April 2021

The AERA-ICPSR PEERS Data Hub will hold a no-fee workshop on “Introduction to Qualitative Meta-Synthesis Methods: Achieving STEM Equity and Inclusion through Syntheses” on May 20, 1:00 pm–4:00 pm ET. The workshop will broadcast live on Zoom. ASL interpretation and captioning will be provided. Attendees can register here.

Taught by experts Maria Ong, Nuria Jaumot-Pascual, Lisette Torres-Gerald, and Christina B. Silva —all at the Institute for Meta-Synthesis at TERC—the workshop will focus on building capacity in qualitative literature meta-synthesis methods, with a special focus on STEM equity and inclusion literature.

Instructors will introduce several aspects of qualitative meta-syntheses research, including: what differentiates literature meta-syntheses from literature reviews; steps for the pre-search process; literature search and selection processes; deductive, inductive, and hybrid coding; and thematic analysis.

They will also provide demonstrations and hands-on activities for participants, which will be drawn from the instructors’ previous literature meta-synthesis projects focused on the experiences of women of color in STEM (e.g., see paper here). By the end of the workshop, participants will have the fundamental skills for conducting a literature search and an understanding of how raw qualitative literature can be coded as data, and then transformed into the Findings and Discussion of a meta-synthesis paper.

“Introduction to Qualitative Meta-Synthesis Methods: Achieving STEM Equity and Inclusion through Syntheses” is open to all but may be especially beneficial to scholars who are interested in topics related to equity, inclusion, and/or STEM education. Following this workshop, participants interested in more in-depth training will be invited to apply for intensive, multi-day workshops with the Institute of Meta-Synthesis.

This PEERS workshop is the fourth webinar in the 11-part PEERS Research Methods Series. The series is held in collaboration with the Institutes in Research Methods (IRM) funded by the National Science Foundation through the NSF’s Building Capacity for STEM Education Research (BCSER) program.

The PEERS Data Hub was launched by AERA and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) in November 2020. It is an NSF-funded collaborative space for STEM education research communities to build and advance knowledge using diverse forms of data; sharing innovative ideas, methods, and tools; and building research capacity. The platform is supported by NSF through its Core Research Program in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources.