B. Dahl et al.
10.4236/ojn.2017.78071 964 Open Journal of Nursing
2. Methods
2.1. Design
In order to synthesize qualitative research findings we conducted a meta-synthesis,
using a meta-ethnographic approach [11]. The use of meta-synthesis has become
increasingly popular in health-related research [12] as it is supposed to provide a
new, integrated and more complete interpretation of the findings, offering an
in-depth understanding that transcends the sum of the individual studies and
facilitates theory development [13]. Several ways of conducting a qualitative
meta-synthesis have been described [14]. In this study, our aim was not to sum-
marize or aggregate data, but to conduct an interpretive integration of the em-
pirical data from the included studies [14]. Thus, due to its interpretive orienta-
tion we decided to use meta-ethnography, a method developed by Noblit and
Hare [11] comprising seven overlapping and sometimes parallel steps, as de-
scribed in
Table 1.
2.2. Data Collection and Participants
2.2.1. Search Strategy and Outcome
We started by defining the aim of the study and deciding on inclusion and ex-
clusion criteria. We continued by performing a scope search to gain a prelimi-
nary overview of the research area and to identify relevant search terms. The
scope search was followed by a systematic literature search in March 2016. An
experienced librarian guided the literature search, which included the PsycIN-
FO, Cinahl, Pubmed and Maternity & Infant Care databases. We applied the
following search terms as MESH terms or text words, entered individually or in
combination: postpartum depression, experience and emotions.
The literature search resulted in 962 hits. We started by excluding duplicates
and studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria in terms of publication
year, language and methods, after which 128 papers remained. We continued
by manually examining all papers, excluding those that were thematically or
methodologically irrelevant. We also identified and excluded another 11 duplicates.
Table 1. The seven steps in meta-ethnography [11].
1)
Getting started
—identifying the topic of the study and defining the aim.
2)
Deciding what is relevant to the initial interest
—including relevant studies, describing search
strategy and criteria for inclusion and exclusion.
3)
Reading the studies
—repeated reading of studies noting their interpretative metaphors.
4)
Determining how the studies are related
—determining the relationship between the studies.
This phase starts with the creation of a list of key metaphors (themes, concepts, phrases, ideas)
and ends with an initial assumption that their relationship is reciprocal (findings across studies
are comparable), refutational (findings stand in opposition to each other) or representative of a
line of argument.
5)
Translating the studies into one another
—comparing metaphors and their interactions within
single studies and across studies, while at the same time protecting uniqueness and holism.
6)
Synthesizing translations
—creating a new whole from the sum of the parts, enabling a second
level of synthesis.
7)
Expressing the synthesis
—finding the appropriate form to effectively communicate the
synthesis to the audience.
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