globally difficult experiences with the universities’ neo-liberal management. The results also indicate that, paradoxically, academics contribute to the perpetuation of managerialism through protection strategies and institutional maintenance work while acknowledging their painful effects on their identity. Despite the control and monitoring measures put in place by university administrations, academics have assumed a pragmatic approach to identity by using the prevailing spaces of autonomy and engaging in constant self-questioning. Those involved could make better use of these free spaces by adopting projective agency, that is by expanding the areas of support, collaboration and creativity that, by their own admission, make up the academic profession.

This meta-synthesis sheds light on the limits of current academic identity research while advancing studies conducted on institutional work, primarily by highlighting the type of agency used by actors during institutional change; at a practical level, this research promotes discussion on the manner in which academics could use their agency and reflexive skills by pushing their institutional work surrounding identity recreation further.

The effect of affect in accounting contexts has recently attracted interest, but numerous questions still remain. Given that affect can significantly impact a variety of accounting judgments and decisions in theoretically different manners, the purpose of this synthesis is to understand the state of extant accounting literature in affect and identify directions for future research.

This synthesis systematically reviews experimental accounting papers related to affect in both theoretical and functional respects. The authors first elaborate on the affect infusion theory as the theoretical foundation for the synthesis. The authors then present the sampling method. In Section 4, the authors conceptually and factually summarize affect accounting papers in terms of four major functional areas: auditing, managerial/corporate accounting, tax and financial accounting. The implications of moderators examined in some papers are also discussed. Finally, the authors conclude by revisiting the importance of affect in accounting contexts.

Throughout the synthesis, the authors provide future research opportunities with respect to theories, each functional area and other gaps in the accounting literature.

This synthesis contributes to the accounting literature by providing a pathway to understand the development of accounting research on affect, integrating theoretical foundations and offering future research opportunities to advance the literature.

This paper reports on results of a systematic research synthesis of 25 studies on women in educational leadership and management in Zimbabwe. The aim of this systematic review of research was to report conclusions drawn from a synthesis of findings from studies of gender and educational leadership in Zimbabwe.

The review used systematic methods to identify 25 research studies that examined women leading schools in Zimbabwe. Research synthesis methods used for qualitative research studies were employed in order to identify three broad themes and related subthemes across the studies.

The review identified three themes: (1) barriers to women gaining access to management positions, (2) female ways of leading, (3) context challenges for women leaders. Both barriers to gaining positions and context challenges faced in enactment of the leadership role are described. These consist of an intertwined web of personal, institutional and cultural challenges. Women's ways of leading were characterized as collegial, collaborative and caring.

Three implications are identified. First is a need for better statistical information on gender representation in Zimbabwe and other African countries. Second is a need to design and implement training, mentoring and networking support programs for female leaders in Zimbabwe. Finally, the authors recommend that future research move toward the use of mixed methods research designs capable of achieving complementary research goals of gaining a broad perspective on the effects of female leadership and in-depth understanding of how those are achieved.

Empirical studies of female leadership is especially urgent in Africa where particular features embedded in the cultural context shape female access to leadership role and attitude towards efforts of women to lead.

The purpose of this paper is to present a state‐of‐the‐art review of dimensional tolerance synthesis and to demonstrate the evolution of tolerance synthesis from product to process‐oriented strategy, as well as to compare the same for single stage and multistage manufacturing systems (MMS). The main focus is in delineating the different approaches, methods and techniques used with critical appraisal of their uses, applicability and limitations, based on which future research directions and a generic methodology are proposed.

Starting with issues in tolerancing research, the review demonstrates the critical aspects of product and process‐oriented tolerance synthesis. The aspects considered are: construction of tolerance design functions; construction of optimization functions; and use of optimization methods. In describing the issues of process‐oriented tolerance synthesis, a comparative study of single and multistage manufacturing has been provided.

This study critically reviews: the relationship between the tolerance variables and the variations created through manufacturing operations; objective functions for tolerance synthesis; and suitable optimization methods based upon the nature of the tolerance variables and the design functions created.

This study is limited to dimensional tolerance synthesis problems and evolution of process‐oriented tolerance synthesis to counteract dimensional variation problems in assembly manufacturing.

The paper provides a comprehensive and step‐by‐step approach of review of dimensional tolerance synthesis.