"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." -MARGARETE SANDELOWSKI, PhD, RN, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing University of North Carolina at Chapel HillIn this book, Volume 3 of the Methods in Nursing Research series, Barbara Paterson and colleagues provide step-by-step directions for how to proceed in conducting a meta-study, as well as recommendations for tools and standards relating to the application of their approach. Drawing from their experience with meta-study research projects on chronic illness, the authors articulate and theorize the meta-analysis and meta-synthesis of qualitatively derived knowledge.