Exploring the feasibility of theory synthesis: a worked example in the field of health related risk-taking.

ABSTRACT: The idea of synthesising theory is receiving attention within public health as part of a drive to design theoretically informed interventions. Theory synthesis is not a new idea, however, having been debated by sociologists for several decades. We consider the various methodological approaches to theory synthesis and test the feasibility of one such approach by synthesising a small number of sociological theories relevant to health related risk-taking. The synthesis consisted of three stages: (i) synthesis preparation, wherein parts of relevant theories were extracted and summarised; (ii) synthesis which involved comparing theories for points of convergence and divergence and bringing together those points that converge; and (iii) synthesis refinement whereby the synthesis was interrogated

SUBMITTER: Pound P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4292939 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature