A method for interpretively synthesizing qualitative research findings

Abstract

In the qualitative research world, one can use a method called meta-synthesis to interpretively assess a compiled body of literature on a specific topic, though it has seen little application in business research let alone in management information systems scholarship. However, because methods for qualitative inquiry have gained more popularity in the information systems discipline, this method holds great promise in supporting efforts toward theoretical generalization for qualitative researchers. Accordingly, in this paper, we present a methodological tutorial on the nature and practice of analytically synthesizing a body of qualitative research for developing and explicating theory.