Meta-Ethnography &

Theory Building

George Noblit R Dwight Hare

Fathul Himam -- Fakultas Psikologi UGM -- fathulhimam@yahoo.com

 What Is Theory?
Lack of consensus on exactly what theory is. It
make difficult to develop strong theory in the
behavioral science

an a priori commitment to certain

presuppositional assumptions about what
constitutes knowledge (epistemology), reality
(metaphysics), the nature of being or existence
(ontology), values (axiology), and other basic
philosophical issues.
 What is Theory?
―a theory can be defined as a group of logically
organized laws or relationships that constitutes
explanation in a discipline

(1) theory as covering laws, (2) theory as

enlightenment, and (3) theory as narrative

a simple model of explanation

Why does a Theory need to be
Built & Developed?
To challenge the old ones

To explain the (new) phenomena in a better way

To develop your own school of understanding

To voice the silenced parties

To make sense about some important ideas

To develop a strong ground for decision making

……………
 The Theory Traditions
(1) hypothetico-deduction (alternately referred to by
theorists as nomothetic, positivism, postpositivism,
empirical-analytical, or hierarchialism;
(2) inductive-synthesis (alternately referred to as
idiographic, grounded theory, constructivism, or
interpretive theory);
(3) critical theory (alternately referred to as radical,
neo-Marxist, or social justice theory); and maybe
(4) mixed-method ?.
What is the Essential Activities in
Theory Building ?
Doing RESEARCH – re – search

Research Cycle

Theory
Inductive Deductive
Reasoning Reasoning

Data
 Taxonomy of Theory Building
Basic Hypothetico Inductive Critical
Deduction Synthesis
Focus Realism—observational Relativism—reality Reactionism—reality
data are considered the composed from objective shaped by values of those
foundation of and subjective meaning who control power &
knowledge; objective as determined by resources
reality can be understood stakeholders in the
& measured setting

Method Hypotheses testing, Gather all facts (data) Understand historical

falsification first, infer theory that forces, evolution of
matches precisely those meanings, material
facts; allow new practices, & inequalities
theoretical understand-
ing to emerge from the
data
 Taxonomy of Theory Building
Basic Hypothetico Inductive Critical
Deduction Synthesis
Goal To explain & predict; Accurately understand Emancipation, uncover
discover generalizable what is occurring in this hidden interests &
laws & universal ‘truth’ particular situation; contradictions; critique,
describe actors view-point transformation
& significance
I
Postulates ---x Data --x Inductions ---x
Activities Deductions ---x Postulate ---x Data Identify and reveal
Data ---x(repeat as (continuous interplay) political, social, and
needed) (i.e., theory to (i.e., data to theory) economic inequities
data)
Verbal and/or nonverbal
Operationalized concepts action
Unit of Analysis & variables Relationship
contradictions
Quantitative (QUAN) Qualitative (QUAL)
Research Metaphor Albert Einstein Sherlock Holmes Both QUAN & QUAL
Karl Marx
Popper’s Three-World Model
World ONE: the physical world, consisting of
physical objects, energy, and plants
World TWO: the mental world, consisting of
feelings, thoughts, decisions, and
perceptions (the conscious and the
subconscious)
World THREE: the world of more complex
conceptual constructs including stories,
mathematical constructions, artistic
compositions, an, theories.
 Framework for Theory Analysis
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

World ONE Uses objective data. Uses objective data Future facts are
(Facts or data) from predicted.
multiple sources.
World TWO Makes sense to Makes sense to Consensus of
(Meaning, author. editor, expert opinion
emotions) reviewers, and (this theory is
readers. preferred over
other theoretical
options).
World THREE Includes logical Theory is Theory is
(Theory) arguments. constructed of constructed of
specific cocausal
propositions. propositions.
 Approaches to Qualitative
Research Synthesis
Nine distinct approaches to qualitative synthesis were identified:
meta-narrative synthesis,
critical interpretive synthesis,
meta-study,

meta-ethnography,
grounded formal theory,
thematic synthesis,
textual narrative synthesis,
framework synthesis and
ecological triangulation.
 Meta-ethnography

 Most widely used method of qualitative synthesis

reported (Hannes & Macaitis 2012)

 Enables a systematic and detailed understanding

of how studies are related, through the
comparison of findings within and across studies.
These are coded and condensed into themes
which ultimately provide an interpretation of the
whole body of research(Noblit and Hare 1988)
 Meta-Ethnography: so what’s it
about?
‘The meaning of meta-ethnography for us is as a form
of synthesis for ethnographic or other interpretive
studies’ p14
We use this term [meta-ethnography], in part,
because of the analogy to meta-analysis. We share
the goal of those proposing meta-analytic and
integrative research reviews of “putting together” all
the research available to us. p 25
(Noblit & Hare 1988)
 The Principle Method of Synthesis

Is around the notion of ‘Translation’

Noblit & Hare describe this as

‘one case is like another except that…’ (p38)

This is not dissimilar to

constant comparison techniques

 The Seven Steps of Meta-ethnography

1. Getting started
Noblit and Hare say this is ‘finding something
that is worthy of a synthesis effort’ p26

Need to consider....
Is qualitative synthesis appropriate for the
question you are asking?
Is a synthesis on this topic needed?
What experience does the team need?
 2. Deciding what is relevant
Scope of searching:
Does it need to be exhaustive?
It depends on the purpose of the synthesis
There is a tendency to undertake exhaustive searching.
However searching can be pre-planned to be
comprehensive or iterative ie ‘seek all available
concepts until saturation is achieved’ (Tong et al 2012)
Various qualitative filters can be used
‘qualitative’, ‘interviews’ & ‘findings’
 2. Deciding what is relevant
Other top tips:

Clear inclusion and exclusion criteria can be

helpful
Use an information scientist if you can
Track your key papers
 Carers review: what we found

5507 papers found & 5440 were excluded

After further sifting 67 papers were suitable for inclusion
This was too many!
We re-read the papers and included those that reported
key concepts highly relevant to the study aims
This left us with 35 papers reporting on 34 studies
At the end of the synthesis process we re-read the
papers not included and included any ‘absent concepts’
 3. Reading the studies

‘Repeated re-reading of the accounts’ p28

During this stage you can also incorporate

Quality appraisal
Data extraction – possibly a two stage
process
 4. Determining how the studies are related

Refers to how do you start to put the studies together

‘We think it makes sense to create a list of the key
metaphors, phrases, ideas, and/or concepts in each
account’ p28
‘When we talk about the key metaphors of a study, we
are referring to what others may call the themes,
perspectives, organizers, and/or concepts revealed by
qualitative studies’ p14
Then look at the relationship between them
 5. Translating the studies into one another

Studies may be related to each Meta-ethnographic technique:

other in one of four ways:

1. They can be about different

things No point in synthesising!
2. They can be about roughly
similar things
Reciprocal translation
3. They can be studies that
refute each other

4. They can be studies that Refutational synthesis

progressively build a line of
argument
Lines of argument synthesis
 5. Translating the studies into one
another
Reciprocal translation analysis– in an iterative
fashion one study is translated into another

Refutational synthesis – studies amenable to

general meta-ethnographic approach, but refutations
are examined more closely

Lines of argument synthesis – more about

interpretation ‘what can we say about the whole
based on the selective studies of the parts?’
 5. Translating the studies into one
another
‘Translations need to protect the particular,
respect holism & enable comparison’ p28

‘I found that I was judged as a disgusting, uneducated,

gutter rat. I found this by the way people would look,
question my motives, make comments on my parental
ability etc.’

(Wiggington & Lee 2012, p9)

 6. Synthesizing translations

Synthesis refers to making a whole into

something more than the parts alone imply
Translations as a set are one level of meta-
ethnographic synthesis
The translations can be compared with one
another to determine of there are some that can
encompass others
This presents the second level of synthesis and
is often presented as a line of argument
 7. Expressing the synthesis

How do you go about telling people what you’ve

done?
Generally written for academic audiences
Does this limit how you write up a meta-
ethnography?
I would argue yes – mainly from the problem of
restrictions of word length in journals
Suggested that play, art and music could all be
relevant expressions!
MASSAGING CHAOTIC SITUATIONS:
UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF INDIVIDUAL
ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES TO CHANGE:
A META-ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

ASIAN APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY INTERNATIONAL-REGIONAL CONFERENCE -

BANGKOK - 14 - 16 OF NOVEMBER 2005
 CHANGE ISSUES
 WITHIN TODAY’S GLOBAL WORLD, CHANGE AND
DEVELOPMENT BECOME EVERYDAY FACTS OF
INDIVIDUAL WORKER’S LIFE
 CHANGE ALWAYS MEANS THAT INDIVIDUALS NEED
TO DEVELOP CERTAIN ADAPTIVE MECHANISM IN
ORDER TO CONTINUOUSLY ALIGN THEIR
CAPABILITIES AND FUNCTIONS IN DEALING WITH
ENVIRONMENTAL DEMANDS
 AS WORK DEMANDS AND SERVICES BECOME
INCREASINGLY MORE COMPLEX, INDIVIDUALS
CONTINUOUSLY FACE CHALLENGES TO RENEW
THEIR WORK RELATED SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE AS
THEIR “OLD” PROBLEM SOLVING CAPABILITIES ARE
NO LONGER ADEQUATE TO BE APPLIED
 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
TO CREATE AND CONSTRUCT A HOLISTIC
INTERPRETATION OF STUDIES OF
CHANGE THAT HAVE ACCUMULATED
ACROSS DIFFERENT RESEARCH CONTEXTS

TO DEVELOP A THEORETICAL-
INTEGRATIVE UNDERSTANDING ABOUT
THE STRATEGIC ADAPTATION PROCESS
AMONG INDIVIDUALS TO OVERCOME
CHANGE SITUATIONS WITHIN THEIR
RELEVANT ENVIRONMENT
 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. WHAT ARE THE GENERAL EMERGING

THEMES AND CONCEPTS OF INDIVIDUAL
STRATEGIES IN ADAPTING TO CHANGE AND
DEVELOPMENT IN THEIR WORKING
ORGANIZATIONS?

2. WHAT OUTCOMES WILL RESULT FROM THE

APPLICATION OF THE STRATEGIES IN TERM
OF INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE AND
BEHAVIOR?
 DESIGN OF THE STUDY
APPROACHING THE STUDY BY META-ETHNOGRAPHY
(META-ETHNOGRAPHY: SYNTHESIZING QUALITATIVE
STUDIES; NOBLIT & HARE, 1988)
IT COMPARES, ANALYZES, INTEGRATES, AND
CREATES NEW INTERPRETATIONS OF AN
ACCUMULATION OF PREVIOUS STUDIES
IT COMPARES AND CONTRASTS TEXTS FROM WHICH
THE RESEARCHER CREATES A HOLISTIC
INTERPRETATION
IT INVOLVES THE TRANSLATION OF STUDIES FROM
ONE TO ANOTHER IN THE FORM OF AN ANALOGY,
CONSTRUCTING A WHOLE NEW MEANING BASED
ON A STUDY OF SEVERAL PARTS
META-EHTNOGRAPHY
CREATING NEW
UNDERSTANDINGS

TRANSLATING
STUDIES
FROM ONE INTO
ANOTHER

SYNTHESIZING
QUALITATIVE
STUDIES

META-ETHNOGRAPHY
AS A QUALITATIVE
APPROACH
 DATA ANALYSIS
SELECTIVE CODING: DESCRIPTIVE STORY
SELECTING THE CORE CATEGORIES ABOUT THE CENTRAL
VALIDATING THE RELATIONSHIP PHENOMENON
AXIAL CODING:
THEMES, METAPHORS,
PUT BACK THE DATA TOGETHER
TO SEE THE CONNECTION CONCEPTS
PATTERN
OPEN CODING: CATEGORIES, DIMENSIONS
BREAKING DOWN
COMPARING
CATEGORIZING DATA
DATA ANALYSIS APPROACH
GROUNDED
THEORY

DATA/ TEXTS
PURPOSIVE SAMPLING
 Develop Cloaking Tactic
Collegiality

Individual Sense-making

Adaptive
strategies
Entrepreneurship

Acquisition of Skills

Self-
Discovery
 Integrative Summary of Themes

Theme Basic Ground Purpose Action End-Result

Cloaking Tactic Psychological Masking true Rationalization Self-contained
adjustment intent Pretending Express hurt
Resistence to Personal Withdrawl Survive
change agenda Ignorance
Hostility and Control Avoidance
ambivalence
Confusion
Uncertainty

Sense-making Problem Sense of Re-frame A change in

identification integrity conception thinking
Sensing the New insight Repairing Tolerance to
situation Status vs. mistakes uncertainty
Willingness to objective Re-evaluation Experiencing
change Integrative new situation
Be rational scheme
 Theme Basic Ground Purpose Action End-Result
Acquisition of Learning Self development More education Independence
skills New view point Establish Training and Career
Ability expertise development advancement
measurement Increase ability Transfer Self-employed
Response new New experiences Maximization Production
needs Adaptation efforts
Vulnerable
position
Self- Psychological Spiritual Be sensitive Acceptance
discovery adjustment significance Proactive Commitment to
Inner strength Experimentation Changing change
Emotional Survival attitude and Comfortable
energy Hope behavior working
Internalization Enthusiasm
new reality
 Theme Basic Ground Purpose Action End-Result
Entrepreneurship Competitive Control and Be political New
mind-set autonomy Negotiate opportunity
Confront the Entering new Socialize Improvement
challenge market Enter labor
market
Gain power
Develop Harmony Tactic and Work together Alliance
collegiality Trust strategy Team spirit People full-
Relationship Consensus Support circle
Commitment Buffering Connection
Collective function Facilitative
actions
Levels of Behavioral Strategies to Change

Actual Behavior

End-Result

Action
-

Purpose

Basic Ground

Latent Behavior
 Integrative Summary of the Concepts Involved

Strategies Maintenance Adaptiveness Parameters

Individual Cloaking tactic Entrepreneurship Efficiency

Sense-making Develop collegiality Effectiveness
Acquisition of skills
Self-discovery
The Process of Individual Adaptive Strategies to Change
TIME

SHORT-RUN INTERMEDIATE- LONG-RUN

RUN

ADAPTATION PROCESS

Maintenance Adaptiveness

INVENTING
Individual
THE FUTURE

Maintenance Adaptiveness

CHANGING SITUATION

PARAMETER OF THE PROCESS

Effectiveness

Efficiency

ENVIRONMENT
 COMPONENTS OF REFLECTIVE LEARNING (BOYD & FALES,
1983) IN RELATION WITH THEMES

COMPONENT INDIVIDUAL
THEMES

1.SENSE OF DISCOMFORT CLOAKING TACTIC

2. IDENTIFICATION/ CLARIFICATION OF THE CONCERN SENSE-MAKING

3. OPENNESS TO NEW INFORMATION ACQUISITION OF NEW
SKILLS, SELF-DISCOVERY
4. RESOLUTION ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
DEVELOPMENT OF
COLLEGIALITY

5. ESTABLISHING THE CONTINUITY OF SELF INVENTING THE FUTURE

6. DECISION TO TAKE ACTIONS INVENTING THE FUTURE
 Meta-Ethnography:
folks, it’s time to exercise !!

What is your theory in understanding how

Pemda should deal with Otonomi
Daerah?
What does it mean by corporate crime?
Its characteristics? Its origin?
Terima Kasih
Atas
Perhatiannya
yang Luar
Biasa