Meta-ethnography: A Qualitative Research Method of Effective Comprehensive Integration

Abstract

[Purpose/significance] Qualitative research method is an important part of academic research. This research mathematically summarizes the relevant research results of meta ethnography at home and abroad, and forms a relatively complete theoretical content, which provides a reference for scholars in the field of information behavior and other fields to choose research methods in the future. [Method/process] Based on the multi-disciplinary perspective, this paper used Web of Science to retrieve the related literature of meta-ethnography research methods, and used bibliometrics and content analysis to summarize the research status and application of meta-ethnography methods, in which the application part focused on introducing the research of meta-ethnography in the field of information behavior. [Results/conclusion] The meta-ethnographic method is one of the important methods for qualitative research, and there are few domestic studies on the use of meta-ethnographic method. This study summarizes the development history of meta-ethnography, the differences from other methods, applicable types and characteristics, implementation steps, and the application results of this method in existing disciplines, which will help scholars to fully understand the research methods of meta-ethnography.

Keywords

• qualitative research methodology meta-ethnography