Background: Meta-study is an interpretive review design
of qualitative reports. Meta-study differs from other
metasynthesis approaches because comprising analyses
of findings, theories and methods. The object is to search
for empirical, historical, disciplinary and methodological
patterns and, through deconstructing, interpreting and
reflecting on the insights, to document new evidence
relevant to the time period when the reports were published.
Objective: To discuss challenges in applying meta-study.
Method: First we describe the main components of metastudy,
second we to compare and contrast them to other
qualitative metasynthesis approaches, and finally we discuss
challenges wrestling with when applying meta-study in a
systematic review about parents’ experiences of neonatal
transfer 2000-2017.
Results: Because previous experiences in using other
metasynthesis approaches, the reviewers tended to focus
on empirical findings, to aggregate more than interpret and
to underestimate the meaning of deconstruction of theories
and methods.