TABLE 4.

Author's seven‐phase approach to metaethnography as per Noblit and Hare (1988).

Phase	Description	Current study methods
1	Getting started	Identifying areas of interest, involving consultation with supervisors and checking existing reviews to avoid duplication
2	Deciding what is relevant	Defining clear inclusion and exclusion criteria after identifying a specific area of interest. Developing a search strategy with Boolean operators, guided by consultation with a Subject Librarian. Registering the review with PROSPERO
3	Reading the studies	Reading studies repeatedly to familiarise oneself with key concepts. Conducting quality ratings and discussing ratings with a secondary rater. Organising data into first‐ and second‐order constructs
4	Determining how studies are related	Identifying and describing metaphors/concepts within the studies. Presenting second‐order concepts from included studies in a table for further comparison (see Table 4). Using ‘concept maps’ to support the development of relationships
5	Translating studies into one another	Constantly comparing identified concepts. Creating a grid for clear comparison of concepts endorsed across studies. Identifying similarities and differences; employing reciprocal translations as no refutational translations were identified. Organising concepts into abstracted conceptual categories/framework
6	Synthesising translations	Developing a line of argument by integrating translations into a conceptual model. Creating a visual structure of developed conceptual categories
7	Expressing the synthesis	Expressing the synthesis in written form, complemented by a visual representation of conceptual categories