Meta-Study of Qualitative Health Research

Sally Thorne, RN, PhD, FAAN, FCAHS, is a Professor and former Director of the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia, where she currently also holds the position of Associate Dean of Applied Science. She has a longstanding research program in the field of patient experience and relational practice in chronic illness and cancer care in addition to a body of scholarly work in the philosophy of science, the nature of evidence, and applied qualitative methodology. She is author of four books, including a popular qualitative research text on Interpretive Description. She has an extensive record of peer reviewed journal publications and has presented her work internationally as invited scholar, keynote lecturer and distinguished professor. She is Editor-in-Chief of the scholarly journal Nursing Inquiry and Associate Editor for Qualitative Health Research. She has served terms as Board Director for numerous organizations, including the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and the Association of Registered Nurses of British Columbia, and is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Nursing and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. ducational BackgroundBN, Dalhousie UniversityMSN, University of British ColumbiaPhD, University of VictoriaServiceMember, Interprofessional Education Curriculum CommitteeFaculty Affilliate, Human Early Learning PartnershipBoard Member, BC Council For Families

• IntroductionLaying the Groundwork for Meta-StudyThe Retrieval and Assessment of Primary ResearchMeta-Data-AnalysisMeta-MethodMeta-TheoryMeta-SynthesisEvaluation, Dissemination and Future Challenges

"This book is a superior achievement from a group of masterful scholars. The book shows the theoretical, ethical, and political complexity of qualitative study, and yet offers an illuminating and useful guide to how it can be accomplished with distinction. I highly recommend it."