# Discipline Skeleton -- Qualitative Synthesis

**Library:** Public RAM. **Authored by:** Epistemic Output Layer (S4). **Consumed by:** S4 at Phase D overlay.

Use when the invoked Librarian discipline is `qualitative-synthesis`. Qualitative synthesis generates interpretive understanding by reading qualitative sources against each other -- meta-ethnography, thematic synthesis, framework synthesis. Attach the three-axis block per synthesized theme.

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## Native Skeleton (preserve)

1. **Review Question** -- interpretive: "What does X mean to whom?" or "How is X experienced / framed?"
2. **Search and Selection** -- purposive sampling aimed at thick, contextually rich sources.
3. **Quality Appraisal of Included Studies** -- CASP Qualitative Checklist or equivalent per study.
4. **Extraction Grid** -- author, context, participants, method, key concepts.
5. **Analytic Approach** -- meta-ethnography (reciprocal translation / refutational / line-of-argument), thematic synthesis (descriptive then analytic themes), or framework synthesis.
6. **Synthesized Themes** -- higher-order constructs emerging from cross-case reading.
7. **CERQual Assessment per Theme** -- methodological limitations, coherence, adequacy, relevance.
8. **Interpretation and Practice Implications.**

## Overlay Hooks

- Each **synthesized theme** is a claim slot.
- Typical claim type: interpretive. Transportability slot: `reader_relevance_proxy` (CERQual-derived). MANDATORY `reader-judgment-required` caveat.
- R3.3 / Drisko-Lincoln-Guba contradiction applies most directly here: researcher-side transportability is NOT claimed. CERQual's four components render as sub-scores under the slot.
- Surprise Register and Search Ledger render as top-level sections after Practice Implications.
- Methodology trace: qualitative-synthesis tag, analytic approach (meta-ethnography/thematic/framework), CERQual grading.

## Native elements that MUST survive overlay
- Extraction grid.
- Synthesized themes with source attribution.
- CERQual per-theme assessment (component-level, not just overall grade).

The CERQual overall confidence is NOT the transportability axis. Render the four components as sub-scores; keep the evidence / transportability / decision separation intact. The `reader-judgment-required` caveat is the philosophical honesty that Lincoln-Guba and Drisko require.
