Text-in-context: a method for extracting findings in mixed-methods mixed research synthesis studies

Our purpose in this paper is to propose a new method for extracting findings from research reports included in mixed-methods mixed research synthesis studies.

International initiatives in the domains of systematic review and evidence synthesis have been focused on broadening the conceptualization of evidence, increased methodological inclusiveness and the production of evidence syntheses that will be accessible to and usable by a wider range of consumers. Initiatives in the general mixed-methods research field have been focused on developing truly integrative approaches to data analysis and interpretation.

The data extraction challenges described here were encountered, and the method proposed for addressing these challenges was developed, in the first year of the ongoing (2011-2016) study: Mixed-Methods Synthesis of Research on Childhood Chronic Conditions and Family.

To preserve the text-in-context of findings in research reports, we describe a method whereby findings are transformed into portable statements that anchor results to relevant information about sample, source of information, time, comparative reference point, magnitude and significance and study-specific conceptions of phenomena.

The data extraction method featured here was developed specifically to accommodate mixed-methods mixed research synthesis studies conducted in nursing and other health sciences, but reviewers might find it useful in other kinds of research synthesis studies.

This data extraction method itself constitutes a type of integration to preserve the methodological context of findings when statements are read individually and in comparison to each other.