3.1.1 Core definitions

Paradigm

A worldview informed by beliefs and philosophical ways of thinking/assumptions on the nature of knowledge and reality.

Epistemology

The ‘theory of knowledge’ focuses on the study of knowledge acquisition. It explores how knowledge is obtained, what knowledge is and how we distinguish between justified beliefs and unfounded opinions. Epistemology guides methodologies and methods (Carter & Little 2007).

Methodology

A framework that includes the general principles that underpin the design, conduct and interpretation of research. Methodology justifies the methods being used in a project (Carter & Little 2007).

Methods

Specific technical processes by which researchers collect and analyse their data, related to their choice of methodology and informed by their epistemology.

Meta-aggregation

Philosophically grounded in pragmatism and transcendental phenomenology, meta-aggregation is a systematic approach to synthesize qualitative data to establish a comprehensive description of a phenomenon of interest, leading to actionable knowledge for evidence-based healthcare.

Transcendental Phenomenology

Transcendental phenomenology is a qualitative research methodology derived from the philosophy of Edmund Husserl. It is used to explore and describe the experiences of individuals to understand the essence of a phenomenon from a first-person perspective. This methodology underpins JBI’s meta-aggregative reviews.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical and epistemological tradition that considers the practical consequences of ideas, actions and beliefs as the primary basis for their truth and meaning. It emphasises the application and utility of concepts and knowledge in real-world situations. This methodology underpins JBI’s meta-aggregative reviews.

Finding

A finding is a verbatim extract of an author’s analytic interpretation of their results or data. The ‘data’ may be in the form of a theme or metaphor, or in the form of rich descriptions.

Illustration of findings

An illustration supports the finding and may be either a direct quotation of participants’ voices, field-work observations or other supporting data that informs the finding.

Category

A brief descriptive statement of a key concept arising from the aggregation of two or more like findings*. This is based on the similarity of meaning and representation of the phenomenon of interest, and is accompanied by an explanatory statement that conveys the whole inclusive meaning of a group of similar findings.

*This excludes divergent data. See Section 3.3.13.1 for details.

Level of credibility

The degree to which extracted qualitative findings are judged to have been interpreted in a plausible and accurate way that represents the illustration associated with it.

Dependability

The extent to which consistent quality is achieved and can be established when the research process is logical, traceable and clearly documented.

Synthesised finding

An overarching, descriptive statement that represents the meaning of two or more conceptually-linked, categorised findings*. The synthesised finding statement provides insight that is actionable in relation to the phenomena of interest and can inform recommendations for policy and practice.

*This excludes divergent data. See Section 3.3.13.2 for details.

Divergent data

Refers to data that is considered an ‘outlier’ or a single-reported meaning, that may not be able to be synthesised into a category or synthesised finding. See relevant sections within 3.3.13 for details.