COMParative methods for the Advancement of Systematic cross-case analysis and Small-n Studies

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If you have any suggestion or comments concerning this page, please send an e-mail to Damien BOL.

Upcoming Trainings

Available now:
Set of exercises (with and without the answers) to accompany G. Goertz's "Social Science Concept" (see Publication page).

4th - 16th August 2008, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
ECPR Summer School in Methods and Techniques
Course 7: CONFIGURATIONAL COMPARATIVE METHODS: QCA AND FUZZY SETS

Instructors: Benoit RIHOUX (UCLouvain) and Carsten SCHNEIDER (CEU Budapest).

Short Outline:
This course examines the family of 'configurational comparative methods' (CCM). 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. Then participants are trained to use the most widely used of the CCM so far: dichotomous Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA). The practical steps and best practices of csQCA (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 fuzzy set QCA (fsQCA) and 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. Some basic quantitative or qualitative methodological training is probably useful to get more out of the course, but participants with little methodological training should find no major obstacles to follow the course. Above all, participants should be motivated to engage in rigorous comparative analysis.

The detailed course outline is now online, with day-by-day timetable, course, sequence, and readings

This summer school also features 14 other main courses (among which a "Case study analysis" course and a broad offer of courses in different methodological traditions), 5 crash courses, a 1-day series of research design seminars, and a lively plenary interactive program.

As courses are booked on a 'first come, first served' basis, it is recommended to apply early.

More information at:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/summerschools/ljubljana/courses.aspx

4th - 15th August 2008, University of Essex, UK
40th Essex Summer School Social Science Data Analysis and Collection
Course 3I: Small-N and Qualitative Comparative Methods

Instructor: James MAHONEY (Northwestern University)

Short Outline:

Concepts: How can we most effectively use concepts in small-N research? Topics addressed include: conceptual labelling, approaches to definition, and techniques for aggregating defining attributes. Examples will include the following concepts: democracy, welfare state, and revolution.
Small-N Methods of Cross-Case Causal inference: What cross-case methods can be used in small-N research? Topics addressed include: Mill’s methods, ordinal comparison, Boolean algebra, and fuzzy-set analysis.
Small-N Methods of Over-Time Analysis: How does over-time analysis give small-N researcher leverage for causal inference? Topics addressed include: sequence elaboration, narrative, and causal mechanisms.

The goal of the course is to provide participants with new analytic tools that they can apply to their own small-N and comparative research; and to help participants understand, appreciate, and critique excellent works of small-N comparative analysis. The course seeks to enhance the capacity of participants to both produce and consume this kind of research.

Participants who are currently engaged in small-N and comparative research should find the course tools immediately useful. But even Participants who are mainly large-N and statistical, and who seek to supplement their work with case studies, should find the course materials helpful.

26th August - 18th September, University of Arizona, US
Short Course on Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy Sets

Instructor: Charles RAGIN (University of Arizona)

Short Outline:

Charles Ragin will be offering a four-week short course on Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy Sets at the University of Arizona in August/September 2008, as part of his graduate seminar in Comparative Methodology. The course is open to visiting students and scholars, with the permission of the instructor. The course will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-13:45 on the following dates:

August 26, 28
September 2, 4
September 9, 11
September 16, 18

For further information contact cragin@email.arizona.edu.

Recent Past Trainings

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22 July -4th August 2007, University of Ljubjana, Slovenia
ECPR summer school in methods and techniques
Course 12: Comparative Research Design and Configurational Comparative Methods

Instructors: Benoit RIHOUX (UCLouvain) and Carsten SCHNEIDER (CEU Budapest).

Short Outline:

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.

Some basic quantitative or qualitative methodological training is probably useful to get more out of the course, but participants with little methodological training should find no major obstacles to follow the course. Thus there are no specific 'technical' prior requirements to the course. Above all, participants should be motivated to engage into rigorous comparative analysis.

More details on this course and full list of courses at this Summer School:  4 crash courses & 15 full 2-week courses at: http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/summerschools/ljubljana/courses.aspx

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)

Wednesday, August 29, 2007, Chicago, USA
2007 APSA Short Courses
Introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy Sets

Instructor: Charles C. RAGIN, Department of Sociology, University of Arizona

The analytic challenge of comparative research is not simply that the number of cases is small,
but that researchers gain useful in-depth knowledge of cases that is difficult to represent using
conventional forms (e.g., representations that emphasize the "net effects" of "independent
variables"). The researcher is left wondering how to represent knowledge of cases in a way that is meaningful and compact and which does not deny case complexity. Set-theoretic methods such as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the central focus of this workshop, offer a partial solution.
QCA is fundamentally a case-oriented method that can be applied to small-to-moderate-sized Ns. It is most useful when researchers have knowledge of each case included in an investigation,
there is a relatively small number of such cases (e.g., 5-50), and the investigator seeks to compare cases as configurations. With these methods it is possible to construct representations of crosscase patterns that allow for substantial heterogeneity and diversity. The workshop offers an advanced introduction to the approach and the use of the software package fsQCA. Both the crisp (or Boolean) and fuzzy-set versions of the method are presented.

For more information, download course details HERE.

April-May 2007, University of Cologne, Germany
QCA seminar in German language
(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. Detailed information can be found at: http://www.politik.uni-koeln.de/kaiser/Studium/Lehre/SS2007/Uebung%20Herrmann.htm . Registration per E-Mail to herrmann@mpifg.de.

QCA Seminar in deutscher Sprache (Universität Köln. Vier ganztägige Sitzungen am 20. April; 27. April; 4. Mai; 11. Mai)

Für QCA-Interessenten besteht die Möglichkeit, an einer Lehrveranstaltung der Universität Köln teilzunehmen, in der der Umgang mit QCA und die Anwendung der Software Tosmana vermittelt wird. Die Teilnahme ist kostenfrei. Doch gilt zu berücksichtigen, dass die vier Seminartage nicht direkt nacheinander, sondern an vier aufeinander folgenden Freitagen stattfinden. Detaillierte Informationen unter: http://www.politik.uni-koeln.de/kaiser/Studium/Lehre/SS2007/Uebung%20Herrmann.htm . Interessenten bitte per E-Mail an herrmann@mpifg.de anmelden.

29-31 March 2006, University of Marburg, Germany
Marburg QCA Spring Course (in German)
Instructors: Prof. Dirk BERG-SCHLOSSER and Lasse CRONQVIST (both Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany).

13-14 January 2006, University of Bern, Switzerland
Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy Sets
Instructors: Carsten Q. SCHNEIDER and Claudius WAGEMANN

20-21 October 2005, WZB, Berlin, Germany
Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy Sets
Instructor: Carsten Q: SCHNEIDER

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Archive section (completed courses)

Last modified: 28-Avr-2008

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Benoît RIHOUX, Centre de Politique Comparée