A Structured Qualitative Meta-analysis on Social Identity Conceptualization

The vast studies on social identity (SI) have made it necessary to conduct a systematic review such studies. An evaluation of these studies in terms of their approaches, methodologies, results and the way they measure SI can provide a more comprehensive picture of such studies. Hence, the objectives of this study are twofold. It aims to provide an applied and comprehensive way of SI investigation by reviewing and classifying the past studies and to see on what bases SI was defined and investigated in past studies. This study follow a qualitative meta-analytic approach based on Sandelowski and Barroso’s seven-step strategy. After a general analysis and comparison of the pertinent studies on the basis of their qualities, methodologies and results, a general analysis about all of them are provided. While achieving the three parameters of «reductionist attitude of SI to collective identity, replacement with national and SI parameters», this study revealed that no organized and integrated investigations have addressed SI based on a comprehensive and applied scientific approach so far.Therefore, some kind of theoretical and methodological dispersions and multiplicities are seen in such studies. There is no conceptual consensus among the studies conducted on SI and they mostly suffer from some type of scholastic reductionism and conceptual complexity in their definitions and assessments due to lack of a general and cohesive analytic, theoretical, and methodological bases. To compensate for the present shortcomings and provide an inclusive theory, conducting meta-scholastic studies on the process of SI construction is suggested.