ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on our recently published meta-ethnography. To reflect the highly collaborative nature of this work, “we” refers to our research team – the co-authors of this volume. We retrospectively reconstruct and problematize our process for exploring, designing, and implementing a meta-ethnographic synthesis. As we designed and conducted this synthesis, we analyzed a set of primary ethnographic studies to identify the metaphors highly cited scholars used alongside problematic silences. Based on our attention to silences related to race and racism, we argue that our meta-ethnography qualifies as a critical meta-ethnography. Below, we describe and problematize each step of our meta-ethnographic process – from the geo-politics of search terms and sampling, to assumptions built into coding and analyzing research studies, to representational choices. Along the way, we draw on feedback from reviewers to shine light on how the review process shaped our synthesis. Suggestions for conducting a meta-ethnography are shared.
