Who 'owns' the findings: Considerations when conducting research with indigenous communities

This presentation will discuss considerations for the researcher undertaking research in indigenous communities. It will argue that hegemonic practices which have privileged the position of the 'researcher' over that of the 'researched' have further reinforced colonial practices by the appropriation of indigenous intellectual and cultural knowledge to the benefit of those undertaking the research.  It will argue that research methodologies are required which are ethical, truthful and useful. Drawing upon research undertaken in the Pacific Rim it will describe the emergence of methodologies which are culturally relevant and appropriate for indigenous research.

Qualitative metasynthesis: Making the evidence more accessible

This paper will discuss qualitative metasynthesis as an important method for integrating and synthesizing qualitative research findings for evidence-based healthcare.The emergence of qualitative metasynthesis will be described and it will be differentiated from metastudy and meta-analysis. Differing approaches to metasynthesis will be briefly discussed and Sandelowski and Barroso's steps for undertaking qualitative metasynthesis will be described. The paper will discuss processes applicable for ensuring the trustworthiness and the subsequent generalizability of the findings from a metasynthesis.