[2] Its general goals are to make the findings from multiple different studies more generalizable and applicable.
[3] It aims to generate new knowledge by combining and comparing the results of multiple studies on a given topic.
Meta-analysis is the preferred technique of quantitative research synthesis in many fields, such as medical science.
Narrative synthesis allows researchers to address a wide range of questions in their review, while meta-ethnography aims to preserve the cultural context in which the original findings of the included studies were generated.
There is also evidence that reviews using the narrative synthesis approach often suffer from a lack of transparency.