1. Next COMPASSS Seminar

Louvain-la-Neuve, Friday 4 May 07, 14:00-17:00.
Presentation by Prof. Mona Lena KROOK (Washington University in St. Louis, USA), on the connection between QCA and process- and sequence-oriented techniques.

Call for presentations -- there are still 1 or 2 presentation slots open -- on any innovative work-in-progress related to QCA or linked methods. Proposals welcome -- send them to Benoit Rihoux (rihoux@spri.ucl.ac.be) no later than 8 April.

The final programme will be posted on the site (and circulated on the mailing list) around mid-April.

2. Working Papers
http://www.compasss.org/WP.htm

New working papers have been posted :

WP2007-46[Posted on 8-March-2007]
Adrian DUSA (University of Bucharest)
A mathematical approach to the boolean minimization problem

WP2007-45[Posted on 25-January-2007]
Charles C. RAGIN (University of Arizona)
Using QCA to Study Causal Order: Comment on Caren and Panofsky (2005)

WP2007-44[Posted on 25-January-2007]
Charles C. RAGIN (University of Arizona)
Fuzzy Sets: Calibration Versus Measurement

3. Training ["News" --> "Training"] -
http://www.compasss.org/Trainings.htm

In chronological order : some upcoming training possibilities :

1/ April-May 2007, University of Cologne, Germany
QCA seminar [NB in German language - auf Deutsch]
(Four 1-day sessions on 20th April; 27th April; 4th May; 11th May)
Students and researchers interested in QCA are given the opportunity to participate in a 4-day seminar at the University of Cologne, which presents QCA and the use of the related software Tosmana. Participation is free of charge. However, potential participants should consider that the seminar takes place on four consecutive Fridays.
Instructor : Andrea HERMANN (MPI Koeln)

2/ 23 July -4th August 2007, University of Ljubjana, Slovenia
ECPR summer school in methods and techniques
Course on "Comparative Research Design and Configurational Comparative Methods"
This course examines the family of 'configurational comparative methods' (CCM) in the broader field of the comparative method. First, the course spells out the fundamental concepts that underlie the configurational comparative approach. In the framework of the general literature on comparative empirical social research, participants are made familiar with issues such as concept formation, truth tables, basic Boolean algebra, ideal types, and property spaces. Fuzzy sets and relevant software features are also introduced. Then participants are trained to use the most widely used of the CCM so far: dichotomous Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The practical steps and best practices of QCA (including software use: TOSMANA and fs/QCA) are taught: first the basic procedures, then various refinements. The course is concluded with an overview of linked developments such as multi-value QCA (MVQCA) and the combination of QCA with other methods. Real-life, published applications are used throughout the course; participants are also encouraged to bring their own data, if available.
Instructors: Benoit RIHOUX (UCLouvain) and Carsten SCHNEIDER (CEU Budapest).

3/ 23 July - 3 August 2007, University of Essex, UK
Essex summer school in social science data analysis
Course on "Systematic Qualitative Comparative Methods Research Design"
The course aims to reflect on comparative research design, and to introduce participants to specific methods to reduce the complexity of data sets and to produce parsimonious 'explanations' in small-N and intermediate-N research designs. At the end of the course participants should be able to exploit the method (QCA, MVQCA, or Fuzzy Sets) which best suits their data and research goals, probably in combination with other methods, whether qualitative or quantitative.
Potential applications cover a very broad range of problems and research topics in political science, sociology, economics and similar disciplines, mainly at the macro-level of limited N situations.
Instructors: Dirk BERG-SCHLOSSER and Lasse CRONQVIST (both Philipps-University Marburg)

4. Software
http://www.compasss.org/Softwares.htm

New version of QCA in R :
Adrian DUSA (Romanian Social Data Archive) has recently (March 07) launched version 0.4-0. The QCA package in R now has one of the most solid implementations of the exact Quine-McCluskey minimization procedure. It employs a novel method of determining the prime implicants, one that is both exact and fast.
This new algorithm is presented in COMPASSS working paper 2007-46 (see above).
The users' manual can also be downloaded.