Skip to main content

Table 4 Definitions

From: Conducting a meta-ethnography of qualitative literature: Lessons learnt

Term

Definition

1st order construct

Constructs that reflect participants' understandings, as reported in the included studies (usually found in the results section of an article).

2nd order construct

Interpretations of participants' understandings made by authors of these studies (and usually found in the discussion and conclusion section of an article).

3rd order construct

The synthesis of both first and second order constructs into a new model or theory about a phenomenon

Reciprocal translation

The comparison of themes across papers and an attempt to "match" themes from one paper with themes from another, ensuring that a key theme captures similar themes from different papers

Line of argument synthesis

The development of a new model, theory or understanding by synthesising and interpreting first and second order themes found in the text.