A Meta-Analysis Based on Case Study Research in Different Organizational Contexts: Overabounding and Unconditional Gratuitousness in Institutions

This case derives from a research project on social actions characterized by exceeding gratuitousness in organizational contexts conducted by a qualitative meta-analysis of different case studies. Starting from this research project, we aim to illustrate how to conduct a meta-analysis of case studies on different organizational contexts. The analyzed cases are as follows: a case of social workers, a case of nurses, and a case of school operators. All of them are professions characterized by help, assistance, and vocation. The case studies will be compared with the aim to conduct a rigorous secondary qualitative analysis of primary findings. Qualitative meta-analysis is an attempt to provide a more comprehensive description of a phenomenon, offering a new framework for the systematization, the comparison, and the analysis of primary findings. The objective of the meta-analysis is to stimulate theoretical and critical reflection on primary findings of the analyzed case studies. Particularly, the results of contribution will focus on the types, features, and function of social actions characterized by exceeding gratuitousness in organizational contexts, showing, at the end, that those kinds of social actions are fundamental in vocational organizational contexts and help not to sclerotize these environments into routine actions.