My wife is trying to research the topic and there does not seem to much out there it. Is anyone involved with this? She is doing social work research.

Thanks

Well I'm not too sure, but I think a meta-synthesis is kind of like a meta-analysis, but without the stats! So for a meta-analysis you could combine a load of results from different studies so that you have a much greater N, and then do your stats on this new, bigger group. For a meta-synthesis, I think it is about taking either results or models/concepts that have been derived from results, and trying to fit them together into one model or one over-arching theory that takes into account all of the models/concepts. So you don't do any statistics, but attempt to combine a number of different theories or models into one 'bigger, better' theory/model, for the purposes of pulling research together (i.e. synthesize it) and creating a better understanding of a phenomenon. Hmmm, I've just read what I've written and I'm not sure it makes sense! Hope it helps a bit...I'm sure someone on here will know more about it! KB