ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <html> <head> <title>Compasss - All Discussions</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../compasss.css" /> </head> <body> <div id="content"> <div id="logo"> <a href="../../welcome.html"><img src="../../../pictures/logo.jpg" alt="logo_compasss" height="156px" width="200px" /></a> </div> <a name="top">&nbsp;</a> <div id="header"> <img src="../../../pictures/banner.jpg" alt="banner_compasss" height="57px" width="600px" /> </div> <div id="bord2"> <ul id="menu"> <li class="first"><a href="../../what.html"><div class="prime2">What is COMPASSS?</div></a> </li> <li class="first"><a href="../../why.html"><div class="prime">Why an International Resource Site?</div></a> </li> <li class="first"><a href="../../who.html"><div class="prime2">Who are we?</div></a> </li> </ul> </div> <div id="hrr"> <hr /> </div> <div id="menu2"> <ul>Announcements <li><a href="../../announcements/recent.html"><div class="second">Key Recent Publications</div></a></li> <li><a href="../../announcements/compasssa.html"><div class="second">COMPASSS Activities</div></a></li> <li><a href="../../announcements/training.html"><div class="second">Training</div></a></li> <li><a href="../../announcements/conferences.html"><div class="second">Conferences and Workshops</div></a></li> <li><a href="../../announcements/compasssn.html"><div class="second">COMPASSS Newsletter</div></a></li> </ul> <ul>Resources <li><a href="../advice.html"><div class="second">Advice for QCA users</div></a></li> <li><a href="../international.html"><div class="second">Bibliographical Database</div></a></li> <li><a href="../compassswp.html"><div class="second">COMPASSS Working Papers</div></a></li> </ul> <ul>Interactive Tools <li><div class="second">Questions and Answers - Temporary out of order</div></li> <li><a href="../../interactive_tools/mailinglist.html"><div class="second">Mailing-list</div></a></li> </ul> <ul>Links <li><a href="../../links/other.html"><div class="second">Small-N Websites</div></a></li> <li><a href="../../links/ccmtextbook.html"><div class="second">CCM Textbook</div></a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="page"> <span class="title1">Resources ></span> <a href="../international.html">Bibliographical Database</a> > <a href="biblalldis.html">All Discussions</a> <h1>All Discussions</h1> <ol> (2005). B. Rihoux and H. Grimm. Louvain-la-Neuve and Erfurt.<p> <p> (C.I.A.), C. I. A., Ed. (1996). <u>The world factbook 1995-96</u>. Washington D.C., Brassey's.<p> data divers<p> <p> Aarebrot, F. H. and P. H. Bakka (1997). =Die vergleichende Methode in der Politikwissenschaft. <u>=Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft</u>. D. Berg-Schlosser and F. Müller-Rommel. Opladen, Leske &amp; Budrich<b>: </b>49-66.<p> <p> Aarebrot, F. H. and P. H. Bakka (2003). =Die vergleichende Methode in der Politikwissenschaft. <u>=Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft: Ein einführendes Studienhandbuch</u>. D. Berg-Schlosser and F. Müller-Rommel. Wiesbaden, VS-Verlag<b>: </b>57-76.<p> <p> Abbott, A. (1992). What do cases do? Some notes on activity in sociological analysis. <u>What is a case? Exploring the foundations of social inquiry</u>. C. C. Ragin and H. S. Becker. New-York, Cambridge University Press<b>: </b>53-82.<p> <p> Abedi, A., Ed. (2004). <u>Anti-political establishment parties</u>. London, Routledge.<p> <p> Abell, P. (1989). &quot;Foundations for a qualitative comparative method.&quot; <u>International Review of Social History</u> <b>34</b>(1): 103-109.<p> <p> Achen, C. H. (2005). &quot;Two cheers for Charles Ragin.&quot; <u>Studies in Comparative International Development (SCID)</u> <b>40</b>(1): 27-32.<p> <p> Ackrén, M. (2006). <u>A summary of comparing comparisons: territorial autonomies in the light of alternative methods</u>. International Conference on Comparative Social Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.<p> <p> Ackrén, M. (2010). <u>Conditions for territorial autonomies in the light of QCA techniques (csQCA, mvQCA and fsQCA)</u>. Paper, Abo Akademi University.<p> This article considers three various tools within the family of Qualitative Comparative<p> Analysis (QCA). The techniques discussed are Crisp-Set QCA (or Boolean algebra),<p> Multi-Value QCA and Fuzzy-Set QCA. All the tools will be highlighted and<p> exemplified with empirical data derived from a forthcoming work about the degree<p> and kind of territorial autonomies in the world.2<p> The idea is to show what happens when we use the different techniques for the same<p> data set. This will show the usefulness and shortcomings, when combining various<p> tools. The techniques are chosen, since they are all related to each other and therefore<p> the similarities and differences between the three techniques are easier to grasp and<p> the data set will not suffer, while we can obtain the same research question throughout<p> the analyses. The assessment of QCA techniques gives us necessary and sufficient<p> conditions according to set theoretical principles. Results show that csQCA and<p> mvQCA give us uncertain results with a lot of contradictions between the cases, while<p> fsQCA is more straightforward. FsQCA also gives us solution terms for the whole<p> data set, which csQCA and mvQCA are lacking.<p> <p> Alasuutari, P. (1993). &quot;=Boolen algebra ja radion kuuntelu [Boolean algebra and listening to the radio].&quot; <u>Sosiologia</u> <b>30</b>(3): 216.<p> <p> Alasuutari, P., Ed. (1994). <u>=Laadullinen tutkimus [Qualitative research]</u>. Tampere, Vastapaino.<p> <p> Alasuutari, P. (1995). &quot;Beyond the qualitative-quantitative distinction: crosstabulation in qualitative research.&quot; <u>International Journal of Contemporary Sociology</u> <b>2</b>: 251-268.<p> <p> Alasuutari, P., Ed. (1995). <u>Researching culture. Qualitative method and cultural studies</u>. London, Sage.<p> <p> Almond, G. A. and B. G. J. Powell, Eds. (1978). <u>Comparative politics : system, process, and policy</u>. Boston, Little &amp; Brown.<p> <p> Amenta, E. (1991). Making the most of a case study : theories of the welfare state and the American experience. <u>Issues and alternatives in comparative social research</u>. C. C. Ragin. Leiden, E.J. Brill<b>: </b>172-194.<p> <p> Amenta, E., Ed. (1998). <u>Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern American Social<p> Policy</u>. Princeton, Princeton University Press.<p> <p> Amenta, E. and J. D. Poulsen (1994). &quot;Where to begin: a survey of five approaches to selecting independent variables for Qualitative Comparative Analysis.&quot; <u>Sociological Methods and Research</u> <b>23</b>(1): 22-53.<p> <p> Amenta, E. and J. D. Poulsen (1996). &quot;Social politics in context: the institutional politics theory and social spending at the end of the New Deal.&quot; <u>Social Forces</u> <b>75</b>(1): 33-60.<p> In this article, we develop an institutional politics theory of public social provision and examine U.S. social spending programs at the end of the New Deal. This theory integrates key insights of institutional and political theories of social policy. Drawing on institutional arguments, our theory holds that the willingness or ability of pro-spending actors to promote social spending initiatives depends on institutional conditions, especially the extent of voting rights and the nature of political party systems. Furthermore, drawing on political arguments, the theory posits the importance of pro-spending actors, including progressive factions of political parties and organized challengers. To appraise the institutional politics theory, we analyze state-level outcomes for Old-Age Assistance pensions and Works Progress Administration wages, employing multiple regression and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). All analyses support the institutional politics theory.<p> <p> Amoroso, L. M. and C. C. Ragin (1999). &quot;Individual and institutional employment patterns.&quot; <u>Quarterly Journal of Economic Research</u>(1).<p> <p> Anonymous Qualitative research into comparative management: is qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) a good choice?<p> <p> Anonymous (2003). Two-Level Theories and Fuzzy-Set Logic<b>: </b>50pp.<p> <p> Anonymous (2010). An MCA of QCA.<p> <p> Anonymous (32766). Causal Complexity and FS/QCA: Making Use of Remote and Proximate Causal Conditions<b>: </b>52pages.<p> <p> Apter, D. E. (1996). Comparative politics, old and new. <u>A new handbook of political science</u>. R. E. Goodin and H.-D. Klingemann. Oxford, Oxford University Press<b>: </b>372-400.<p> Good review of the literature<p> <p> Arfi, B. (2004). <u>Complex Causality in Politics: A Linguistic Fuzzy-Logic Approach</u>. APSA 2004 annual meeting, Chicago.<p> <p> Arfi, B. (2005). &quot;Fuzzy Decision Making in Politics: A Linguistic Fuzzy-Set Approach (LFSA).&quot; <u>Political Analysis</u>.<p> <p> Armingeon, K. (2004). &quot;Major Changes Without Regime Shifts: Switzerland and Japan in Comparative Perspective.&quot; <u>Swiss Political Science Review</u> <b>10</b>(3): 5-30.<p> <p> Aus, J. P. (2007). &quot;Conjunctural causation in comparative case-oriented research.&quot; <u>Quality and Quantity</u>: DOI: 10.1007/s11135-11007-19104-11134.<p> This article highlights one of the major benefits of qualitative comparative methodology as applied within a  small-N research design, namely its potential use for specifying the scope conditions of <p> (theoretically competing) causal mechanisms. It is argued that the identification of set-theoretic relationships, multiple paths, and analytic efforts in typological mapping can make valuable contributions to the elaboration and further development of middle-range theory.<p> <p> Aus, J. P. (2009). &quot;Conjunctural Causation in Comparative Case-Oriented Research.&quot; <u>Quality &amp; Quantity</u> <b>43</b>(2): 173-183.<p> This article highlights one of the major benefits of qualitative comparative methodology as applied within a &quot;small-N&quot; research design, namely its potential use for specifying the scope conditions of (theoretically competing) causal mechanisms. It is argued that the identification of set-theoretic relationships, multiple paths, and analytic efforts in typological mapping can make valuable contributions to the elaboration and further development of middle-range theory.<p> <p> Aylott, N. (2001). &quot;Let's discuss this later. Party responses to Euro-division in Scandinavia.&quot; <u>Party Politics</u> <b>8</b>(4): 441-461.<p> The issue of European integration has disrupted party politics in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in various ways. This article assesses the impact of internal division over Europe within certain parties, and these parties' responses to it. It is argued that party leaderships have increasingly attempted to compartmentalize the different arenas in which they operate, and to isolate potentially damaging European questions in quarantined areas. This can be observed in, for example, party leaders' resort to referendums to decide contentious EU-related matters, the suspension of party discipline when such matters are debated and the careful sequencing of different party goals. The experiences of the Scandinavian social democratic parties are examined as comparative cases. Finally, some hypotheses that might inform further research are suggested, and some wider consequences of these strategies of compartmentalization are discussed.<p> <p> Ayrton, R. (2002). =Analyse en termes d'ensembles flous et son application dans l'étude des modes de mise en oeuvre cantonales de la LACI.<p> <p> Badie, B. and G. Hermet, Eds. (2001). <u>=La politique comparée</u>. Paris, Armand Colin.<p> <p> Bale, T., Ed. (2005). <u>Euopean Politics. A Comparative Introduction</u>. New York, Palgrave Macmillan.<p> <p> Baliamoune-Lutz, M. (2004). &quot;On the Measurement of Human Well-being. Fuzzy Set Theory and Sen s Capability Approach.&quot; <u>WIDER</u> <b>16</b>: 1-20.<p> <p> Baliamoune-Lutz, M. (2009). &quot;Fuzzy Well-Being Achievement in Pacific Asia.&quot; <u>SSRN Papers</u>.<p> <p> Balthasar, A. (2004). <u>The Effects of the Institutional Context of the Agency Responsible for Allocating Evaluations on<p> the Utilization of Evaluation Results: Evidenced Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)</u>, Luzern, Switzerland.<p> This paper will present some results of a study in progress. The focus is on the question of the<p> influence of different institutional settings, considering the responsibility for evaluation on the<p> utilization of its results. The basis for the results I present consists of ten case studies from<p> Switzerland. These cases deal with evaluations which have been allocated in different institutional<p> contexts, with very different distances between evaluators and evaluees. To interpret the cases,<p> &quot;Qualitative Comparative Analysis&quot; (QCA) will be used, in order to allow a combination of case- and<p> variable -centred comparisons. The analysis indicates that the <i>instrumental use </i>of evaluation results is<p> largely independent of the distance between the evaluator and the evaluee. On the other hand, greater<p> <i>conceptual use </i>occurs either in the case of evaluations of a summative nature which have been<p> undertaken with a large distance between the evaluator and the evaluee, or in the case of formative<p> evaluations which have been compiled with a small distance between the evaluator and the evaluee.<p> Again, <i>high process-related use </i>is observed if the evaluation is geared to usefulness and if there is a<p> small distance between the evaluator and the eva luee. And the <i>symbolic use of </i>evaluation results may<p> be expected if, in the case of a measure which is not politically controversial, a large distance between<p> the evaluator and the evaluee is combined with a summative purpose for the evaluation.<p> <p> Balthasar, A. (2006). &quot;The Effects of the Institutional Design on the Utilization of Evaluation Evidenced Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).&quot; <u>Evaluation</u> <b>12</b>(3): 353-371.<p> This article presents some of the results from a study in progress, focusing on the influence of the institutional distance between evaluators and evaluees on the utilization of evaluations. The basis for the results presented here is an analysis of ten case studies from Switzerland. These cases involve evaluations that were carried out in different institutional contexts, with widely varying institutional distances between evaluators and evaluees.  Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) has been used to interpret the cases, in order to allow a combination of case-and variable-centred comparisons. The analysis indicates that, under certain conditions, the institutional distance between evaluators and evaluees has no influence on the use of evaluations. In particular, formative objectives can be achieved quite independently of distance. When interpreting the results, however, one should not neglect the fact that they are solely based on a systematic evaluation of ten case studies with QCA. Generalization is not possible on this basis, nor is this the aim of the present article. On the contrary, the objective is to continue developing the debate about the influence of the institutional distance between evaluators and evaluees on the utilization of evaluations.<p> <p> Balthasar, A. (2006). &quot;The Effects of the Institutional Design on the Utilization of Evaluation: Evidenced Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).&quot; <u>The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice</u> <b>12</b>(3): **.<p> This paper aims to present some of the results from a study in progress, focusing on the influence of<p> the distance between evaluators and evaluees on the utilization of evaluations. The basis for the results<p> presented here is an analysis of ten case studies from Switzerland. These cases involve evaluations that<p> were assigned in different institutional contexts, with widely varying distances between evaluators and<p> evaluees. &quot;Qualitative Comparative Analysis&quot; (QCA) has been used to interpret the cases, in order to<p> allow a combination of case- and variable-centred comparisons. The analysis indicates that under<p> certain conditions, the distance between evaluators and evaluees has no influence on the use of<p> evaluations. In particular, formative objectives can be achieved quite independently of the distance.<p> When interpreting the results, however, one should not neglect the fact that they are solely based on a<p> systematic evaluation of ten case studies with QCA. Generalization is not permissible on this basis,<p> nor is this the aim of the present article. On the contrary, the objective is to continue developing the<p> debate about the influence of the distance between evaluators and evaluees on the utilization of<p> evaluations.<p> <p> Balthasar, A. (2009). &quot;Institutional design and utilization of evaluation: a contribution to a theory of evaluation influence based on Swiss experience.&quot; <u>Evaluation Review</u> <b>33</b>(3): 226-256.<p> Growing interest in the institutionalization of evaluation in the public administration raises the question as to which institutional arrangement offers optimal conditions for the utilization of evaluations. Institutional arrangement denotes the formal organization of processes and competencies, together with procedural rules, that are applicable independently of individual evaluation projects. It reflects the evaluation practice of an institution and defines the distance between evaluators and evaluees. This article outlines the results of a broad-based study of all 300 or so evaluations that the Swiss Federal Administration completed from 1999 to 2002. On this basis, it derives a theory of the influence of institutional factors on the utilization of evaluations.<p> <p> Barbier, J.-C. and M.-T. Letablier, Eds. (2005). <u>=Politiques sociales. Enjeux méthodologiques et épistémologiques des comparaisons internationales</u>. Bruxelles, P.I.E-Peter Lang.<p> <p> Bates, D. C. (1997). Tourism and development in the Caribbean: a Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Rutgers University.<p> <p> Bauer, J. M. (2010). &quot;Learning From Each Other: Promises and Pitfalls of Benchmarking in Communications Policy.&quot; <u>Info</u>: 8-20.<p> Purpose - International benchmarking is increasingly used to inform information and communications policy. The paper aims to discuss the conditions under which learning from the experience in other jurisdictions (communities, nations, and super-national regions) is possible. Design/methodology/approach - Research from different disciplines is reviewed and synthesized to provide an integrated conceptual framework that can be used to design more robust international benchmarking approaches. Findings - Drawing lessons from the policy experience in other jurisdictions is more difficult than is commonly perceived. Nonetheless, as long as the conditions for policy learning are met and it is properly done, international comparisons yield valuable data that can be used to improve the design of information and communications policy. Research limitations/implications - In conducting internationally comparative inquiries, researchers need to ascertain that the prerequisites of the methods employed are aligned with the structure of the problems that are investigated. Each method (e.g. qualitative, qualitative comparative analysis, panel data) has strengths and weaknesses and may not be an appropriate tool. Given these concerns, methodological pluralism and regular attempts to triangulate findings with other methods would be desirable. Practical implications - Policymakers should resist the temptation to search for &quot;best practice&quot; approaches elsewhere and to imitate them. Successful policy approaches, while learning from abroad, need to be adapted to, and attuned with, local conditions. Originality/value - The paper provides a timely discussion of the intricacies of benchmarking to improve policy decisions. It cautions against blind-faith reliance on best practice models and encourages policy diversity as a way to facilitate continuous learning.<p> <p> Baumgartner, M. (2009). &quot;Inferring Causal Complexity.&quot; <u>Sociological Methods &amp; Research</u> <b>38</b>(1): 71-101.<p> In The Comparative Method, Ragin (1987) outlined a procedure of Boolean causal reasoning operating on pure coincidence data that has since become widely known as qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) among social scientists. QCA-including its recent forms as presented in Ragin (2000, 2008)-is designed to analyze causal structures featuring no more than one effect and a possibly complex configuration of mutually independent direct causes of that effect. This article presents a procedure of causal reasoning that operates on the same type of empirical data as QCA and that implements Boolean techniques related to the ones resorted to by QCA. Yet in contrast to QCA, the procedure introduced here successfully identifies structures involving both multiple effects and mutually dependent causes. In this sense, this article generalizes QCA.<p> <p> Bazeley, P. (1999). &quot;Computer monitor: The Bricoleur with a computer: piecing together qualitative and quantitative data.&quot; <u>Qualitative Health Research</u> <b>9</b>(2): 279-287.<p> The researcher as bricoleur will gather whatever data is at hand, experimenting and exploring to find answers to the questions he or she has set. With computer in hand and new tools<p> available, the researcher can readily combine data types, moving beyond complementarity and simple triangulation. Data may be transferred in either or both directions between<p> NUD" IST (a program to assist the analysis of qualitative data) and a spreadsheet or statistical package. Thus, analysis and interpretation are enriched, and new ways of thinking about<p> data are laid open. Such techniques inevitably challenge traditional assumptions about particular methods. But perhaps in the final analysis, all methods, other than those employed in<p> reductionist, hypothesis testing experiments, are essentially interpretive.<p> <p> Beach, D. and R. B. Pedersen (2010). Process-tracing metoder. <u>=Metoder i Statskundskab</u>. L. B. Andersen, K. M. Hansen and R. Klemmesen. Copenhagen, Hans Reitzel Forlag.<p> <p> Beach, D. and R. B. Pedersen, Eds. (32766). <u>Process Tracing methods - an introduction</u>. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.<p> <p> Becker, H. S., Ed. (1998). <u>Tricks of the trade: how to think about your research while you're doing it</u>. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.<p> <p> Becker, H. S., Ed. (2002). <u>=Les ficelles du métier. Un guide de recherche en sciences sociales</u>. Paris, La Découverte.<p> <p> Befani, B. (2004). &quot;=La Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) e la valutazione basata sulla teoria: un connubio possibile.&quot; <u>Rassegna Italiana di Valutazione</u> <b>2</b>.<p> <p> Bell, E. (2007). &quot;Healthy Aging - Can Clinical Trials Deliver?&quot; <u>Healthy Aging and Longevity</u> <b>1114</b>: 137-143.<p> The potential of a transdisciplinary research method - Quali-Quantitative Analysis (QQA) - for delivering better evidence for healthy aging is explored. Illustrative reviews from the literature on healthy aging are summarized, as are papers on methodology by Charles Ragin and colleagues. The evidence needs for healthy aging are explored, particularly in relation to the ability of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to deliver rich, diversity-oriented evidence. The techniques of QQA., which involves treating cases as configurations, are described. The QQA method has potential value for healthy aging research in that: (a) it could provide evidence in combinatorial forms useful to holistic practice; (b) it could enrich the evidence for practice by providing more rigorous information from small-N groups, within RCTs and where RCTs cannot be used; and (c) it could add to the ability of RCTs to generate theoretical advances.<p> <p> Bell, E. (2008). &quot;Healthy Aging. Can Clinical Trials Deliver?&quot; <u>Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences</u> <b>1114</b>: 137-143.<p> <p> Bennett, A. (1999). <u>Causal inference in case studies: from Mill's methods to causal mechanisms</u>. American Political Science Association Conference, Atlanta.<p> <p> Bennett, A. (2001). Qualitative research methods (course syllabus, Georgetown University).<p> The central goal of the seminar is to enable students to create and critique methodologically sophisticated case study research designs in the social sciences. To do so, the seminar will explore the techniques, uses, strengths, and limitations of case study methods, while emphasizing the relationships among these methods, alternative methods, and contemporary debates in the philosophy of science. The research examples used to illustrate methodological issues will be drawn from international relations, comparative politics, and American politics. However, the methodological content of the course is also applicable to the study of history, sociology, and economics.<p> <p> Bennett, A. (2004). Case Study Methods: Design, Use, and Comparative Advantages. <u>Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations</u>. D. F. Sprinz and Y. Nahmias-Wolinsky. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press<b>: </b>19-55.<p> <p> Bennett, A. and C. Elman (2007). &quot;Case Study Methods in the International Relations Subfield.&quot; <u>Comparative Political Studies</u> <b>40</b>(2): 170-195.<p> This article reviews the key role that case study methods have played in the study of international relations (IR) in the United States. Case studies in the IR subfield are not the unconnected, atheoretical, and idiographic studies that their critics decry. IR case studies follow an increasingly standardized and rigorous set of prescriptions and have, together with statistical and formal work, contributed to cumulatively improving understandings of world politics. The article discusses and reviews examples of case selection criteria (including least likely, least and most similar, and deviant cases); conceptual innovation; typological theories, explanatory typologies, qualitative comparative analysis, and fuzzy-set analysis; process tracing; and the integration of multiple methods.<p> <p> Bennett, A. and A. L. George (1998). &quot;An alliance of statistical and case study methods : research on the interdemocratic peace.&quot; <u>APSA-CP. Newsletter of the APSA Organized Section in Comparative Politics</u> <b>9</b>(1): 5-.<p> <p> Bergès, M. (1994). &quot;=Les conflits paradigmatiques de la comparaison.&quot; <u>=Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée</u> <b>1</b>(1): 101-132.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (1997). =Makro-qualitative vergleichende Methoden. <u>=Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft.</u> D. Berg-Schlosser and F. Müller-Rommel. Opladen, Leske &amp; Budrich<b>: </b>67-88.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (1998). &quot;Conditions of authoritarianism, fascism and democracy in inter-war Europe. a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis.&quot; <u>International Journal of Comparative Sociology</u> <b>39</b>(4): 335-377.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (2000). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. <u>Conditions of democracy in Europe, 1919-39: systematic case studies</u>. D. Berg-Schlosser and J. Mitchell. Basingstoke, New York, Macmillan<b>: </b>285-315.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (2001). Comparative studies - method and design. <u>International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences</u>. N. J. Smelser and P. B. Baltes. Pergamon, Oxford<b>: </b>2427-2433.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (2002). <u>Macro-quantitative vs macro-qualitative methods in the social sciences - testing empirical theories of democracy</u>. =Colloque de la Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée &quot;Faire de la politique comparée au 21eme siecle&quot; Atelier 2:outils méthodologiques, Bordeaux, France.<p> There are some few attempts to bridge the divide between quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences. This paper explicitely illustrates and tests some of these methods like regression, cluster, or discriminant analysis, on the one hand, and more recent case- and diversity-oriented methods like QCA, Fuzzy Sets and similar ones, on the other. This is done by using examples and data for different empirical theories of democracy such as those by Lipset, Vanhanen, or Moore/Stephens. In this way, the specific strenghts and weaknesses of the respective methods and theories are demonstrated.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (2002). &quot;Macro-quantitative vs. macro-qualitative methods in the social sciences. Testing empirical theories of democracy.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(2): 36p.<p> There are some new attempts to bridge the divide between quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences. My paper explicitely illustrates and tests some of these methods like regression, cluster, or discriminant analysis, on the one hand, and more recent case- and diversity-oriented methods like QCA, Fuzzy Sets and similar ones, on the other. This is done by using examples and data for different empirical theories of democracy such as those by Lipset, Vanhanen, or Moore/Stephens. In this way, the specific strengths and weakenesses of the respective methods and theories are demonstrated.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (2004). =Evaluation critique des indicateurs de la démocratisation et de la bonne gouvernance. <u>=Penser la politique comparée. Un état des savoirs théoriques et méthodologiques.</u> C. Thiriot, M. Marty and E. Nadal. Paris, Editions Karthala<b>: </b>249-278.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. (2004). &quot;Review of: &quot;L'analyse Quali-Quantitative Comparée (AQQC-QCA)&quot; (G. De Meur &amp; B. Rihoux, Louvain-la-Neuve: Academia Bruylant, 2002. 175 pp.).&quot; <u>European Sociological Review</u> <b>20</b>(2): 162-165.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and G. De Meur (1992). &quot;Conditions of democracy in inter-war europe. A boolean test of major hypotheses.&quot; <u>=Discussion Paper. Centre d'Economie Mathématique et d'Econométrie. Université Libre de Bruxelles</u>.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and G. De Meur (1994). &quot;Conditions of democracy in interwar Europe: a Boolean test of major hypotheses.&quot; <u>Comparative Politics</u> <b>26</b>(3): 253-279.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and G. De Meur (1997). &quot;Reduction of complexity for a small-n analysis: a stepwise multi-methodological approach.&quot; <u>Comparative Social Research</u> <b>16</b>: 133-162.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and G. De Meur (2000). Reduction of complexity. <u>Crisis, compromise, collapse. Vol. 2 : Authoritarianism and democracy in Europe, 1919-1939</u>. D. Berg-Schlosser and G. De Meur. London, MacMillan.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and G. De Meur (2009). Comparative research design : case and variable selection. <u>Configurational comparative methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and related techniques</u>. B. Rihoux and C. C. Ragin. Thousand Oaks and London, Sage<b>: </b>19-32.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D., G. De Meur, et al. (2009). Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as an approach. <u>Configurational comparative methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and related techniques</u>. B. Rihoux and C. C. Ragin. Thousand Oaks and London, Sage<b>: </b>1-18.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and J. Mitchell, Eds. (2000). <u>Conditions of democracy in Europe, 1919-39: systematic case studies</u>. Basingstoke, New York, Macmillan Press, St Martin's Press.<p> = seulement case studies; voir autre volume<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and F. Müller-Rommel, Eds. (1997). <u>=Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft.</u> Opladen, Leske &amp; Budrich.<p> <p> Berg-Schlosser, D. and S. Quenter (1996). &quot;Macro-quantitative versus macro-qualitative methods in political science. Advantages and disadvantages of comparative procedures using the welfare-state theory as an example.&quot; <u>Historical Social Research</u> <b>21</b>(1): 3-25.<p> <p> Bernard, H. R. and G. Ryan (1998). Qualitative and quantitative methods of text analysis. <u>Hand-book of method in cultural anthropology</u>. H. R. Bernard. Walnut Creek, CA, Alta Mira Books<b>: </b>??<p> <p> Bernard, H. R. and G. Ryan (1998). Text analysis: qualitative and quantitative Methods. <u>Handbook of Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology</u>. H. R. Bernard. ??, Sage<b>: </b>595-641.<p> <p> Bernhard, M. (2001). Seminar : comparative methods (course syllabus).<p> <p> Beynon, M. J. (2008). Qualitative Comparative Analysis. <u>Encyclopedia of Decision Making and Decision Support Technologies</u>. F. Adam and P. Humphreys<b>: </b>751-756.<p> This article concerns itself with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), introduced in Ragin (1987), it is a technique that attempts to identify the causal relationship between variables and some outcome. QCA is employed in comparative case-oriented research, for studying a small-to-moderate number of cases in which a specific outcome has occurred, compared with those where it has not. Unlike conventional statistical analysis, however, QCA does not ask about the independent effect of a variable on the likelihood of an outcome. Rather, it considers configurations of values on the independent variables as cases (Ragin, 1987; Kitchener, Beynon, &amp; Harrington, 2002). The central goal of QCA is to mimic some of the basic analytic procedures that comparative researchers use routinely when making sense of their cases. The key difference between QCA and traditional case-oriented methods is that with QCA it is possible to extend these basic analytic procedures to the examination of more than a handful of cases (Ragin &amp; Rihoux, 2004).<p> <p> Biggert, R. (1997). &quot;Why Labor Wins, Why Labor Loses: a Test of Two Theories.&quot; <u>Sociological Quarterly</u> <b>38</b>(1): 205-224.<p> Legal regulation of the labor contract is central to American policy formation. This study analyzes the reasons for the passage of federal labor laws that governed workplace activity in the United States from 1897 to 1980. The dependent variable includes all major federal statutes that are favorable or detrimental to labor. Two theories are considered: a mass disruption approach and a party control perspective. Qualitative comparative analysis is used to assess the utility of both theories. For the pro-labor laws, the findings show partial support for both models. The theories are better at explaining reform prior to rather than after World War II. An explanation is presented for this temporal break. For the antilabor laws, the results are inconclusive due to the small sample size. An alternative account is offered that focuses on policy making under divided government. This research suggests analyzing the interaction of economic, class, and political variables and using larger sample research designs as guidelines for future investigation.<p> <p> Blatter, J. and T. Blume (2008). &quot;In Search of Co-variance, Causal Mechanisms or Congruence? Towards a Plural Understanding of Case Studies.&quot; <u>Swiss Political Science Review</u> <b>14</b>(2): 315-356.<p> <p> Blondel, J., Ed. (1972). <u>Comparing political systems</u>. New York, Praeger.<p> <p> Blondel, J. (1994). &quot;=Plaidoyer pour une conception oeucuménique de l'analyse comparée.&quot; <u>=Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée</u> <b>1</b>(1): 5-18.<p> <p> Bollen, K. A., B. Entwisle, et al. (1993). &quot;Macrocomparative research methods.&quot; <u>Annual Review of Sociology</u> <b>19</b>: 321-351.<p> <p> Boniface, D. S. (2010). <u>Rethinking Presidential Challenges and Falls: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis</u>. APSA 2010 Conference.<p> Charles Ragin and proponents of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) make strong claims about the strengths of QCA when contrasted with conventional variable-oriented research. Most importantly, Ragin argues that QCA is better capable (and perhaps uniquely capable) of assessing causal complexity,  defined as a situation in which an outcome may follow from several different combinations of causal conditions (Ragin 2008a: 23). It is also claimed that QCA can bring to light heterogeneity in a population of cases that is obscured by conventional statistical techniques. My essay seeks to evaluate these methodological claims by contrasting qualitative and quantitative approaches as applied to a critical substantive issue in South American politics, namely presidential falls - i.e., the premature departure from office of elected presidents. This is accomplished by re-analyzing the data from Kathryn Hochstetler s (2006) important contribution on the subject which draws some of its key inferences from quantitative regression. The application of QCA to Hochstetler s data also yields new substantive insights into presidential challenges and falls that further bring into focus the distinctive strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative approaches.<p> <p> Boswell, T. and C. Brown (1999). &quot;The scope of general theory. Methods for linking deductive and inductive comparative history.&quot; <u>Sociological Methods and Research</u> <b>28</b>(2): 154-185.<p> <p> Bowman, K., F. Lehoucq, et al. (2005). &quot;Measuring Political Democracy. Case Expertise, Data Adequacy, and Central America.&quot; <u>Comparative Political Studies</u> <b>38</b>(8): 939-970.<p> Recent writings concerning measurement of political democracy offer sophisticated discussions of problems of conceptualization, operationalization, and aggregation. Yet they have less to say about the error that derives from the use of inaccurate, partial, or misleading data sources. Drawing on evidence from five Central American countries, the authors show this data-induced measurement error compromises the validity of the principal, long-term cross-national scales of democracy. They call for an approach to index construction that relies on case expertise and use of a wide range of data sources, and they employ this approach in developing an index of political democracy for the Central American countries during the 20th century. The authors index draws on a comprehensive set of secondary and primary sources as it rigorously pursues standards of conceptualization, operationalization, and aggregation. The index s value is illustrated by showing how it suggests new lines of research in the field of Central American politics.<p> <p> Box-Steffenmeier, J. M. and B. S. Jones (1997). &quot;Time is of the essence: event history models in political science.&quot; <u>American Journal of Political Science</u> <b>4</b>(41): 1414-1461.<p> <p> Box-Steffensmeier, J. M. and B. S. Jones, Eds. (2004). <u>Event history modelling. A guide for social scientists</u>. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.<p> <p> Boy, D. and B. Rihoux (2001). &quot;=Les partis écologistes en France et en Europe.&quot; <u>Notes et Études du CEVIPOF</u> <b>8</b>.<p> <p> Brady, H. E. (2004). Data-set observations versus causal-process observations: the 2000 U.S. presidential election. <u>Rethinking social inquiry: diverse tools, shared standards</u>. H. E. Brady and D. Collier. Lanham, MD, Rowman &amp; Littlefield Publishers, Inc<b>: </b>267-314.<p> <p> Breiger, R. L. (2009). On the duality of cases and variables: correspondence analysis (CA) and Qualitative Comparative analysis (QCA). <u>The SAGE handbook of case-based methods</u>. D. Byrne and C. Ragin. England, Sage<b>: </b>243-260.<p> <p> Britt, D. W., Ed. (1997). <u>A Conceptual Introduction to Modeling: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives</u>. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.<p> <p> Britt, D. W. (1998). <u>Analyzing context-dependent policy with Qualitative Comparative Analysis</u>. Midwest Sociological Society Meeting, panel on &quot;Multi-method approaches to policy analysis&quot;, Kansas City.<p> <p> Brown, C. and T. Boswell (1995). &quot;Strikebreaking or solidarity in the Great Steel Strike of 1919: a split labor market, game-theoretic, and QCA analysis.&quot; <u>American Journal of Sociology</u> <b>100</b>(6): 1479-1519.<p> <p> Budge, I. (1992). &quot;Postwar issues in 23 democracies.&quot; <u>ICPS Working Papers</u>(44): 69.<p> <p> Bursens, P. (1999). =Bijlage 5: Uitwerking van de QCA analyse. <u>=Impact van instituties op beleidsvorming. Een institutionneel perspectief op besluitvorming in de communautaire pijler van de Europese Unie <b>[PhD dissertation, unpublished]</b></u>. P. Bursens. Antwerpen, Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen<b>: </b>409-419.<p> <p> Bursens, P. (1999). =Impact van instituties op beleidsvorming. Een institutionneel perspectief op besluitvorming in de communautaire pijler van de Europese Unie. Antwerpen, Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen.<p> <p> Byrne, D. (2005). &quot;Complexity, Configurations and Cases.&quot; <u>Theory Culture &amp; Society</u> <b>22</b>(5): 95-+.<p> How can we make complexity work as part of a programme of engaged social science? This article attempts to answer that question by arguing that one way to do this is through a reconstruction of a central tool of a distinctively social science - the comparative method - understood as a procedure for elucidating the complex and multiple systems of causation that generate particular trajectories towards a desired future from the multiple sets of available futures. The article distinguishes between 'simplistic complexity' and 'complex complexity'. 'Simplistic complexity' seeks to explain emergence in complex systems as the product of simple rules and defines complex science as the process of establishing such rules. It can and does serve as the basis of technocratic social engineering in the interest of the powerful. In contrast 'complex complexity' recognizes the significance of social structure and willed social agency and does not reduce emergence to the mere working out of a restricted set of rules. Research programmes informed by this second approach must necessarily engage with social actors in context - they must be dialogical. This opens up the possibility of 'complex complexity' as a frame of reference for action-research directed towards the transformation of complex social systems. Comparative methods, and in particular Ragin's qualitative comparative analysis approach, when deployed as part of such a programme, can provide meaningful information about the range of possible futures and the different configurations of causes which might generate particular desired social outcomes.<p> <p> Byrne, D. (2009). Complex realist and configurational approaches to cases:a radical synthesis. <u>The SAGE handbook of case-based methods</u>. D. Byrne and C. Ragin. England, Sage<b>: </b>101-112.<p> <p> Byrne, D. (2009). Using cluster analysis, qualitative comparative analysis and NVivo in relation to the establishment of causal configurations with Pre-existing Large-N datasets: machining hermeneutics. <u>The SAGE handbook of case-based methods</u>. D. Byrne and C. Ragin. England, Sage<b>: </b>260-268.<p> <p> Byrne, D. and W. Olsen (2004). Focusing on the Case in Quantitative and Qualitative Research<b>: </b>11 pp.<p> <p> Byrne, D., W. Olsen, et al. (2009). Causality and interpretation in qualitative policy related research. <u>SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods</u>. D. Byrne and C. C. Ragin. London &amp; New-York, Sage<b>: </b>511-521.<p> <p> C., R. C. and J. Sonnett (2004). &quot;Between complexity and parsimony: limited diversity, counterfactual cases, and comparative analysis.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(23): 25p.<p> Counterfactual analysis has a long and distinguished history in comparative research. To some, counterfactual analysis is central to comparative inquiry because such research typically embraces only a handful of empirical cases (Fearon 1991). If there are only a few instances (e.g., of revolution), then researchers, of necessity, must compare empirical cases to hypothetical cases. The affinity between counterfactual analysis and comparative research, however, derives not from its focus on small Ns, but from its configurational nature. Case-oriented explanations of outcomes are often combinatorial in nature, stressing specific configurations of causal conditions. Rather than focus on the net effects of causal conditions, case-oriented explanations emphasize their combined effects. <br> To support an argument emphasizing combinations of causal conditions, it is necessary for researchers to compare cases that are closely matched with each other. The ideal comparison is between pairs of cases that differ on only one causal condition (Mill 1843). Such comparisons help researchers establish whether or not a specific causal condition is a integral part of the combination of conditions that generates the outcome in question. It is very difficult to match empirical cases in this manner, however, due to the limited diversity of empirical social phenomena. <br> In this paper, we discuss the impact of limited diversity on comparative case-oriented research. We show how limited diversity is conceived in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA; see Ragin 1987, 2000), and link QCA strategies for addressing limited diversity to counterfactual analysis. We distinguish two kinds of counterfactual cases, &quot;difficult&quot; and &quot;easy,&quot; and demonstrate procedures for incorporating &quot;simplifying assumptions&quot; into QCA based on the analysis of &quot;easy&quot; counterfactual cases. We illustrate these methods with comparative data on international fishing regimes collected by Olav Schram Stokke (2004).<p> <p> C., R. C. and J. Sonnett (2004). Between complexity and parsimony: limited diversity, counterfactual cases, and comparative analysis. <u>=Vergleichen in der Politikwissenschaft</u>. S. Kropp and M. Minkenberg. Wiesbaden, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.<p> Counterfactual analysis has a long and distinguished history in comparative research. To some, counterfactual analysis is central to comparative inquiry because such research typically embraces only a handful of empirical cases (Fearon 1991). If there are only a few instances (e.g., of revolution), then researchers, of necessity, must compare empirical cases to hypothetical cases. The affinity between counterfactual analysis and comparative research, however, derives not from its focus on small Ns, but from its configurational nature. Case-oriented explanations of outcomes are often combinatorial in nature, stressing specific configurations of causal conditions. Rather than focus on the net effects of causal conditions, case-oriented explanations emphasize their combined effects. <br> To support an argument emphasizing combinations of causal conditions, it is necessary for researchers to compare cases that are closely matched with each other. The ideal comparison is between pairs of cases that differ on only one causal condition (Mill 1843). Such comparisons help researchers establish whether or not a specific causal condition is a integral part of the combination of conditions that generates the outcome in question. It is very difficult to match empirical cases in this manner, however, due to the limited diversity of empirical social phenomena. <br> In this paper, we discuss the impact of limited diversity on comparative case-oriented research. We show how limited diversity is conceived in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA; see Ragin 1987, 2000), and link QCA strategies for addressing limited diversity to counterfactual analysis. We distinguish two kinds of counterfactual cases, &quot;difficult&quot; and &quot;easy,&quot; and demonstrate procedures for incorporating &quot;simplifying assumptions&quot; into QCA based on the analysis of &quot;easy&quot; counterfactual cases. We illustrate these methods with comparative data on international fishing regimes collected by Olav Schram Stokke (2004).<p> <p> Cambré, B. (2002). =De relatie tussen religiositeit en etnocentrisme. Een contextuele benadering met cross-culturele data. Leuven, KUL.<p> <p> Caramani, D., Ed. (2008). <u>Introduction to comparative method with Boolean algebra</u>. Thousand Oaks, Sage.<p> <p> Caren, N. and A. Panofsky (2005). &quot;TQCA. A technique for adding temporality to Qualitative Comparative Analysis.&quot; <u>Sociological Methods &amp; Research</u> <b>34</b>(2): 147-172.<p> <p> Carroll, E. (2003). &quot;The clear and present danger of 'Globaloney' industry. Globalization concepts in welfare research and social opinion pieces since 1995.&quot; <u>Global Social Policy</u> <b>3</b>(2): 195-211.<p> To what extent is globalization given an institutionally elaborated definition in studies on its welfare, welfare state and/or<p> social policy impacts published since 1995? And, is it seen to inhibit or stimulate welfare (state) development? These questions are addressed<p> through a study sample (<i>N </i>= 161) from the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, subjected to combinatory analysis similar to<p> qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) using a pre-typological classification of definition components. Disaggregated definitions<p> oriented to relations and actors (most often trade and/or competition as well as international organizations) coincide with polarized welfare<p> (state) impacts, envisioned or real, of globalization. Positive overall globalization impacts are rare in this literature. Mixed or zero impacts<p> claims are more common in studies including an arena-related component (often global market integration) in defining globalization,<p> possibly indicating less determinism in views thereof, but also conventionalism in perspectives on markets. Future research needs<p> more methodological rigour and scepticism of overgeneralized assertions on globalization s impacts.<p> <p> Casas-Zamora, K., Ed. <u>Paying for democracy</u>, ECPR Monographs.<p> <p> Cat, J. (2006). &quot;Fuzzy empiricism and Fuzzy-Set causality: what is all the fuzz about.&quot; <u>Philosophy of Science</u> <b>73</b>: 26-41.<p> <p> Cautres, B. (2002). <u>=Analyse cross-nationale des données d'enquetes. Quelques vieux problèmes récurrents</u>. =Colloque de la Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée Faire de la politique comparée au 21ème siècle, IEP Bordeaux, France.<p> = L'analyse comparative des attitudes et comportements politiques a connu au cours des trois dernières décennies d'importants développements. Un certain nombre de programmes internationaux ou européens de collectes d'enquetes par sondages ont vu au cours de cette période (les enquetes sur les Valeurs des européens, l'Intenational Social Survey Programme). L'un des objectifs importants de cette contribution sera de porter un regard, parfois critique, sur les apports et les limites de ces enquetes à l'analyse politique comparative. Il serait notamment intéressant de procéder à une évaluation de ces programmes d'enquetes et des résultats des travaux qui en sont issus à l'aune des bilans que les auteurs des années 60 et 70 tiraient eux-memes.<p> Par bien des aspects en effet, il semble qu'il faille, malgré les importants progrès réalisés dans l'organisation internationale de la recherche et l'apparition de dispositifs opérationnels de collecte de données, revenir sur un certain nombre de vieux problèmes parfois en voie de résolution, parfois non...<p> L'objectif de cette communication est de proposer un balisage de ces vieux problèmes et des solutions offertes par l'analyse des données elles-memes.<p> <p> Chanson, G., B. Demil, et al. (2005). &quot;=La place de l analyse qualitative comparée en sciences de gestion.&quot; <u>=Finance Contrôle Stratégie</u> <b>3</b>(8): 29-50.<p> [FRENCH] La méthode QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) développée par Ragin (1987) innove quant à son positionnement vis-à-vis des méthodologies traditionnelles qualitatives et quantitatives. Elle se diffuse actuellement dans différentes sciences sociales bien que son audience en gestion reste encore faible. Nous cherchons dans cet article à identifier le positionnement potentiel de cette méthode en gestion. Pour ce faire, nous replaçons la QCA dans une analyse plus large des méthodes de recherche à partir d'une étude quantitative des publications de trois revues internationales en management. Nous concluons à l'existence d'une niche pour la QCA, tout en présentant ses conditions d application dans notre champ. <p> [ENGLISH] The Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) proposed by Ragin (1987) innovates with respect to traditional qualitative and quantitative methods. By now, QCA is diffusing in several social sciences although its audience in management research remains confidential. In this article, we aim to identify the potential positioning of this method in the field of management. Consequently, we lead a quantitative analysis of methods mobilized in articles published in three leading journals. The results suggest that a niche is available for QCA. However, we stress the conditions of an adequate and cautious implementation of this method in management research.<p> <p> Charfi, M. (2010). =Les facteurs de développement démocratique dans le monde arabe: analyse comparative configurationnelle. Genève, Université de Genève.<p> This thesis uses a configurational comparative approach, to test the impact of different structural conditions on political regimes in 15 Arab countries. Two methods relatively new in democratisation studies on the region are applied: simple qualitative comparative analysis (crisp-set) and fuzzy sets. After a theoretical discussion, six factors are included in the analysis: economic crises, institutional structure, natural resources, monarchy, and basic socio-economic indicators (GDP and Education). The two methods employed emphasize the heterogeneity of causal explanations but the results of the fuzzy sets analysis are more accurate in terms of consistency and coverage. The final analysis reveals two major pathways leading to the &quot;democratic opening / absolute authoritarianism&quot; in Arab countries. Thus, countries characterised by enduring economic crises, fewer natural resources and low institutional capabilities are more likely to adopt liberal reforms. In contrast, countries with strong traditional tribal legitimacy, the corporate institutions and oil resources damping crisis effects, are more likely to persist in authoritarianism. This specific multi-causal explanation provides an original contribution to our understanding of the Arab regimes.<p> <p> Chiappero-Martinetti, E. (2006). Capability approach and fuzzy set theory: description, aggregation and inference issues. <u>Fuzzy Set Approach to Multidimensional Poverty Measurement</u>. A. Lemmi and G. Betti, Springer.<p> <p> Chiappero-Martinetti, E. (2008). Complexity and vagueness in the capability approach: strenght or weekness? <u>The capability approach. Concepts, measures and applications</u>. F. Comim, M. Qizilbash and S. Alkire. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press<b>: </b>268-309.<p> <p> Chilcote, R. H., Ed. (1994). <u>Theories of comparative politics. The search for a paradigm reconsidered</u>. Boulder, Westview Press.<p> <p> Clément, C. (2001). A QCA Analysis of State Collapse.<p> <p> Clifford, E. and B. Gran (2000). <u>Immigrant flows: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of economic, demographic and political influences</u>. American Sociological Association (ASA) Meeting, Panel on &quot;Comparative Studies of International Migration in the World System&quot;, ??<p> <p> Cobb, R., J.-K. Ross, et al. (1976). &quot;Agenda building as a comparative political process.&quot; <u>American Political Science Review</u> <b>70</b>(1): 126-138.<p> <p> Colino, C. (2000). =Método comparativo. <u>=Diccionario crítico de ciencias sociales. Terminología científico-social - aproximación crítica</u>. R. Reyes. Madrid, =Universidad Complutense de Madrid<b>: </b>??<p> <p> Collier, D. (1993). The comparative method. <u>Political science : the state of the discipline (II)</u>. A. W. Finifter. Washington, American Political Science Association<b>: </b>105-119.<p> <p> Collier, D. (1998). &quot;Letter from the President. Comparative method in the 1990s.&quot; <u>APSA-CP. Newsletter of the APSA Organized Section in Comparative Politics</u> <b>9</b>(1): 1-4.<p> <p> Collier, D., H. E. Brady, et al. (2003). Refocusing the Discussion of Methodology. <u>Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards</u>. D. Collier and H. E. Brady. Boulder, CO and Berkeley, Roman &amp; Littlefield and Berkeley Public Policy Press.<p> <p> Collier, D., H. E. Brady, et al. (2004). Sources of leverage in causal inference: toward an alternative view of methodology. <u>Rethinking social inquiry: diverse tools, shared standards</u>. H. E. Brady and D. Collier. Lanham, MD, Rowman &amp; Littlefield Publishers, Inc<b>: </b>229-266.<p> <p> Collier, D. and J. E. J. Mahon (1993). &quot;Conceptual &quot;Stretching&quot; Revisited: Adapting Categories in Comparative Analysis.&quot; <u>American Political Science Review</u> <b>87</b>(4): 845-855.<p> <p> Collier, D. and J. Mahoney (1996). &quot;Insights and pitfalls - Selection bias in qualitative research.&quot; <u>World Politics</u> <b>49</b>(1): 56-.<p> <p> Collier, D. and J. E. Mahoney (1993). &quot;Conceptual &quot;Stretching&quot; revisited: adpating categories in comparative analysis.&quot; <u>Amercian Political Science Review</u> <b>87</b>(4): 845-855.<p> <p> Colomer, J., Ed. (2001). <i><u>Political Institutions. Democracy and Social Choice</i></u>. San Francisco, Freeman.<p> <p> Cooper, B. (2004). Using crisp and fuzzy set QCA to explore the meritocacy in Britain&quot; debate: some initial analyses. <u>The Tensions in Social Stattistics Conference</u>.<p> <p> Corman, F. (1997). =Le militantisme &quot;vert&quot;: étude comparative des membres de Greenpeace et Ecolo. Mémoire de fin d'études présenté en vue de l'obtention du grade de Licencié en Sciences Politiques, orientation Relations Internationales, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Politiques et Sociales.<p> <p> Couturier, B. (1999). =Comparaison de la qualité démocratique du Mouvement Ecolo, du Parti Réformateur Libéral, du Parti Socialiste et du Parti Social Chrétien. Statuts, programmes et actions politiques. Mémoire présenté en vue de l'obtention du titre de licencié en Science Politique, orientation Affaires Sociales, Université catholique de Louvain, Facultés des sciences politiques, économiques et sociales.<p> <p> Coverdill, J. E., W. Finlay, et al. (1994). &quot;Labor management in the Southern textile industry : comparing qualitative, quantitative, and qualitative comparative analyses.&quot; <u>Sociological Methods and Research</u> <b>23</b>(1): 54-85.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2003). <u>Extending the QCA approach with Multi-Value Scales</u>. 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section &quot;Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications&quot;, Panel &quot;Assessing the respective potential of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Fuzzy Sets and other techniques : applications&quot;, Marburg, Germany.<p> QCA is increasingly receiving attention by social science researchers, but as the number of publications using the method rises, the main limitations of QCA, the necessity to use dichotomized variables and the deterministic algorithms of the QCA software, are being exposed. In my paper I want to present an extension of QCA with Multi-Value sets, allowing the researcher to use more finely graded scales with QCA instead of only using dichotomous sets. <p> An introduction to MVQCA (Multi-Value QCA) is given, mainly the origin of MVQCA and the difference to QCA will be explained. The method will be demonstrated by comparing strictly dichotomous data set calculations with a multi value data set minimization. Then the range of data sets which are possible to deal with in QCA, MVQCA and FS/QCA will be discussed, including the possibility to abandon the deterministic nature of Boolean minimization by giving special attention to configurations almost only representing cases with identical outcomes, which could extend the use of (MV)QCA to more-than-small size Ns. Also some of the shortages of the Fuzzy Set approach will be mentioned (problematic probabilistic calculations, mixing fuzzy and non fuzzy variables).<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2003). &quot;Presentation of TOSMANA: adding Multi-Value variables and visual aids to QCA.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(14): 17p.<p> In this presentation the TOSMANA (Tool for Small-N Analysis) software is described. TOSMANA is a tool for case-based comparative analysis, implementing existing techniques as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as well as new approaches for macro-qualitative comparative analysis. The different parts of TOSMANA are explained and some ideas on further development are introduced.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2003<p> 2004). <u>Presentation of TOSMANA: adding multi-value variables and visual aids to QCA</u>. COMPASSS Launching Conference, Louvain-la-Neuve and Leuven, Belgium.<p> In this presentation the TOSMANA (Tool for Small-N Analysis) software is described. TOSMANA is a tool for case-based comparative analysis, implementing existing techniques as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as well as new approaches for macro-qualitative comparative analysis. The different parts of TOSMANA are explained and some ideas on further development are introduced.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2004). &quot;Presentation of TOSMANA: adding multi-value variables and visual aids to QCA.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(20): 17p.<p> In this presentation the TOSMANA (Tool for Small-N Analysis) software is described. TOSMANA is a tool for case-based comparative analysis, implementing existing techniques as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as well as new approaches for macro-qualitative comparative analysis. The different parts of TOSMANA are explained and some ideas on further development are introduced.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2005). &quot;Introduction to Multi-Value Qualitative Comparative Analysis (MVQCA).&quot; <u>COMPASSS Didactics Paper</u>(4).<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2005<p> 1903). Introduction to Multi-Value Qualitative Comparative Analysis (MVQCA), ?<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2006). &quot;Using multi-valued outcomes with MVQCA.&quot; <u>TOSMANA technical note</u>(2).<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2007). =Konfigurationelle Analyse mit Multi-Value QCA als Methode der Vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft mit einem Fallbeispiel aus der Vergleichenden Parteienforschung (Erfolg Grüner Parteien in den achtziger Jahren), University of Marburg.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2007). Tosmana user manual, version 1.3.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2007). Tosmana. Tools for small-N analysis. Version 1.3.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. (2011). Qualitative Comparative Analysis. <u>IPSA Encyclopedia of political science. Methodology volume</u>. N. Beck. Thousand Oaks, London and New Delhi, Sage.<p> <p> Cronqvist, L. and D. Berg-Schlosser (2009). Multi-value QCA (MVQCA). <u>Configurational comparative methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and related techniques</u>. B. Rihoux and C. C. Ragin. Thousand Oaks and London, Sage.<p> <p> Crotty, W. J. (1970). &quot;A perspective for the comparative analysis of political parties.&quot; <u>Comparative Politics</u> <b>3</b>(3): 267-296.<p> <p> Curchod, C. (2001). =Faits et idées en management stratégique.<p> <p> Curchod, C. (2002). &quot;Diversity-oriented research. Between complexity and generality.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(4): 11p.<p> <b>Warning </b><br> This paper is NOT a working paper. This is a few notes I took while reading Charles Ragin's book on Fuzzy-Set (Ragin [2000]. &quot;Fuzzy-Set Social Science&quot;, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press). I also selected a few quotations from the book, which seem useful to me. They appear in the text with a left borderline. Please do not quote this document, and check the original book before reusing quotations. <br> <b>Avertissement </b><br> Ce papier N'EST PAS un working paper. Il s'agit de quelques notes prises pendant la lecture de l'ouvrage de Charles Ragin concernant les ensembles flous (Ragin [2000]. &quot;Fuzzy-Set Social Science&quot;, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press). J'ai également sélectionné dans l'ouvrage quelques citations qui me semblaient utiles. Elles apparaissent dans le texte qui suit avec une bordure à gauche. Ne pas citer ce document, et vérifier l'ouvrage original avant de réutiliser les citations.<p> <p> Curchod, C. (2002). &quot;=La méthode comparative en sciences de gestion : vers une approche quasi-expérimentale de la réalité managériale.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(3): 26p.<p> Cet article présente une méthode de recherche quasi-expérimentale: la méthode comparative quali-quantitative. Cette méthode permet de rendre compte de la complexité des phénomènes de gestion, comme les études de cas qualitatives, tout en offrant une technique de traitement de données fondée sur l'algèbre booléenne, qui rend possible, comme les méthodes statistiques, la généralisation des résultats au-delà des cas observés. Elle pousse à réconcilier les deux types d'approches dominantes en sciences de gestion, qualitatives et quantitatives, trop souvent en rupture, et encourage le chercheur à maintenir un dialogue constant entre les cas réels compris en profondeur et les idées issues de théories existantes. Nous discutons des opportunités nombreuses qu'offre la méthode comparative en science de gestion pour mieux comprendre les phénomènes de management, sans pour autant la placer au-dessus des autres méthodes ni la considérer comme révolutionnaire.<p> <p> Curchod, C. (2003). &quot;=La méthode comparative en sciences de gestion: vers une approche quasi-expérimentale de la réalité managériale.&quot; <u>Finance Contrôle Stratégie</u> <b>6</b>(2): 155-177.<p> =Cet article présente une méthode de recherche comparative dépassant le classique clivage entre méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives: la méthode comparative quali-quantitative. Cette méthode vise à rendre compte de la complexité des phénomènes, par des études de cas qualitatives, tout en offrant une technique de traitement des données fondée sur l'algèbre booléenne, qui rend possible, comme les méthodes quantitatives, la généralisation des résultats au-delà des cas observés. Cette méthode de recherche est bien adaptée aux petites populations - c'est-à-dire à un nombre de cas entre 4 et 50 - ce qui est fréquent en sciences de gestion.<p> <p> Curchod, C., H. Dumez, et al. (2004). &quot;=Une étude de l'organisation du transport aérien en Europe : les vertus de l'AQQC pour l'exploration de la complexité.&quot; <u>=Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée</u> <b>11</b>(1): 85-100.<p> <p> Cuvelier, C. (1995). =Le marketing politique au sein de deux partis belges Ecolo-P.S.C. au cours des élections européennes du 12 juin 1994. Mémoire de fin d'études présenté en vue de l'obtention du grade de Licenciée en Affaires Publiques et Relations Internationales, orientation Relations Internationales, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des sciences politiques et sociales.<p> <p> Daalder, H., Ed. (1900). <u>Comparative European politics: the story of a profession</u>. London, Pinter.<p> <p> Daalder, H. (1983). The comparative study of European parties and party systems : an overview. <u>Western European party systems. Continuity and change</u>. H. Daalder and P. Mair. Beverly Hills, CA, Sage Publications<b>: </b>1-28.<p> bonne intro gén.!<p> <p> Daco, D. (1980). =Le mouvement écologiste comme nouvel acteur politique: le cas des élections européennes. Travail de fin d'études présenté en vue de l'obtention du grade de Licencié Relations Internationales et Administration Publique, orientation Relations Internationales, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Sciences Politiques et Sociales.<p> <p> Dahl, R. A. and E. R. Tufte, Eds. (1973). <u>Size and democracy</u>. Stanford, Stanford University Press.<p> Country size and comparison<p> <p> Dalton, R. J. (1996). Comparative politics : micro-behavioral perspectives. <u>A new handbook of political science</u>. R. E. Goodin and H.-D. Klingemann. Oxford, Oxford University Press<b>: </b>336-352.<p> <p> De Gouy, A. and D. Piéters (2002). =Application du QCA aux critères de subvention des écoles de devoirs.<p> <p> de Graaf, T. K. (1998). Trauma and Psychiatry. The role of individual and transgenerational traumatisation in the causation of psychobiological illness. Tilburg, Universiteit van Tilburg (KUB).<p> (...) Theo de Graaf tries to formulate a provisional answer to this question by referring to the experience gained by himself and others from the treatment of severely traumatised individuals. These may be people who themselves have endured severe traumatic experiences, such as internment in a concentration camp and/or the loss of close relatives; bombardments, at the front, or as a civilian; the death of friends during combat; incest or severe neglect as a child; &amp;c.. A second group consists of persons who have been secondarily traumatised and psychically damaged, having been born to parents who themselves suffered some of the aforementioned tragedies, and as a consequence were not able to bring up their children in a healthy and loving manner. In this dissertation the family dynamics and projective mechanisms underlying this so-called 'transgenerational' traumatisation are extensively dealt with. With the help of clinical examples and small studies of juvenile delinquents and patients suffering from depressive and psychotic illness, as well as from auto-immune disease (multiple sclerosis), the author presents a psychobiological causality model which could explain the different ways in which psychotraumatic and 'psychotoxic' experiences could eventually lead to a number of forms of psychobiological illness. A separate chapter [Chapter IV] is dedicated to the principles of multicausal and multiconditional causation in individual biological systems, and to the methodological and statistical consequences thereof for clinical research.<p> <p> de Graaf, T. K. (2000). =Van hermeneutiek naar empirie: de verwerking van psychodynamische concepten en gedachtegangen tot toetsbare onderzoekshypothesen. <u>=Forensische psychiatrie anno 2000. Actuele ontwikkelingen in breed perspectief</u>. T. I. Oei and M. S. Groenhuijsen. Gouda Quint, Deventer<b>: </b>393-420.<p> There is increasing awareness of the lack of both comprehensiveness and specificity of current psychiatric classification systems. Apparently, the old Kraepelinian ideal of nosological entities characterised by the same cause and the same optimal treatment, does not hold. Co-morbidity constitutes a major obstacle for research as well as for evidence-based treatment programs. The author proposes a  bottom-up approach with the help of multiple N=1 studies of individual cases sharing the same behavioural, cognitive, and/or affective symptoms, in the vein of Ragin s method of qualitative comparison. In this way, possible psychodynamic, psychotoxic, and genetic influences leading to psychopathology can be mapped and built into hypotheses for subsequent quantitative research. With the help of in-depth observations on a limited number of juvenile delinquents, it can be shown that such a heuristic procedure may result in the establishment of a causal-developmental profile. In comparison with conventional diagnosis, such a causal-developmental profile matches more closely the life experiences and inner world of the patient and will therefore lead to more adequate treatment strategies.<p> <p> de Graaf, T. K. (2001). From hermeneutics to empiricism: extracting testable research hypotheses from the study of individual cases.<p> There is increasing awareness of the lack of both comprehensiveness and specificity of current psychiatric classification systems. Apparently, the old Kraepelinian ideal of nosological entities characterised by the same cause and the same optimal treatment, does not hold. Co-morbidity constitutes a major obstacle for research as well as for evidence-based treatment programs. <hr> The author proposes a  bottom-up approach with the help of multiple N=1 studies of individual cases sharing the same behavioural, cognitive, and/or affective symptoms, in the vein of Ragin s method of qualitative comparison. In this way, possible psychodynamic, psychotoxic, and genetic influences leading to psychopathology can be mapped and built into hypotheses for subsequent quantitative research. With the help of in-depth observations on a limited number of juvenile delinquents, it can be shown that such a heuristic procedure may result in the establishment of a causal-developmental profile. In comparison with conventional diagnosis, such a causal-developmental profile matches more closely the life experiences and inner world of the patient and will therefore lead to more adequate treatment strategies.<p> <p> de Graaf, T. K. (2002). From hermeneutics to empiricism: transformation of psychodynamic reasoning and concepts into testable research hypothesis. Tilburg, Universiteit van Tilburg (KUB).<p> The starting point for this methodological study is the assumption that one and the same psychiatric or psychosomatic (in brief: 'psychobiological') disease, such as e.g. a depressive illness, may be brought about by more than one 'causal chain' operating as a sufficient condition. In some of these 'causal chains' psychotraumatic experiences<i> -</i> including transgenerationally induced psychotoxic influences in the family of origin - may play the role of a necessary condition, in addition to other necessary conditions such as e.g. hereditary factors or physical birth trauma. Emotions which ultimately give rise to psychobiological disorder may stem from undigested traumatic experiences and conflicts in the individual's past, including early childhood. The latter sensitize the individual to events in adu lt life which in that person's perception exhibit a certain resemblance or congruity with the original traumatic experience. Accordingly, the intrapsychic representation of this early, undigested traumatic experience is called Personal Sensitization Factor (PSF), and the precipitating, or 'trigger', event is called the Congruent Life Event (CLE). <p> After having elaborated on the methodological problems connected with the operationalization of these psychodynamic concepts and constructs, and with qualitative multivariate research on anecdotal material in the form of 'plural N=1 observations' for that matter, the author dwells upon the principles of causality in individual biological systems. This leads to a discussion of the concept of 'causal chain', and of the difference between the principles of 'multiconditionality' and 'multicausality' in pathogenesis. <p> With the help of a clinical example of a multivariate study of ten (hypothetical) tuberculosis patients, the reader is then introduced to Ragin's method of 'qualitative comparison' and to the methodology of 'multiple N=1 studies'. The ensuing 'truth-tables', entirely basd upon binary data, can be analyzed with the help of Boolean logic. This analysis yields clusters of causative factors which, in turn, can be used as starting points for setting up hypotheses and designs for multivariate case-control, or even epidemiological studies. What is proposed here is, in fact, a qualitative paper-and-pencil cluster analysis for small samples and for data which are entirely binary. <p> The foregoing both statistical and psychodynamic principles are applied to an (imaginary) sample of sixteen bus drivers, some of whom had developed an incapacitating depressive illness following an accident in which at least one person had been killed. The PSF, figuring as a so-called 'latent variable', was operationalized - at least partly - with the help of two measurable 'indicator' variables, namely 'early loss of a parent or of a close friend' and 'parent lost a child'. In 13 of the 16 cases (= 81.25%) either presence or absence of depressive illness could be entirely accounted for by respectively presence or absence of the aforementioned two indicator variables.<p> <p> de Meester de Betzenbroeck, G. (1997). =Ecolo et Front National: alternatives crédibles au système traditionnel? Mémoire de fin d'études présenté en vue de l'obtention du diplôme de Licencié en Sciences politiques et sociales, orientation Affaires publiques, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Politiques et Sociales.<p> <p> De Meur, G. (1907). <u>Designing most similar and most different configurations: a tool for reduction of complexity in comparative science with few cases and many variables</u>. International Conference on Comparative Social Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.<p> <p> De Meur, G. (1996). &quot;=La comparaison des systèmes politiques : recherche des similarités et des différences.&quot; <u>=Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée</u> <b>3</b>(2): 405-437.<p> MSDO-MDSO technique<p> <p> De Meur, G. (1998). =Présentation de QCA (document Powerpoint).<p> <p> De Meur, G. and D. Berg-Schlosser (1994). &quot;Comparing political systems: establishing similarities and dissimilarities.&quot; <u>European Journal of Political Research</u> <b>26</b>(2): 193-219.<p> MSDO-MDSO technique<p> <p> De Meur, G. and D. Berg-Schlosser (1996). &quot;Conditions of authoritarianism, fascism and democracy in inter-war Europe: systematic matching and contrasting of cases for &quot;small N&quot; analysis.&quot; <u>Comparative Political Studies</u> <b>29</b>(4): 423-468.<p> MSDO-MDSO technique<p> <p> De Meur, G., D. Berg-Schlosser, et al. (1994). <u>Statistical methodology and comparative research</u>. IPSA Conference, Berlin.<p> <p> De Meur, G., P. Bursens, et al. (2006). MSDO/MDSO revisited for public policy analysis. <u>Innovative comparative methods for policy analysis</u>. B. Rihoux and H. Grimm. New York, Springer<b>: </b>67-94.<p> <p> De Meur, G. and A. Gottcheiner (2009). The logic and assumptions of MDSO ­ MSDO designs. <u>Handbook of case based methods</u>. D. Byrne and C. C. Ragin. Thousand Oaks and London, Sage.<p> <p> De Meur, G. and B. Rihoux (2001). <u>=L'Analyse Quali-quantitative Comparée. Objets, potentiels et limites</u>. =Séminaire méthodologique du Centre de Politique Comparée (CPC), UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve, Université Catholique de Louvain.<p> <p> De Meur, G. and B. Rihoux, Eds. (2002). <u>=L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA) : approche, techniques et applications en sciences humaines</u>. Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia-Bruylant.<p> <p> De Meur, G. and B. Rihoux (2002). <u>=L'Analyse Quali-quantitative Comparée (AQQC-QCA): une &quot;troisième voie&quot; au service de la politique comparée?</u> =Colloque de la Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée &quot;Faire de la politique comparée au 21ème siècle&quot; Atelier 2: outils méthodologiques, Bordeaux, =Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux.<p> <p> De Meur, G. and B. Rihoux (2004). =L'analyse Quali-Quantitative Comparée. Une &quot;troisieme voie&quot; au service de la politique comparée [Qualitative Comparative Analysis.  A &quot;third way&quot; available for comparative politics]. <u>=Penser la politique comparée. Un état des savoirs théoriques et méthodologiques</u>. C. Thiriot, M. Marty and E. Nadal. Paris, Editions Kharthala<b>: </b>279-290.<p> <p> De Meur, G., B. Rihoux, et al. (2004). &quot;=L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC): un outil innovant pour l'étude de l'action publique [Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): an innovative tool for the study of public action].&quot; <u>Pyramides</u>(8): 137-147.<p> <p> De Meur, G., B. Rihoux, et al. (2002). =Revue critique... des critiques de l'AQQC. <u>=L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA) : approche, techniques et applications en sciences humaines</u>. G. De Meur and B. Rihoux. Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia-Bruylant<b>: </b>119-144.<p> <p> De Meur, G., B. Rihoux, et al. (2009). Addressing the critiques of QCA. <u>Configurational comparative methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and related techniques</u>. B. Rihoux and C. C. Ragin. Thousand Oaks and London, Sage<b>: </b>147-166.<p> <p> Della Porta, D. and M. Keating, Eds. (2008). <u>Approaches and methodologies in the social sciences. A pluralist perspective</u>. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.<p> <p> Delreux, T. and D. Hesters (2008). <u>Solving contradictory simplifying assumptions. An application to the explanation of the negociation autonomy of an EU negociator</u>. COMPASSS Intimate Seminar, Louvain-la-Neuve.<p> <p> Delreux, T. and D. Hesters (2009). <u>Solving contradictory simplifying assumptions in QCA. An application to research on explaining negotiation autonomy of EU negociators</u>. Master-class: fine-tuning QCA applications, cs-, mv- or fs-QCA, Leuven.<p> <p> Delreux, T. and D. Hesters (2010). &quot;<u>Solving contradictory simplifying assumptions in QCA: presentation of a new best practice</u>.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper 2010-58</u>(2010-58).<p> One of the strongest features of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is the possibility for explicit use of remainders in order to contribute to more parsimonious results. However, as a consequence of the way in which QCA procedures are currently executed, simplifying assumptions made about the remainders can be in contradiction with each other. As contradictions  the same configuration of conditions leading to different outcomes  go against the underlying principles of the methodology and make the research results invalid, researchers using QCA should control for contradictory simplifying assumptions (CSA) and solve them if they have emerged during the analysis. In today s literature, one way of solving CSA has been introduced and replicated by different scholars. The purpose of this paper is to introduce an alternative technique for solving CSA and to demonstrate with real-life data how our solution can be applied in practice. We believe our technique is a refinement and improvement on both the process and result level; it remains closer to the fundamental principles of QCA and the results are possibly more parsimonious. Hence, we propose it as a new best practice.<p> <p> Delvaux, I. (1997). =Post-matérialisme et écologie politique. Mémoire de fin d'études présenté en vue de l'obtention du titre de Licenciée en Sciences Politiques et Sociales, orientation Relations Internationales, Université catholique de Louvain, Faculté des sciences politiques et sociales.<p> <p> Demeter, S., C. Denayer, et al. (2002). =Remise au travail par les CPAS. Essai d'application de la méthode QCA.<p> <p> Demil, B., G. Chanson, et al. (2004). <u>=L'introduction de la méthode QCA en sciences de gestion. La place QCA dans l'écologie des méthodes de recherche de gestion.</u> Colloque internationale sur les méthodes de recherche: &quot;Traversée des frontières entre méthodes de recherche qualitatives et quantitatives&quot;, Atelier &quot;Méthodes de recherche alliant méthodes qualitatives et quantitatives&quot;, IAE, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France.<p> <p> Denk, T. (2010). &quot;Comparative multilevel analysis: proposal for a methodology.&quot; <u>International Journal of Social Research Methodology</u> <b>13</b>(1): 10.<p> This article presents a new methodology for multilevel analysis using a small number of cases, named Comparative Multilevel Analysis (CMA). A classic problem in comparative studies has been the presence of too many variables and too few cases. One traditional solution to this problem has been to study subsystems within a system. However, the approach has fundamental limitations: it cannot analyse subsystems from different contexts, nor can it determine how conditions on the system level influence subsystems. By proposing four additions to traditional methodology, this article offers a new method of comparing subsystems from different contexts in order to analyse the effect of context on subsystems. The author also illustrates how CMA can be combined with Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy-set, thereby enabling these methods to be used in the study of subsystem and context effects.<p> <p> Derbyshire, J. D. and I. Derbyshire, Eds. (1993). <u>World political systems : an introduction to comparative government</u>. Edinburgh, Chambers.<p> petits pays<p> <p> Deschouwer, K., Ed. (2009). <u>The politics of Belgium. Governing a divided society</u>. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.<p> <p> Diani, M. and D. McAdam, Eds. (2003). <u>Social Movements and Networks. Relational Approaches to Collective Action</u>. Comparative Politics. Oxford, Oxford University Press.<p> <p> Dierickx, G., Ed. (1999). <u>=De logica van de politiek</u>. Leuven, Garant.<p> <p> Dierkes, J. B. (2001). Teaching portrayals of the nation - Postwar history education in the Germanys and Japan, Princeton University.<p> My dissertation will examine the postwar construction of national identity in the educational arena in Japan and the Germanys. Data gathered from secondary school history textbooks and curricula will allow me to classify and compare the portrayal of the nation in the three states over the postwar period. Data on the decision-making processes that lead to particular emphases in textbooks and curricula will help me in developing an organizational model of the content of national identity as it is to be taught in the school. Boolean algebra will aid me in selecting causally important factors for the comparative analysis. The analysis will show that institutionalized conceptions of the nation as well as the institutional configuration of actors involved in educational policy decision-making are associated with a number of alternative substantive outcomes. The dissertation will advance the understanding of the role of actors in institutional political sociology and will advance this approach by applying it to a new subfield and new historical cases. The dissertation will also develop methodological tools for the applicability of Boolean algebra to longitudinal comparisons.<p> <p> Dobratz, B. A., L. K. Waldner, et al., Eds. (2003). <u>Political Sociology for the 21st Century</u>. Research in Political Sociology. Amsterdam, JAI.<p> <p> Dogan, M. (1994). &quot;=L'analyse quantitative en science politique : us et abus.&quot; <u>=Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée</u> <b>1</b>(1): 37-60.<p> <p> Doms, F. and E. Ladriere (2002). =Les défaites électorales du parti social chrétien (1946-1999): une analyse QCA.<p> <p> Doner, R. and R. Strahan (2001). Qualitative methods (course syllabus, Emory University).<p> The goal of the course is to help students develop proficiency in the use of qualitative methods in two respects. The first is to understand and be able to articulate the assumptions about the political world and arguments about scientific knowledge on which qualitative approaches in<p> political science are grounded. We will devote particular attention to the question of how research designs involving relatively small numbers of intensive observations can be used to develop and test theory in political science. The second type of proficiency the course will help students develop involves basic knowledge of the principal techniques used by political scientists who do qualitative research. Our objective is to help students develop the methodological tools needed to pursue rigorous qualitative research for the dissertation, either as a supplement to quantitative analyses or as the principal research strategy.<p> <p> Downey, J. and J. Stanyer (2010). &quot;Comparative Media Analysis: Why Some Fuzzy Thinking Might Help.applying Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to the Personalization of Mediated Political Communication.&quot; <u>European Journal of Communication</u> <b>25</b>(4): 331-347.<p> This article examines the benefits of fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) for comparative media research. It shows the advantages of fuzzy set theoretic thinking in examining the causes of a major feature of contemporary political communication research, namely personalization. The article has three parts. The first is a critique of the method adopted by Hallin and Mancini, a generally laudable and highly influential recent contribution to comparative media analysis. The second is a brief introduction to fsQCA. The third demonstrates the method's usefulness by investigating the personalized character of mediated political communication.<p> <p> Drass, K., Ed. (2002). <u>fs/QCA 0.963. Fuzzy Set/ Qualitative Comparative Analysis. User's guide</u>.<p> <p> Drass, K. A. (2001). FS/QCA. Las Vegas.<p> <p> Dridi, C. and G. J. D. Hewings (2002). Sectors associations and similarities in input-output systems: an application of dual scaling and fuzzy logic to Canada and the United States. Discussion Papers, Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL).<p> Understanding the linkages in an input-output system has been addressed by various methods, but many focused on the identification of key sectors in the economy. Sonis et al. (1996) offered as a field of influence theory an alternative approach focusing on analytical importance of elements and combinations of elements. The first objective of this paper is to offer a complementary approach to the field of influence and the so-called 'Matrioshka principal' (Sonis and Hewings, 1990); the adopted approach seeks hierarchial associations (i.e. statistical dependence) between supply and demand in input-output system. The second objective of this paper is to examine the cluster structure sales and purchases profiles when the principle of 'excluded middle' is violated by the use of fuzzy sets. Both approaches are based on the data analysis technique known as dual scaling (Nishisato, 1980, 1994). Results of this approach will be applied to input-output tables of the US and Canada.<p> <p> Dryzek, J. S., D. Downes, et al., Eds. (2003). <u>Green States and Social Movements. Environmentalism in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Norway</u>. Oxford, Oxford University Press.<p> Social movements take shape in relation to the kind of state they face, while, over time, states are transformed by the movements they both incorporate and resist. Social movements are central to democracy and democratization. This book examines the interaction between states and environmentalism, emblematic of contemporary social movements. The analysis covers the entire sweep of the modern environmental era that begins in the 1970s, emphasizing the comparative history of four countries: the US, UK, Germany, and Norway, each of which captures a particular kind of interest representation. Interest groups, parties, mass mobilizations, protest businesses, and oppositional public spheres vary in their weight and significance across the four countries. The book explains why the US was an environmental pioneer around 1970, why it was then eclipsed by Norway, why Germany now shows the way, and why the UK has been a laggard throughout. Ecological modernization and the growing salience of environmental risks mean that environmental conservation can now emerge as a basic priority of government, growing out of entrenched economic and legitimation imperatives. The end in view is a green state, on a par with earlier transformations that produced first the liberal capitalist state and then the welfare state. Any such transformation can be envisaged only to the extent environmentalism maintains its focus as a critical social movement that confronts as well as engages the state.<p> <p> Dryzek, J. S., H.-K. Hernes, et al. (2001). <u>States and Social Movements: Environmentalism in Four Countries</u>. 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Fransico.<p> Modern states have so far undergone two major transformations that produced first, the liberal capitalist state and second, the welfare state. Each transformation was accompanied by the migration of a social movement from an oppositional sphere into the core of the state. In the creation of the liberal capitalist state, the bourgeoisie could move from the public sphere into harmony with an emerging economic imperative of the state. In the creation of the welfare state, the organized working class could move from the public sphere into harmony with an emerging legitimation imperative of the state. Here we examine the prospects for a comparable contemporary transformation that would yield a green state that incorporated environmentalism. Ecological modernization and the increasing salience of environmental risk issues show that environmental conservation could emerge as a state imperative, growing out of economic and legitimation imperatives. This examination is grounded in a comparative historical study of four very different kinds of contemporary state: the passively inclusive United States, actively inclusive Norway, passively exclusive Germany, and the actively exclusive United Kingdom of the Thatcher era (1979-90). We show why the United States was an environmental pioneer around 1970, why it was then eclipsed by Norway, and why Germany has now taken the lead in seriously incorporating environmental concerns into the core of the state. The prospects for the green state are therefore strongest in Germany, in large measure due to the legacy of passive exclusion.<p> <p> Dubois, V. and A. Mandane (2002). =La nomination des directeurs d'administration et des chefs de service à l'administration de la Commission Communautaire française.<p> <p> Dul, J., T. Hak, et al. (2010). &quot;Necessary condition hypotheses in operations management.&quot; <u>International journal of operations and production management</u> <b>30</b>(11): 1170-1190.<p> <p> Dumont, J. (1993). =Ecolo-Ostbelgien: le parti écologiste en Communauté germanophone. Mémoire de fin d'études présenté en vue de l'obtention du grade de Licenciée en Affaires Publiques et Relations Internationales, orientation Relations Internationales, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Politiques et Sociales.<p> <p> Dusa, A. (2007). &quot;Enhancing Quine-McCluskey.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(49): 27p.<p> Currently, the only algorithm that yields an exact solution to the boolean minimization problem is the well known Quine-McCluskey, but almost all software solutions employ different implementations because of its two fundamental weaknesses: it is memory hungry and slow for a large number of causal conditions.This paper proposes an alternative to the classical Quine-McCluskey algorithm, one that addresses both problems, and especially the one of memory consumption. The solutions of this new algorithm are also exact, but they are produced not by following the cumbersome classical algorithm but using a more direct and faster approach.Memory restrictions limit the number of input variables (causal conditions) at a ceiling of about 14 or 15 (because each new variable expands the memory usage in a geometric proportion), where this alternative uses only a very small fraction of memory and it can process about 20 input variables with acceptable speed.<p> <p> Dusa, A. (2007). &quot;A mathematical approach to the Boolean minimization problem.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(46): 22p.<p> Any minimization problem involves a computer algorithm. Many such algorithms have been developed for the boolean minimizations, in diverse areas from computer science to social sciences (with the famous QCA algorithm). For a small number of entries (conditions in the QCA) any such algorithm will find a minimal solution, especially with the aid of the modern computers. However, for a large number of conditions a quick and complete solution is not easy to find using an algorithmic approach, due to the extremely large space of possible combinations to search in. In this article I will demostrate a simple alternative solution, a mathematical method to obtain all possible minimized prime implicants. This method is not only easier to understand than other complex algorithms, but it could prove to be a faster method to obtain an exact and complete boolean solution.<p> <p> Dusa, A. (2007). &quot;QCA graphical user interface manual.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper</u>(50): 29p.<p> This manual is intended for scholars wishing to use QCA in an R environment. It includes visualisation and factorisation functions, along with all other basic QCA functions. QCAGUI is a graphical user interface (GUI) for the QCA package, derived from R Commander. Because QCA has little to do with statistics, the menus from Rcmdr were stripped down to the very basics. In crisp sets QCA, data is binary therefore it is fairly decent to treat it as categorical (1 - presence; 0 - absence). In order to ease the primary analysis (e.g. tables of frequencies) and the creation of basic graphs, this package activates some menus that are not available in Rcmdr but for factors. Users should be aware, however, that QCAGUI is _not_ a package for statistics; Rcmdr is better for this purpose. Updates of the QCA packages can be followed on the R webpage: <u><A HREF="http://cran.r-project.org/">http://cran.r-project.org/</A></u><p> <p> Dusa, A. (2007). &quot;User manual for the QCA(GUI) package in R.&quot; <u>Journal of Business Research</u> <b>60</b>(5): 576-586.<p> <p> Dusa, A. (2010). &quot;A Mathematical Approach to the Boolean Minimization Problem.&quot; <u>Quality &amp; Quantity</u> <b>44</b>(1): 99-113.<p> Any minimization problem involves a computer algorithm. Many such algorithms have been developed for the boolean minimizations, in diverse areas from computer science to social sciences (with the famous QCA algorithm). For a small number of entries (causal conditions in the QCA) any such algorithm will find a minimal solution, especially with the aid of the modern computers. However, for a large number of conditions a quick and complete solution is not easy to find using an algorithmic approach, due to the extremely large space of possible combinations to search in. In this article I will demonstrate a simple alternative solution, a mathematical method to obtain all possible minimized prime implicants. This method is not only easier to understand than other complex algorithms, but it proves to be a faster method to obtain an exact and complete boolean solution.<p> <p> Dusan, A. (2008). &quot;A mathematical approach to the Boolean minimization problem.&quot; <u>Quality and Quantity</u>.<p> <p> Duursma, J. C., Ed. (1994). <u>Self-determination, statehood and international relations of micro-states</u>. Leiden, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.<p> petits pays<p> <p> Ebbinghaus, B. (2003). <u>How the Cases You Choose Limit the Questions You Ask: Selection Problems in Comparative Research Designs</u>. 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section &quot;Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications&quot;, Panel &quot;Systematic Qualitative Comparisons in Comparative Research&quot;, Marburg, Germany.<p> The paper discusses the problems of case selection in comparative cross-national research, that is, how the cases you choose limit the questions you ask. It discusses the pitfalls of quantitative cross-national research, arguing that selection bias is not unique to small-N studies but inherent to the study of real world social systems. All comparative research of social entities, whether quantitative or qualitative, face the problem of limited diversity, the fact that the potential pool of cases has been selected by historical social processes. In small-N studies, the purpose of comparison and the subsequent research design assumes a particularly important role as cases do not represent observations for extensive variable analysis but determine the contexts for intensive within case analyses, the results of which are then compared. For what purpose are cases chosen? Are they selected to elicit unique cases departing from general patterns, to find common causes among cases with similar outcome, to control for similar context conditions, to test predictions by universal hypotheses, to understand the impact of context conditions on causal mechanisms? The paper discusses the consequences of the interaction between research question and research design with examples from cross-national studies of modern welfare states.<p> <p> Ebbinghaus, B. (2005). &quot;When less is more: selection problems in large-N and small-N cross-national comparisons.&quot; <u>International Sociology</u> <b>20</b>(2).<p> <p> Ebbinghaus, B. and J. Visser (1998). &quot;When institutions matter: union growth and decline in Western Europe, 1950-95.&quot; <u>MZES Arbeitspapiere / Working papers</u>(I/30): 1-37.<p> During the early post-war period, Western trade union movements grew in membership and achieved an institutionalized role in industrial relations and politics. However, during the last decades, many trade unions have seen their membership decline as they came increasingly under pressures due to the social, economic and political changes. This article reviews the main structural, cyclical and institu-tional factors explaining union growth and decline. Concentrating on Western Europe, the empirical analysis compares cross-national union density data for 13 countries over the first period (1950-75) and for 16 countries over the second, &quot;crisis&quot; period (1975-95). The quantitative correlation and re-gression analysis indicates that structural and cyclical factors fail explain the level and changes in unionization across Western Europe, while institutional variables fare better. In a second, qualitative comparative analysis, the authors stress the need to explain cross-national differences in the level or trend of unionization by a set of institutional arrangements: the access of unions to representation in the workplace, the availability of a selective incentive in the form of a union-administered unemploy-ment scheme, recognition of employers through nation-wide and sectoral corporatist institutions, and closed shop arrangements for forced membership. Such institutional configurations support member-ship recruitment and membership retention, and define the conditions for the strategic choice of trade unions in responding to structural social-economic, political and cultural changes.<p> <p> Eckstein, H., Ed. (1964). <u>Internal war. Problems and approches</u>. New York, The Free Press.<p> delimitation<p> <p> Eckstein, H. (1975). Case Study and Theory in Political Science. <u>Handbook of Political Science</u>. F. I. Greenstein and N. W. Polsby. Reading Mass, Addison-Wesley.<p> <p> Eckstein, H. and D. E. Apter, Eds. (1968). <u>Comparative politics : a reader</u>. New York, The Free Press.<p> <p> Edinger, L. (1975). &quot;The comparative analysis of political leadership.&quot; <u>Comparative Politics</u>(1): 253-269.<p> <p> Edinger, L. (1990). &quot;Approaches to the comparative analysis of political leadership.&quot; <u>Review of politics</u> <b>52</b>(4): 509-523.<p> <p> Edwards, P. and J. Belanger (2008). &quot;Generalizing From Workplace Ethnographies - From Induction to Theory.&quot; <u>Journal of Contemporary Ethnography</u> <b>37</b>(3): 291-313.<p> Two modes of generalizing from the large set of workplace ethnographies now in existence are compared. These are the results of the Workplace Ethnography (WE) data set and holistic modeling (HM) based on a more theoretically driven project. In the treatment of specific cases, there is impressive complementarity between the two. But the WE data fail to capture some key features of leading studies, because they do not treat cases holistically. They might also be developed by including studies not included to date. A more explicit theoretical approach offers some firmer grounds for generalizing, and new directions for comparative ethnographies arise.<p> <p> Edwards, S. J. A. (2003). Military history of swarming.<p> <p> Egea-de Haro, A. (2001). <u>Globalization within national contexts: elusive concepts</u>. Oslo Summer School in Comparative Social Science Studies 2001: &quot;Comparative Methodology&quot;, University of Oslo, Norway.<p> The impact of globalization upon national political contexts is considered as one of the main puzzles in social research. The discussion is mostly centred on how to measure that influence of the globalization process. Consequently, the methodological design of the research is one of the key points at stake. This paper suggests that a combination of quantitative and a historical insitutionalism elements is required in order to analyse the impact of globalisation upon national contexts. The difference between quantitative and historical insitutionalism methodology concerns the level of parsimony required in the social scientific explanation. In other word, while quantitative approach is prone to minimize the explanatory variables of the phenomenon analysed, historical institutionalism provides a plentiful setting of potential explanatory variables interactions but, at the same time, it is difficult to generalise the findings due to research is case driven. Quantitative studies overcome that withdraw of institutionalism, but quantitative analysis lack causality analysis and the definition of the property space of investigation.<p> The scope of the analysis suggested is prone to a first exploration based on a theoretically scope of the units of analysis involved in the research. This perspective based on comparative methodology permits to take into consideration the relationship between variables and the homogeneity of cases as configurations of such variables.<p> <p> Eliason, S. R. and R. Stryker (2009). &quot;Goodness-of-fit Tests and Descriptive Measures in Fuzzy-set Analysis.&quot; <u>Sociological Methods and Research</u>(38): 102-146.<p> <p> Emmeneger, P. (2010). &quot;How good are your counterfactuals? Assessing quantitative macro-comparative welfare state research with qualitative criteria.&quot; <u>COMPASSS Working Paper 2010-59</u>(2010-59).<p> All causal statements based on historical data  both in qualitative and quantitative social research  rely on counterfactuals. In quantitative research, scholars attempt to arrive at valid counterfactuals by emulating an experimental design. However, because of treatments that are impossible to manipulate and the non-random assignment of data to treatment and control groups, causal statements are often based on invalid counterfactuals. In contrast, in qualitative research, scholars attempt to arrive at valid counterfactuals by probing the historical and logical consistency of counterfactuals and by acknowledging the interconnectedness of events. Criteria to evaluate counterfactuals have been developed, especially in the international relations literature. These criteria allow for a discussion of the quality of counterfactuals used in causal statements. In this article, we suggest using these qualitative criteria to evaluate counterfactuals in quantitative macro-comparative welfare state research. We argue that these criteria can help us identifying erroneous causal inferences in quantitative research based on historical data. The usefulness of such an approach is illustrated using the seminal contribution of Alesina and Glaeser (2004)