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Discussion about Crisp Set and Multi Value QCA (csQCA and mvQCA)

ABBOTT, Andrew (1992), "What Do Cases Do? Some Notes on Activity in Sociological Analysis", in RAGIN, Charles C. and BECKER, Howard S. (eds), What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, New-York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 53-82.

ABELL, Peter (1989), "Foundations for a Qualitative Comparative Method", International Review of Social History, 34, 1, 103-109.

ACHEN, Christopher H. (2005), "Two Cheers for Charles Ragin", Studies in Comparative International Development (SCID), 40, 1, 27-32.

ACKRÉN, Maria (07.15.2006/07.16.2006), "A Summary of Comparing Comparisons: Territorial Autonomies in the Light of Alternative Methods", paper presented at : International Conference on Comparative Social Sciences, Tokyo, Japan,

---------- (2010), "Conditions for Territorial Autonomies in the Light of QCA Techniques (CsQCA, MvQCA and FsQCA)", paper presented at : Paper, Abo Akademi University,
Abstract:This article considers three various tools within the family of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). The techniques discussed are Crisp-Set QCA (or Boolean algebra), Multi-Value QCA and Fuzzy-Set QCA. All the tools will be highlighted and exemplified with empirical data derived from a forthcoming work about the degree and kind of territorial autonomies in the world.2 The idea is to show what happens when we use the different techniques for the same data set. This will show the usefulness and shortcomings, when combining various tools. The techniques are chosen, since they are all related to each other and therefore the similarities and differences between the three techniques are easier to grasp and the data set will not suffer, while we can obtain the same research question throughout the analyses. The assessment of QCA techniques gives us necessary and sufficient conditions according to set theoretical principles. Results show that csQCA and mvQCA give us uncertain results with a lot of contradictions between the cases, while fsQCA is more straightforward. FsQCA also gives us solution terms for the whole data set, which csQCA and mvQCA are lacking.

ALASUUTARI, Pertti (1993), "Boolen algebra ja radion kuuntelu [Boolean algebra and listening to the radio]", Sosiologia, 30, 3, 216.

---------- (1994), Laadullinen tutkimus [Qualitative research], 2nd revised ed., Tampere, Vastapaino.

---------- (1995), Researching Culture. Qualitative Method and Cultural Studies, London, Sage.

AMENTA, Edwin (1991), "Making the Most of a Case Study : Theories of the Welfare State and the American Experience", in RAGIN, Charles C. (ed.), Issues and Alternatives in Comparative Social Research, Leiden, E.J. Brill, pp. 172-194.

AMENTA, Edwin (1998), Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern American Social Policy, Princeton, Princeton University Press.

AMENTA, Edwin and POULSEN, Jane Duss (1994), "Where to Begin: a Survey of Five Approaches to Selecting Independent Variables for Qualitative Comparative Analysis", Sociological Methods and Research, 23, 1, 22-53.

AMOROSO, Lisa M. and RAGIN, Charles C. (1999), "Individual and Institutional Employment Patterns", Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, 1,

ANONYMOUS (Qualitative Research into Comparative Management: Is Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) a Good Choice? (unpublished manuscript).

BALTHASAR, Andreas (09.15.2004), "The Effects of the Institutional Context of the Agency Responsible for Allocating Evaluations on the Utilization of Evaluation Results: Evidenced Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", Luzern, Switzerland,
Abstract:This paper will present some results of a study in progress. The focus is on the question of the influence of different institutional settings, considering the responsibility for evaluation on the utilization of its results. The basis for the results I present consists of ten case studies from Switzerland. These cases deal with evaluations which have been allocated in different institutional contexts, with very different distances between evaluators and evaluees. To interpret the cases, "Qualitative Comparative Analysis" (QCA) will be used, in order to allow a combination of case- and variable -centred comparisons. The analysis indicates that the instrumental use of evaluation results is largely independent of the distance between the evaluator and the evaluee. On the other hand, greater conceptual use occurs either in the case of evaluations of a summative nature which have been undertaken with a large distance between the evaluator and the evaluee, or in the case of formative evaluations which have been compiled with a small distance between the evaluator and the evaluee. Again, high process-related use is observed if the evaluation is geared to usefulness and if there is a small distance between the evaluator and the eva luee. And the symbolic use of evaluation results may be expected if, in the case of a measure which is not politically controversial, a large distance between the evaluator and the evaluee is combined with a summative purpose for the evaluation.

---------- (2006), "The Effects of the Institutional Design on the Utilization of Evaluation Evidenced Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", Evaluation, 12, 3, 353-371.
Abstract: 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.

---------- (2006), "The Effects of the Institutional Design on the Utilization of Evaluation: Evidenced Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 12, 3, **.
Abstract:This paper aims to present some of the results from a study in progress, focusing on the influence of the 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 assigned in different institutional contexts, with widely varying 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 distance between evaluators and evaluees has no influence on the use of evaluations. In particular, formative objectives can be achieved quite independently of the 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 permissible 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 distance between evaluators and evaluees on the utilization of evaluations.

---------- (2009), "Institutional Design and Utilization of Evaluation: a Contribution to a Theory of Evaluation Influence Based on Swiss Experience", Evaluation Review, 33, 3, 226-256.
Abstract: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.

BAUER, Johannes M. (2010), "Learning From Each Other: Promises and Pitfalls of Benchmarking in Communications Policy", Info, 8-20.
Abstract: 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 "best practice" 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.

BAZELEY, Pat (1999), "Computer Monitor: The Bricoleur With a Computer: Piecing Together Qualitative and Quantitative Data.", Qualitative Health Research, 9, 2, 279-287.
Abstract: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 available, the researcher can readily combine data types, moving beyond complementarity and simple triangulation. Data may be transferred in either or both directions between 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 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 reductionist, hypothesis testing experiments, are essentially interpretive.

BECKER, Howard S. (1998), Tricks of the Trade: How to Think About Your Research While You'Re Doing It, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

---------- (2002), Les ficelles du métier. Un guide de recherche en sciences sociales, Paris, La Découverte.

BEFANI, Barbara (2004), "La Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) e la valutazione basata sulla teoria: un connubio possibile", Rassegna Italiana Di Valutazione, 2,

BELL, Erica (2007), "Healthy Aging - Can Clinical Trials Deliver?", Healthy Aging and Longevity, 1114, 137-143.
Abstract: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.

---------- (2008), "Healthy Aging. Can Clinical Trials Deliver?", Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1114, 137-143.

BENNETT, Andrew (9.1999), "Causal Inference in Case Studies: From Mill's Methods to Causal Mechanisms", paper presented at : American Political Science Association Conference, Atlanta. (online at : http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/bennetta/APSA99.html)

---------- (2004), "Case Study Methods: Design, Use, and Comparative Advantages", in SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (Eds), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, pp. 19-55.

BENNETT, Andrew and ELMAN, Colin (Feb 2007), "Case Study Methods in the International Relations Subfield", Comparative Political Studies, 40, 2, 170-195.
Abstract: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.

BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk (1997), "Makro-qualitative vergleichende Methoden", in BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk and MÜLLER-ROMMEL, Ferdinand (eds), Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft. 3rd ed., Opladen, Leske & Budrich, pp. 67-88.

--------- (2001), "Comparative Studies - Method and Design", in SMELSER, Neil J. and BALTES, Paul B. (eds), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Pergamon, Oxford, pp. 2427-2433.

BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk (2002), "Macro-Quantitative Vs Macro-Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences - Testing Empirical Theories of Democracy", paper presented at : Colloque de la Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée "Faire de la politique comparée au 21eme siecle" Atelier 2:outils méthodologiques, Bordeaux, France,
Abstract: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.

---------- (2002), "Macro-Quantitative Vs. Macro-Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences. Testing Empirical Theories of Democracy", COMPASSS Working Paper, 2, 36p.
Abstract: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.

---------- (04.2004), "Review of: "L'Analyse Quali-Quantitative Comparée (AQQC-QCA)" (G. De Meur & B. Rihoux, Louvain-La-Neuve: Academia Bruylant, 2002. 175 Pp.)", European Sociological Review, 20, 2, 162-165.

BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk and DE MEUR, Gisèle (1997), "Reduction of Complexity for a Small-n Analysis: a Stepwise Multi-Methodological Approach", Comparative Social Research, 16, 133-162.

BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk and DE MEUR, Gisèle (2009), "Comparative Research Design : Case and Variable Selection", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage, pp. 19-32.

BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk, DE MEUR, Gisèle, RIHOUX, Benoît, and RAGIN, Charles C. (2009), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) As an Approach", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage, pp. 1-18.

BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk and MÜLLER-ROMMEL, Ferdinand (eds) (1997), Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft. 3rd ed., Opladen, Leske & Budrich.

BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk and QUENTER, Sven (1996 ), "Macro-Quantitative Versus Macro-Qualitative Methods in Political Science. Advantages and Disadvantages of Comparative Procedures Using the Welfare-State Theory As an Example", Historical Social Research, 21, 1, 3-25.

BERNARD, H. Russell and RYAN, Gery (1998), "Qualitative and Quantitative Methods of Text Analysis", in BERNARD, H. Russell (ed.), Hand-Book of Method in Cultural Anthropology, Walnut Creek, CA, Alta Mira Books, p. ?? (online at : http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/~ufruss/txtana.html)

---------- (1998), "Text Analysis: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods", in BERNARD, H. Russel (ed), Handbook of Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology, ??, Sage, pp. 595-641. (online at : http://www.analytictech.com/mb870/bernard_ryan_text_analysis.pdf)

BERNHARD, Michael (2001), Seminar : Comparative Methods (Course Syllabus) (unpublished manuscript). (Online at : http://www.asu.edu/clas/polisci/cqrm/syllabi/bernhard.pdf)

BEYNON, Malcolm J. (2008), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis", in ADAM, Frederic and HUMPHREYS, Patrick (eds), Encyclopedia of Decision Making and Decision Support Technologiespp. 751-756.
Abstract: 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, & 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 & Rihoux, 2004).

BIGGERT, R. (Win 1997), "Why Labor Wins, Why Labor Loses: a Test of Two Theories", Sociological Quarterly, 38, 1, 205-224.
Abstract: 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.

BOLLEN, Kenneth A., ENTWISLE, Barbara, and ALDERSON, Arthur S. (1993), "Macrocomparative Research Methods", Annual Review of Sociology, 19, 321-351.

BONIFACE, Dexter S. (2010), "Rethinking Presidential Challenges and Falls: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis ", paper presented at : APSA 2010 Conference,
Abstract: 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.

BOSWELL, Terry and BROWN, Cliff (1999), "The Scope of General Theory. Methods for Linking Deductive and Inductive Comparative History", Sociological Methods and Research, 28, 2, 154-185.

BREIGER, Ronald L. (2009), "On the Duality of Cases and Variables: Correspondence Analysis (CA) and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", in BYRNE, David and RAGIN, Charles (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods, England , Sage, pp. 243-260.

BRITT, David W. (1997), A Conceptual Introduction to Modeling: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives, Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

BROWN, Cliff and BOSWELL, Terry (1995), "Strikebreaking or Solidarity in the Great Steel Strike of 1919: a Split L abor Market, Game-Theoretic, and QCA Analysis", American Journal of Sociology, 100, 6, 1479-1519.

BYRNE, David (Oct 2005), "Complexity, Configurations and Cases", Theory Culture & Society, 22, 5, 95-+.
Abstract: 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.

BYRNE, David (2009), "Complex Realist and Configurational Approaches to Cases:a Radical Synthesis", in BYRNE, David and RAGIN, Charles (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods, England, Sage, pp. 101-112 .

BYRNE, David (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", in BYRNE, David and RAGIN, Charles (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods, England, Sage, pp. 260-268.

Byrne, David and Wendy Olsen, "Focusing on the Case in Quantitative and Qualitative Research." (2004): 11 pp. 2004.

BYRNE, David, OLSEN, Wendy, and DUGGAN, Sandra (2009), "Causality and Interpretation in Qualitative Policy Related Research", in BYRNE, David and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods, London & New-York, Sage, pp. 511-521.

CARAMANI, Daniele (forthcoming, 2008), Introduction to Comparative Method With Boolean Algebra , Thousand Oaks, Sage.

CAREN, Neal and PANOFSKY, Aaron (11.2005), "TQCA. A Technique for Adding Temporality to Qualitative Comparative Analysis", Sociological Methods & Research, 34, 2, 147-172.

CARROLL, Eero (2003), "The Clear and Present Danger of 'Globaloney' Industry. Globalization Concepts in Welfare Research and Social Opinion Pieces Since 1995", Global Social Policy, 3, 2, 195-211.
Abstract: To what extent is globalization given an institutionally elaborated definition in studies on its welfare, welfare state and/or social policy impacts published since 1995? And, is it seen to inhibit or stimulate welfare (state) development? These questions are addressed through a study sample (N = 161) from the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, subjected to combinatory analysis similar to qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) using a pre-typological classification of definition components. Disaggregated definitions oriented to relations and actors (most often trade and/or competition as well as international organizations) coincide with polarized welfare (state) impacts, envisioned or real, of globalization. Positive overall globalization impacts are rare in this literature. Mixed or zero impacts claims are more common in studies including an arena-related component (often global market integration) in defining globalization, possibly indicating less determinism in views thereof, but also conventionalism in perspectives on markets. Future research needs more methodological rigour and scepticism of overgeneralized assertions on globalization’s impacts.

CHANSON, Guillaume, DEMIL, Benoît, LECOCQ, Xavier, and SPRIMONT, Pierre-Antoine (2005), "La place de l’analyse qualitative comparée en sciences de gestion", Finance Contrôle Stratégie, 3, 8, 29-50.
Abstract: [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.
[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.

CHARFI, Mohamed (2010), Les facteurs de développement démocratique dans le monde arabe: analyse comparative configurationnelle, Genève, Université de Genève (unpublished).
Abstract: 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 "democratic opening / absolute authoritarianism" 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.

CLÉMENT, Caty (2001), A QCA Analysis of State Collapse (unpublished manuscript).

COLINO, César (2000), "Método comparativo", in REYES, Roman (ed.), Diccionario crítico de ciencias sociales. Terminología científico-social - aproximación crítica, Madrid, =Universidad Complutense de Madrid, p. ?? (online at : http://www.ucm.es/info/eurotheo/d-colino1.htm)

COLLIER, David (1998), "Letter From the President. Comparative Method in the 1990s", APSA-CP. Newsletter of the APSA Organized Section in Comparative Politics, 9, 1, 1-4. (Online at : http://www.nd.edu/~apsacp/pdf/APSA-CP_Winter_1998.pdf)

COOPER, Barry (9/2004), Using Crisp and Fuzzy Set QCA to Explore the Meritocacy in Britain" Debate: Some Initial Analyses (unpublished manuscript).

COVERDILL, James E., FINLAY, William, and MARTIN, Jack K. (1994), "Labor Management in the Southern Textile Industry : Comparing Qualitative, Quantitative, and Qualitative Comparative Analyses", Sociological Methods and Research, 23, 1, 54-85.

CRONQVIST, Lasse (003.2005)paper presented at : Introduction to Multi-Value Qualitative Comparative Analysis (MVQCA), ?,

---------- (2003), "Presentation of TOSMANA: Adding Multi-Value Variables and Visual Aids to QCA", COMPASSS Working Paper, 14, 17p.
Abstract: 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.

---------- (9.18.2003/9.21.2003), "Extending the QCA Approach With Multi-Value Scales", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section "Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications", Panel "Assessing the Respective Potential of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Fuzzy Sets and Other Techniques : Applications", Marburg, Germany,
Abstract: 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. 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).

---------- (2004), "Presentation of TOSMANA: Adding Multi-Value Variables and Visual Aids to QCA", COMPASSS Working Paper, 20, 17p.
Abstract: 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.

---------- (03.2004), "Presentation of TOSMANA: Adding Multi-Value Variables and Visual Aids to QCA", paper presented at : COMPASSS Launching Conference, Louvain-la-Neuve and Leuven, Belgium,
Abstract: 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.

--------- (2005), "Introduction to Multi-Value Qualitative Comparative Analysis (MVQCA)", COMPASSS Didactics Paper, 4,

---------- (2006), "Using Multi-Valued Outcomes With MVQCA", TOSMANA Technical Note, 2,

______ (2007a), Tosmana. Tools for Small-N Analysis. Version 1.3 (unpublished manuscript).

______ (2007b), Tosmana User Manual, Version 1.3 (unpublished manuscript).

---------- (2007c), 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 (unpublished).

CRONQVIST, Lasse (2011, forthcoming), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis", in BECK, Nathaliel (ed.), IPSA Encyclopedia of Political Science. Methodology Volume, Thousand Oaks, London and New Delhi, Sage,

CRONQVIST, Lasse and BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk (2009), "Multi-Value QCA (MVQCA)", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage,

Curchod, Corentin, "Faits et idées en management stratégique." (2001):2001.

CURCHOD, Corentin (2002), "La méthode comparative en sciences de gestion : vers une approche quasi-expérimentale de la réalité managériale", COMPASSS Working Paper, 3, 26p.
Abstract: 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.

---------- (6.2003), "La méthode comparative en sciences de gestion: vers une approche quasi-expérimentale de la réalité managériale ", Finance Contrôle Stratégie, 6, 2, 155-177.
Abstract: =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.

CURCHOD, Corentin, DUMEZ, Hervé, and JEUNEMAÎTRE, Alain (2004), "Une étude de l'organisation du transport aérien en Europe : les vertus de l'AQQC pour l'exploration de la complexité", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 11, 1, 85-100.

De Gouy, Agnès and Danielle Piéters, "Application du QCA aux critères de subvention des écoles de devoirs." (2002):2002.

DE GRAAF, Theo K. (1998), Trauma and Psychiatry. The Role of Individual and Transgenerational Traumatisation in the Causation of Psychobiological Illness, Tilburg, Universiteit van Tilburg (KUB) (unpublished). (Unpublished PhD Thesis; summary at : http://www.theokdegraaf.nl/)
Abstract: (...) 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; &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.

---------- (2000), "Van hermeneutiek naar empirie: de verwerking van psychodynamische concepten en gedachtegangen tot toetsbare onderzoekshypothesen", in OEI, T. I. and GROENHUIJSEN, M. S. (eds), Forensische psychiatrie anno 2000. Actuele ontwikkelingen in breed perspectief, Gouda Quint, Deventer, pp. 393-420.
Abstract: 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.

______ (2001), From Hermeneutics to Empiricism: Extracting Testable Research Hypotheses From the Study of Individual Cases (unpublished manuscript). (Unpublished paper)
Abstract: 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.

DE GRAAF, Theo K. (2002), From Hermeneutics to Empiricism: Transformation of Psychodynamic Reasoning and Concepts into Testable Research Hypothesis, Tilburg, Universiteit van Tilburg (KUB) (unpublished). (Chapter IV of unpublished PhD Thesis "Trauma and Psychiatry. The role of individual and transgenerational traumatisation in the causation of psychobiological illness")
Abstract: 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 - 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). 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. 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. 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. .

DE MEUR, Gisèle (1998), Présentation de QCA (document Powerpoint) (unpublished manuscript).

DE MEUR, Gisèle, BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk, and RAGIN, Charles C. (1994), "Statistical Methodology and Comparative Research", paper presented at : IPSA Conference, Berlin,

DE MEUR, Gisèle and RIHOUX, Benoît (6.13.2001), "L'Analyse Quali-quantitative Comparée. Objets, potentiels et limites", paper presented at : Séminaire méthodologique du Centre de Politique Comparée (CPC), UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve,

---------- (2.21.2002/2.23.2002), "L'Analyse Quali-quantitative Comparée (AQQC-QCA): une "troisième voie" au service de la politique comparée?", paper presented at : Colloque de la Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée "Faire de la politique comparée au 21ème siècle" Atelier 2: outils méthodologiques, Bordeaux,

DE MEUR, Gisèle and RIHOUX, Benoît (2002), L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA) : approche, techniques et applications en sciences humaines, collab. YAMASAKI, S., Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia-Bruylant.

DE MEUR, Gisèle, RIHOUX, Benoît, and VARONE, Frédéric (2004), "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]", Pyramides, 8, 137-147.

DE MEUR, Gisèle, RIHOUX, Benoît, and YAMASAKI, Sakura (2002), "Revue critique... des critiques de l'AQQC", in DE MEUR, Gisèle and RIHOUX, Benoît, L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA) : approche, techniques et applications en sciences humaines, Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia-Bruylant, pp. 119-144.

---------- (2009), "Addressing the Critiques of QCA", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage, pp. 147-166.

DELREUX, Tom and HESTERS, Delphine (09.2008), "Solving Contradictory Simplifying Assumptions. An Application to the Explanation of the Negociation Autonomy of an EU Negociator", paper presented at : COMPASSS Intimate Seminar, Louvain-la-Neuve,

---------- (03.19.2009), "Solving Contradictory Simplifying Assumptions in QCA. An Application to Research on Explaining Negotiation Autonomy of EU Negociators", paper presented at : Master-Class: Fine-Tuning QCA Applications, Cs-, Mv- or Fs-QCA, Leuven,

---------- (2010), "Solving Contradictory Simplifying Assumptions in QCA: Presentation of a New Best Practice", COMPASSS Working Paper 2010-58, 2010-58,
Abstract: 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.

Demeter, Stéphane and others, "Remise au travail par les CPAS. Essai d'application de la méthode QCA." (2002):2002.

DEMIL, B., CHANSON, G., LECOCQ, X., and SPRIMONT, P.-A. (03.18.2004/03.20.2004), "L'introduction de la méthode QCA en sciences de gestion. La place QCA dans l'écologie des méthodes de recherche de gestion.", paper presented at : Colloque Internationale Sur Les Méthodes De Recherche: "Traversée Des Frontières Entre Méthodes De Recherche Qualitatives Et Quantitatives", Atelier "Méthodes De Recherche Alliant Méthodes Qualitatives Et Quantitatives", IAE, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France,

DESCHOUWER, Kris (2009), The Politics of Belgium. Governing a Divided Society, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Doms, Frédéric and Etienne Ladriere, "Les défaites électorales du parti social chrétien (1946-1999): une analyse QCA." (2002):2002.

DRASS, Kriss (2002), Fs/QCA 0.963. Fuzzy Set/ Qualitative Comparative Analysis. User's Guide,

Dubois, Véronique and Annick Mandane, "La nomination des directeurs d'administration et des chefs de service à l'administration de la Commission Communautaire française." (2002):2002.

DUL, Jan, HAK, Tony, GOERTZ, Gary, and VOSS, Chris (2010), "Necessary Condition Hypotheses in Operations Management", International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 30, 11, 1170-1190.

DUSA, Adrian (2007), "Enhancing Quine-McCluskey", COMPASSS Working Paper, 49, 27p.
Abstract: 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.

---------- (2007), "A Mathematical Approach to the Boolean Minimization Problem", COMPASSS Working Paper , 46, 22p.
Abstract: 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.

---------- (2007), "QCA Graphical User Interface Manual", COMPASSS Working Paper, 50, 29p.
Abstract: 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: http://cran.r-project.org/ .

---------- (2007), "User Manual for the QCA(GUI) Package in R", Journal of Business Research, 60, 5, 576-586.

DUSA, Adrian (Jan 2010), "A Mathematical Approach to the Boolean Minimization Problem", Quality & Quantity, 44, 1, 99-113.
Abstract: 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.

DUSAN, Adrian (2008), "A Mathematical Approach to the Boolean Minimization Problem", Quality and Quantity,

EDWARDS, Sean J. A. (2003), Military History of Swarming (unpublished manuscript).

FEAGIN, J. R., ORUM, A., and SJÖBERG, G. (eds) (1991), A Case for the Case Study, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press.

FISHMAN, Daniel (2000), "Context-Specific Logic Models: Alternative Paths to Similar Outcomes", A Topical Interest Group of the American Evaluation Association,

FORAN, John (1997), "The Future of Revolutions at the Fin-De-Siècle", Third World Quarterly, 18, 5, 791-820.

FRANZOSI, Roberto (2010), "Quantitative Narrative Analysis", Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, 07, 162, 175.

FROGNIER, André-Paul (1994), "Logique(s?) de la politique comparée", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 1, 1, 61-90.

---------- (2002), "Postface", in DE MEUR, Gisèle and RIHOUX, Benoît, L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA). Approche, techniques et applications en sciences humaines , Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia-Bruylant, pp. 145-146.

FUJITA, Taisuke (2009), "New Frontiers in Qualitative Comparative Analysis", Sociological Theory and Methods, 24, 2, 177-179.

FUJITA, Taisuke (09.21.2009), "Countries Policy-Making on Dispute Settlement in the GATT/WTO", paper presented at : The Second UK-Japan Roundtable on the Frontiers of the Qualitative Comparative Method, Sapporo,

GERRING, John (2011), Social Science Methodology: A Unified Framework, UK, Cambridge University Press.

GILARDI, Fabrozio, " La comparaison aux échelons local, régional et supranational: quelles plues-values et limites théoriques et pratiques, quels défis méthodologiques ? Congrès C4P Lausanne", paper presented at : "Galton's Problem" and Diffusion Processes: the Next Frontier for Fs/QCA Methodology?, Geneva,

GIRAUD, Olivier (2001 (forthcoming)), "Le comparatisme contemporain en science politique : entrée en dialogue des écoles et renouvellement des questions", in LALLEMENT, Michel and SPURK, Jan (eds), Stratégies de la comparaison internationale, Paris, =Editions du CNRS, p. ??
Abstract: Les politologues ont pour tradition de célébrer la comparaison pour son oeuvre de fondation de leur discipline. Un survol de publications récentes montre cependant à quel point, la science politique est aujourd'hui critique vis-à-vis de sa méthode fétiche. Les politologues critiquent inlassablement et parfois amèrement mise en application et résultats du comparatisme (Apter, 1996; Frognier, 1994; Hassenteufel, 2000; Smith, 2000), proclament cent fois la nécessité d'innover radicalement (Levi, 2000; Ragin, 1996), ou au contraire, de retrouver la sagesse et la force de mettre en oeuvre les règles et les méthodes traditionnelles et fondatrices de la discipline (Sartori, 1994). (...) .

GOEMAN, Jelle (2001), Grondslagen van de vergelijkende methode: Een statistiche herziening van Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Doctoral dissertation, Leiden, Universiteit Leiden (unpublished).

GOERTZ, Gary (2006), "Assessing the Trivialness, Relevance, and Relative Importance of Necessary and Sufficient Conditions in Social Science", Studies in Comparative International Development, 41, 2, 88-109.
Abstract: Political scientists of all stripes have proposed numerous necessary or sufficient condition hypotheses. For methodologists a question is how can we assess tlie importance of these necessary cotiditions. This article addresses three central questions about the importance of necessary or sufficient conditions. The first concerns the "triviainess" of necessary or sufficient conditions. The second is how much a necessary or sufficient condition is "relevant?" The third important question deals with Ihe relative importance of necessary or sufficient conditions: for example, if A", and A', are necessary or sufTicient conditions., is one more important than the other? The article develops measures to assess the importance of necessary or sufficient conditions in three related contexts: (!) Venn diagrams, (2) 2 x 2 tables, and (3) fuzzy sets. Two empirical examples are discussed at length: (1) Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France. Russia, and China atid (2) Ragin's (2000) analysis of the causes of IMF riots.

Goertz, Gary, Tony Hak, and Jan Dul, "Ceiling and Floors: Where Are There No Observations?".

GOLDTHORPE, John H. (1994), "Current Issues in Comparative Macrosociology", Department of Sociology, University of Oslo, Rapport, 6,

GOLDTHORPE, John H. (1997), "Current Issues in Comparative Macrosociology: a Debate on Methodological Issues", Comparative Social Research, 16, 1-26.

GOTTCHEINER, Alain (2003), "Contradictions and Their Use in Falsification: the Case of Comparative Linguistics and QCA's Contribution", COMPASSS Working Paper, 17, 10p.
Abstract: Linguists searching about laws of phonetic changes make use of the entire corpus at their disposal. By so doing, they find laws that correctly describe observed changes, especially " splits ", but can't be checked. Such a law may always be found if using enough parameters, but doesn't guarantee a fair description. In a Popperian perspective, we'd like to suggest working on a partial corpus, trying to establish laws that correctly account for all matching multiplets considered, then applying these assumed laws to the rest of the corpus ; if no counterexample is found, the set of laws gains in credibility. In this approach, QCA may be very useful, because it allows us to : 1) consider all possible influences (position in the word, preceding and following phoneme, umlaut/ablaut, position relative to stress, …) as conditions ; 2) use contradictions as guides to the detection of influences we forgot to use ; 3) modify the corpus and set of conditions at will ; 4) produce several laws, among which we may choose the most plausible ; 5) find implications that aren't seen at first glance.

---------- (9.18.2003/9.21.2003), "Contradictions and Their Use in Falsification: the Case of Comparative Linguistics [Using QCA]", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section "Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications", Panel "Assessing the Respective Potential of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Fuzzy Sets and Other Techniques : Applications", Marburg, Germany,
Abstract: Linguists searching about laws of phonetic changes make use of the entire corpus at their disposal. By so doing, they find laws that correctly describe the changes observed, especially “splits”, but can’t be checked. Such a law may always be found if using enough parameters, but isn’t necessarily a fair description. In a Popperian perspective, I’d like to suggest working on a partial corpus, trying to establish laws that correctly account for all matching multiplets considered, then applying these assumed laws to the rest of the corpus; if no counterexample is found, the set of laws gains in credibility. In this approach, QCA may be very useful, because it allows us to: 1) consider all possible influences (position in the word, preceeding and following phonem, umlaut/ablaut, position relative to stress, …) as conditions; 2) use contradictions as guides to the detection of influences we forgot to use; 3) modify the corpus at will; 4) produce several laws, among which we may choose the most plausible.

GRAN, Brian (forthcoming), "Beyond Analytic Induction: Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Complexity and Generality in Social Research", Sociological Quarterly,

GRASSI, Davide (10.01.2004/10.02.2004), "The Study of New Democracies in Latin America and Elsewhere: Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of the "Transitions Project" at the Woodrow Wilson Center", paper presented at : Washington Conference, Washington,

GRECKHAMER, Thomas, MISANGYI VILMOS F., ELMS, Heather, and LACEY, Rodney (2008), "Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Strategic Management Research : An Examination of Combinations of Industry, Corporate, and Business-Unit Effects", Organizational Research Methods, 11, 4, 695-726.
Abstract: The authors present qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as a viable method for strategic management research. Specifically, they demonstrate its ability to examine the potential interdependence and complexity among effects through a study of how industry, corporate, and business-unit attributes combine in determining business-unit performance. They present in an accessible manner the consecutive phases of the QCA approach by analyzing a sample of 2,841 cases of business-unit performance, and they examine the insights that the QCA analysis provides for this particular stream of literature. The authors conclude with a discussion of the benefits and limitations QCA poses for strategic management research more generally, including major contingencies under which QCA or linear methods may be more appropriate for strategy research.

GRIFFIN, Larry J. (1992), "Temporality, Events, and Explanation in Historical Sociology: an Introduction", Sociological Methods and Research, 20, 403-427.

---------- (1993), "Narrative, Event-Structure Analysis and Causal Interpretation in Historical Sociology", American Journal of Sociology, 98, 5, 1094-1133.

GRIFFIN, Larry J., BOTSKO, Christopher, WAHL, Ana-Maria, and ISAAC, Larry W. (1991), "Theoretical Generality, Case Particularity: Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Trade Union Growth and Decline", in RAGIN, Charles C. (ed), Issues and Alternatives in Comparative Social Research, Leiden, E.J. Brill, pp. 110-136.

GRIFFIN, Larry J. and RAGIN, Charles C. (1994), "Some Observations on Formal Methods of Qualitative Analysis", Sociological Methods and Research, 23, 1, 1-12.

Grimon, "Typologie des erreurs constatées dans les dossiers de chômage gérés par l'ONEm." (2002):2002.

GROFMAN, Bernard and SCHNEIDER, Carsten Q. (2010 ), "An Introduction to Crisp Set QCA, With a Comparison to Binary Logistic Regression", Political Research Quarterly, 62, 4, 662-672.
Abstract: The authors focus on the dichotomous crisp set form of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The authors review basic set theoretic QCA methodology, including truth tables, solution formulas, and coverage and consistency measures and discuss how QCA ( a) displays relations between variables, (b) highlights descriptive or complex causal accounts for specific (groups of) cases, and (c) expresses the degree of fit. To help readers determine when QCA's configurational approach might be appropriate, the authors compare and contrast QCA to mainstream statistical methodologies such as binary logistic regressions done on the same data set.

GRRIIN, Larry J. (2007), "Historical Socilogu, Narrative and Event-Structure-Analysis: Fifteen Years Later", Sociologica, 3,

HAGUE, Rod and HARROP, Martin (2001), Comparative Government and Politics. An Introduction, 5th ed., Houndmills, Palgrave. (Table of contents at : http://www.palgrave.com/politics/hague)

HARPER, Douglas (1992), "Small N's and Community Case Studies", in RAGIN, Charles C and BECKER, Howard S. (eds.), What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, New-York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 139-158.

HASEGAWA, Keiji (2001), "Muzyun wo hukumu Gyou no Mondai [Problems of the Row that contains Contradiction]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 189-207.

HAVERLAND, Markus and PRINCEN, S. B. M. (1998), "Causaliteit in meervoudige case-studies [Causality in multiple case-studies]", Sociale Wetenschappen, 4, 4, 24-41.
Abstract: Multiple case studies are frequently used to test causal claims. Because of the small number of cases involved, however, causal inference from these studies is problematic. In this article, these problems are discussed in the context of studies of the determinants of environmental policy. Starting from six crucial assumptions underlying causal inference from small-N studies, it is shown that some of these assumptions can be weakened by the systematic use of theory in the selection of cases and by process tracing. Also, Charles Ragin's method of Qualitative Comparative Analysis is examined to see to what extent it escapes the limitations of traditional small-N studies. Although a number of limitations can be overcome by (a combination of) these methods, causal inference from small-N studies remains especially vulnerable to the quality of the theory that is used and the way the variables are measured.

HAWLEY, Joshua D. (2007), "Media Review: Rihoux B. & Grimm H. (2006). Innovative Comparative Mehtods for Policy Analysis: Beyond the Qauntitative-Qualitative Divide. New-York: Springer ", Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1, 4, 390-392.

HEISE, David R. (1992), "Computer Assistance in Qualitative Sociology", Social Science Computer Review, 10, 4, 531-543. (online at : http://www.indiana.edu/~socpsy/papers/compAssis/compAssis.htm)
Abstract: Software for analyzing qualitative data is emerging simultaneously with a resurgence of formal methods for qualitative analysis, giving contemporary sociologists unprecedented control over qualitative research projects. This article focuses on computer methods of text analysis and on software for building "logic models" that systematize interpretations of empirical data. Content analysis, network analysis, and image analysis are mentioned as additional growth areas in computer-assisted qualitative research.

HELLSTRÖM, Eeva (1998), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis: A Useful Tool for Research into Forest Policy and Forestry Conflicts", Forest Science, 44, 2, 254-265.

HELLSTRÖM, Eeva and RANTALA, Kati (8.2000), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Opening New Paths for Social Research in Forestry", paper presented at : 21st IUFRO World Congress, Technical Session "Interface Between Forest Science and Policy Making", Kuala Lumpur,

HENKE, Roger (1998), "Vergelijkende methoden vergeleken [Comparative methods compared]", Sociale Wetenschappen, 4, 4, 8-23.
Abstract: The literature on the methodology of comparative research is extensive. Major perspectives are focussed on 1. Definitions: which research should be called comparative? 2. Typologies: what comparative research strategies can be identified? 3. Techniques: what are the conditions for the proper use of a particular strategy? This article does not try to summarize, let alone synthesize this body of literature but opts for a different approach. It is argued that a simple cross table of the unit of analysis, the properties of that unit and the research question at hand can be used as a frame for analyzing (comparative) methods of analysis. The author is tributary to Charles Ragin and Howard Becker for the ideas presented.

HERALA, Nina (2004), Use of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Comparative Law. Comparison of the Legal Regulation of Sustainable Development in Physical Planning in Denmark and Finland, Vaasa, Finland, Vaasan Yliopisto.

HERRMANN, A. M. and CRONQVIST, L. (2009), "When Dichotomisation Becomes a Problem for the Analysis of Middle-Sized Datasets", International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 12, 1, 33-50.
Abstract: This article aims at illustrating the circumstances in which Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and its ramifications, fs/QCA and MVQCA, become particularly useful tools of analysis. To this end, we discuss the most pertinent problem which researchers encounter when using QCA: the problem of contradicting observations. In QCA analysis, contradictions arise from the sheer number of cases and the problem of dichotomisation. In order to handle contradictions, the method for analysing middle-sized-N situations should therefore be chosen according to two parameters: the size of a dataset, and the need to preserve raw-data information. While QCA is an apt tool for analysing comparatively small middle-sized datasets with a correspondingly reduced necessity to preserve cluster information, the opposite holds true for fs/QCA. MVQCA strikes a balance between these two methods as it is most suitable for analysing genuinely middle-sized case sets for which some cluster information needs to be preserved.

HERRMANN, Andrea and CRONQVIST, Lasse (2005), "Fs/QCA and MVQCA: Different Answers to the Problem of Contradicting Observations in QCA", paper presented at : ECPR General Conference, Budapest, Hungary,
Abstract: This paper aims at illustrating under which circumstances QCA and its ramifications, fs/QCA and MVQCA, become particularly useful tools of analysis. To this end, we discuss the most pertinent problem which researchers encounter when using QCA, namely the problem of contradicting observations. In QCA analysis, contradictions arise from the sheer number of cases, as well as the problem of dichotomisation. Therefore, we argue that – in order to handle contradictions – the method for analysing middle-sized-N situations should be chosen according to two parameters: The size of a dataset on the one hand, and the need to preserve raw data information on the other. While QCA is a particularly adequate tool for analysing comparatively small middle-size datasets with a reduced necessity to preserve cluster information, the opposite holds true for fs/QCA. MVQCA, in turn, strikes a balance between these two methods as it is most suitable for analysing genuinely middle-size case-sets for which some cluster information needs to be preserved.

________, "Fs/QCA and MVQCA: Different Answers to the Problem of Contradicting Observations in QCA." (2005): 24. 2005.

HERRMANN, Andrea and CRONQVIST, Lasse (2006), "Contradictions in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): A Way Out of the Dilemma", EUI Working Paper SPS No. 2006/06,

HICKS, Alexander M. (1994), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Analytical Induction: the Case of the Emergence of the Social Security State", Sociological Methods and Research, 23, 1, 86-113 .

HICKS, Alexander M., MISRA, Joy, and NAH NG, Tang (1995), "The Programmatic Emergence of the Social Security State", American Sociological Review, 60, 3, 329-350.

HINO, Airo, "Who Said QCA Is Static?", paper presented at : Expert Roundtable on the Study of Strategies of Social Change Using the Method of Qualitative Comparatvie Analysis (QCA), Manchester,

---------- (07.15.2006/07.16.2006), "Bridging the QCA and Time Series Cross Sectional Analyses: a 'Comparison' of Two Comparative Methods", paper presented at : International Conference on Comparative Social Sciences, Tokyo, Japan,

HINO, Airo (09.20.2009), "Time Series Analysis Using QCA", paper presented at : The Second Japan-UK Roundtable on the Frontiers of the Qualitative Comparative Method, Sapporo,

HUBER, Günter L. and SCHRODI, Franz (1999), "Logical Minimization As a Tool for Research on Teacher Thinking", paper presented at : 9th Biennial Conference of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT), Dublin. (online at : http://www.aquad.de/texts/isatt99.htm)
Abstract: This paper describes the method of logically minimizing the various configurations of critical characteristics within the cases of a study and grouping them into clusters according to general patterns of features. Examples from studies on classroom discipline, active learning, and teachers' explanations of learning problems in mathematics are presented.

HUBER, Günter L. (5.29.1997/5.30.1997), "Zur Generalisierbarkeit der Rekonstruktionen subjektiver Orientierungen", paper presented at : Konstanzer Workshop "Alltag, Alltagsbewußtsein Und Handlungsorientierungen Von Schülerinnen Und Schülern Im Sportunterricht", Konstanz. (online at : http://www.aquad.de/texts/konstanz.htm#N_1_)

HYYRYLÄINEN, Esa (1997), "Kvalitatiivinen analyysi Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) -menetelmällä [Qualitative analysis using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)]", Centre for Comparative Public Policy and Management Occasional Papers, 3,

HYYRYLÄINEN, Esa (9.5.2001/9.8.2001), "Linking Organizational Strategies With Staff Participation and Involvement Schemes: Theoritical and Methodological Considerations", paper presented at : EGPA Vaasa Conference, Vaasa, Finland. (www.soc.kuleuven.ac.be/pol/io/egpa/HRM/vaasa/Esa_Hyyrylainen_EGPA_paper.doc)

HYYRYLÄINEN, Esa and NAARMALA JYRI (2006), "Employing Management Information at Universities – Preliminaries for a Medium-N Approach With Qualitative Comparative Analysis", paper presented at : Working Papers of the University of Vaasa, Faculty of Public Administration, Public Management, Vaasa, Finland,
Abstract: This paper discusses what Charles C. Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) has to offer for the analysis of management information usage. Method is gaining all the time more interest from researchers in other disciplines. The paper delivers a description of basic features and procedures of QCA method, and discusses possibilities to apply it in a comparative analysis of effectiveness of management information at universities. The overall intention of the writers is to promote interdisciplinary dialogue on methodologies, theories, and empirical issues among those interested in management information practices.

IDIART, Alma (1998), "Stable Democracies in Latin America? Advancing Rueschemeyer, Stephens and Stephens's Analysis for the Latin American Cases ", paper presented at : Southern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, ??,
Abstract: This paper attempts to further Rueschemeyer, Stephens, and Stephens's (1992) comparative historical analysis of democratization and theory building for their Latin American cases by using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as a technique for the implementation of analytical induction (Hicks 1994). For early waves of democratization two paths are identified. One is defined by (moderate) non-mining export sectors aided by clientelistic parties. The other is constituted by the same sectoral configuration aided by elite contestation. For latter waves, three alternative configurations are defined. For all these three configurations, given the presence of political parties during the second democratic period the combination of two of the following three factors allows for second wave stable democracies: 1) the absence of industrialization preceding democratization processes; 2) the presence of strong mechanisms of elite contestation (under the form of electoral contestation); and 3) the antecedent of previously stable democracies.

INABA, Akihide (2001), "Enzyo Koudou wo Sokusin/Yokusei suru Zyouken : Meta Bunseki heno Ouyou [Application of Boolean approach to Meta Analysis : Using Helping Behavior Data]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 130-147.

JANOSKI, Thomas (1991), "Synthetic Strategies in Comparative Sociological Research : Methods and Problems of Internal and External Analysis", in RAGIN, Charles C. (ed.), Issues and Alternatives in Comparative Social Research, Leiden, E.J. Brill, pp. 59-81.

JANOSKI, Thomas and HICKS, Alexander M. (eds) (1994), The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

KACOWICZ, Arie M. (2004), "Case Study Methods in International Security Studies", in SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (Eds), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, pp. 107-125.

KANGAS, Ollie (1994), "The Politics of Social Security : on Regressions, Qualitative Comparisons, and Cluster Analysis", in JANOSKI, Thomas and HICKS, Alexander M. (eds), The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 346-364.

KANOMATA, Nobuo (2001), "Buuru Daisuu Bunseki no Enzan [The Algorithm of Boolean Analysis]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 19-40.

--------- (2001), "Saibankan no Keireki: Kojin Deita heno Ouyou [Career of Judges: Application [of QCA] to Personal Data]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 63-78.

---------- (2001), "Yogen no Jikozyouzyu Moderu [A model of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo,

KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds) (2001), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo.

---------- (2001), "Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki toshiteno Buuru Daisuu Apurouchi [Boolean Approach as Qualitative Comparative Analysis]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 3-13.

KATANO, Youhei (09.21.2009), "Determinants of the Effectiveness of Environmental Law: A QCA Approach ", paper presented at : The Second UK-Japan Roundtable on the Frontiers of the Qualitative Comparative Method, Sapporo,

KELLE, Udo (1996), "Computer-Aided Qulitative Data Analysis : an Overview", in ZUELL, Cornelia, HARKNESS, Janet, and HOFFMEYER-ZLOTNIK, Jürgen H. P. (eds), Text Analysis and Computers , Mannheim, ZUMA, pp. 33-63.

KING, Gary, KEOHANE, Robert O., and VERBA, Sidney (eds) (1994), Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research, Princeton, Princeton University Press.

KITCHENER, Martin, BEYNON, Malcolm, and HARRINGTON, Charlene (2002), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Public Services Research: Lessons From an Early Application ", Public Management Review , 4, 4, 485-504 .
Abstract: This article introduces the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method, provides a detailed description of an early application in US public management research and draws lessons from the experience. In methodological terms, we show that QCA requires coding decisions that influence outcomes significantly and emphasize that this secondary data analysis technique be used in conjunction with primary methods in order to consider issues of process. The substantive findings from our application in a study of state-level barriers to policy diffusion indicate the potential of QCA as a systematic approach to the identification of linkages between causal factors that emerge as important to case study participants.

KOGUT, Bruce (12.2000), "The Transatlantic Exchange of Ideas and Practices: National Institutions and Diffusion", Les Notes de l'IFRI, 26, 3, 7-46. (online at : http://jonescenter.wharton.upenn.edu/papers/2000/wp00-13.pdf)

KOGUT, Bruce (2010), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Social Science Data", in MORGAN, Glenn, CAMPBELL, John, CROUCH, Colin, PEDERSEN, Ove Kai, and WHITLEY, Richard (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Institutional Analysis , Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 139-179.
Abstract: Introduction Classical Model of the Nineteenth Century Charles Ragin and Multiple Conjunctural Analysis: Configurations Counterfactuals Counterfactuals, Paul Tetlock, and Lars-Erik Cederman Counterfactuals and Gary King Comparison to Statistical Approaches: Example of Varieties of Capitalism Criticism of Qualitative Comparative Analysis Fuzzy Set Logic Multi-level Analysis Statistical Approaches: Multi-level Analysis and the Ecological Fallacy Looking Forward: Mechanisms and Simulation.

KOSAKA, Kenji (1991), "Hikakubunsekiho No Formalisation. C. Ragin No Teigon Wo Megutte. [The Formalisation of the Comparative Method. On C. Ragin's Suggestion.]", in KOBAYASHI, Junichi (ed), Shakaigaku Ni Okeru Riron to Gainen No Formalisation. [The Formalisation of Concepts and Theories in Sociology.]pp. 99-115.

KRIESI, Hanspeter (1994), Les démocraties occidentales. Une approche comparée, Politique Comparée, Paris, Economica.

---------- (1994), "Les principes de la méthode comparée", in KRIESI, Hanspeter, Les démocraties occidentales. Une approche comparée, Paris, Economica, pp. 27-45.

KRIVOKAPIC-SKOKO, B. and O'NEILL, G. (2010), "When a Qualitatively Oriented Researcher Moves Into the Arena of Mixed Research Methods", Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies, 247-254.
Abstract: Mixed method research is very powerful for gaining new insights and a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomena. As an intellectual and practical synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research mixed method research often provides the most informative, complete, balanced and useful research results which perhaps can explain its popularity. According to some scholars (Mason, 2006) qualitative researchers are getting increasingly involved in the development of mixed method research. Some developments in qualitative research methods, such as for instance Qualitative Comparative Analysis case-oriented quantification also contribute to an increasing trend of mixing methods in a qualitatively driven way. These newly developed methods allow for the qualitative analysis to be systematic, formal, as well as rigours and procedurally replicable, and very importantly it becomes possible to achieve the intensity intrinsic to the qualitative research while dealing with more than a handful of cases. This paper is written from the perspective of a qualitative researcher. The aim of the paper is to outline and draw an attention to the ways qualitative researcher enriched a mixed method approach. After outlining background, popularity and rationale for using mixed methods the paper elaborates on some innovative and stimulating ways of combining qualitative and quantitative research methods.

KUEHN, David and ROHLFING, Ingo (2009), "Does It, Really? Measurement Eror and Omitted Variables in Multi-Method Research", Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, 7, 2, 18-21.
Abstract: A recurring tenet in much of the recent discussion on combining case studies and regression analyses and, to a lesser degree, case studies and QCA, highlights the purported ability of Multi-Method Research (MMR) to overcome the classic problems attached to each of the individual methods. The large- N part is employed to uncover cross-case regularities and causal effects, while in-depth case studies are undertaken to identify causal mechanisms in a subset of cases. In this, one purpose of case studies is to cross-validate the insights of the large-N analysis by identifying possible measurement error and exposing potentially omitted variables. Thereby, it is assumed, case studies are able to make the large-N analysis more robust. In this essay, we critically revisit these arguments from a methodological perspective. We argue that the ability of case studies to effectively enhance the inferential quality of the large-N method is significantly limited due to the very problems that they are supposed to solve: measurement error and omitted variables. While there is some discussion of these two issues on the cross-case level (King, Keohane, and Verba 1994; Lieberson 1991), there is only limited and largely implicit reflection on their relevance for the within-case level. This is unfortunate, as measurement errors and omitted variables on the within-case level are no less damaging for the inferential power of case studies as they are for large-N analyses. Measurement error and omitted variables are particularly likely to occur in process tracing because of problems in the use of sources for data collection and the generation of inferences on the basis of this data. We, therefore, maintain that the ability of the case study to serve as a double check on the quantitative part of MMR designs is overestimated. To be sure, many of the issues we highlight in this paper have been thrown up in the methods debate before. However, we think there is an insufficient transfer of the arguments made in the realm of the case study literature to the work on MMR, which is what we aim to achieve in the following.

LACEY, Rodney (10.21.2001/10.24.2001), "Creating Generalized Knowledge From Case Studies: a New Methodological Approach", paper presented at : The Strategic Management Society 21st Annual International Conference, San Francisco,
Abstract: Most strategic research is either specific case studies (N < 6), or generalizable quantitative studies (N > 100), because researchers lack methods for handling multiple case studies (N=10-50). This paper demonstrates a new methodology, based on boolean analysis, that can handle multiple case studies and simultaneously achieve tailored and generalizable models of strategic practice. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (Ragin, 1987) allows for systematic, statistical analysis of causal relationships when the number of cases would be too small for standard statistical tests, but when the complexity of data is too great for traditional qualitative approaches. This paper illustrates the effectiveness and utility of the multiple case method and QCA by showing how independent variables affect organizational innovation in 30 hypothetical but representative case studies.

LAGUECIR, Aziza (3.2003), "Practices of Cost Planning and Management Tools in NPD Process: a Quali-Comparative Approach", paper presented at : Druid Winter Conference,

LANDMAN, Todd (2000), Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics. An Introduction, London, Routledge.

---------- (11.1.2000), "Comparative Politics and Human Rights", Human Rights Working Papers, 10, 1-43. (online at : http://www.du.edu/humanrights/workingpapers/papers/10-landman-11-00.pdf)

---------- (12.1.2000), "Comparative Politics and Human Rights", paper presented at : Conference on Law and Anthropology, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford. (online at : http://www.du.edu/humanrights/workingpapers/papers/10-landman-11-00.pdf)

LARSEN, Mattias (2009), "Vulnerable Daughters in Times of Change. A Set-Theoric Analysis of the 'Missing Girls' Problem in India", Compasss Working Paper, 55, 34p.

LESTHAEGHE, Ron (1989), "A Boolean Framework for Comparative Analysis", Historical Methods, 22, 1, 37-38.

LEVI, Margaret (2001), Analytic Narratives and Other Systematic and Rigorous Ways to Do Case Study and Qualitative Comparative Research (Course Syllabus, University of Washington) (unpublished manuscript). (Online at : http://www.asu.edu/clas/polisci/cqrm/syllabi/Leviseminarsyllabus.htm)

LIEBERSON, Stanley (1991), "Small N's and Big Conclusions : an Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases", Social Forces, 70, 2, 307-320.

---------- (1994), "More on the Uneasy Case for Using Mill-Type Methods in Small N Comparative Studies", Social Forces, 72, 4, 1225-1237.

LIKHTENCHTEIN, Anna (9.18.2003/9.21.2003), "Comparing New Phenomena: Heuristic Potential of QCA. (Elite Driven Parties in Russia and Ukraine)", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section "Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications", Panel "Systematic Qualitative Comparisons in Comparative Research", Marburg, Germany,
Abstract: This paper explores Duma elections in Russia (1993-1999) and Rada elections in the Ukraine (1994-2000). A methodological intrigue lies in the fact Ukrainian ruling elites began to exploit the strategy of party building later then in Russia, and in spite of the fact that at one point countries' institutional variables became 'similar', the political role of party principle remained 'different'. The paper points the question - what are the factors, accounted for such a puzzle, and what kind of expectations can be proposed about party system development in the countries. To address this intriguing puzzle, this paper proposes a unique methodological solution to the problems described. In particular, the paper stresses the potential of comparative analysis for the investigation of new underdeveloped phenomena that often arise when dealing with transforming democracies.

LOBE, Bojana (2006), Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in the Environment of New Information-Communication Technologies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana (unpublished).

---------- (2006), "Zdruzevanje kvalitativnih in kvantitativnih metod - stara praska v novi preobleki?", Druzboslovne Razprave, 22, 53, 55-73.

---------- (2008), Integration of Online Research Methods , Ljubljana, Faculty of social sciences, University of Ljubljana.

LOBE, Bojana and RIHOUX, Benoît (09.20.2009), "The Specificities of QCA on Micro Level Data: Enhancing the Interpretation of Complex Patterns From Richer Case Knowledge", paper presented at : The Second UK-Japan Roundtable on the Frontiers of the Qualitative Comparative Method, Sapporo,

LONGEST, K. C. and VAISEY, S. (2008), "Fuzzy: a Program for Performing Qualitative Comparative Analyses (Qca) in Stata", Stata Journal, 8, 1, 79-104.
Abstract: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is an increasingly popular analytic strategy, with applications to numerous empirical fields. This article briefly discusses the substantive motivation and technical details of QCA, as well as fuzzy-set QCA, followed by an in-depth discussion of how the new program fuzzy performs these techniques in Stata. An empirical example is presented that demonstrates the full suite of tools contained within fuzzy, including creating configurations, performing a series of statistical tests of the configurations, and reducing the identified configurations.

LUOMA, Pentti (1993), "Boolen analyysi laadullisessa tutkimuksessa [Boolean analysis in qualitative research]", Sosiologia, 30, 3, 212-215.

________, "Kvalitatiivinen Vertaileva Analyysi (=QCA) Liittyvää Aineistoa." (1996):1996.

________, "Kvalitatiivinen Vertaileva Analyysi (QCA) [Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)]." (1996):1996.

________, "Kirjallisuutta kvalitatiivisesta vertailasta analyysista eli QCA:sta [Literature on qualitative comparative analysis or QCA]." (2001):2001.

LUOMA, Pentti (9.18.2003/9.21.2003), "New Options in Crossing the Methodological Borders: From Quantitative to Qualitative Analysis and Vice Versa", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section "Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications", Panel "Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in “Small N” Situations", Marburg, Germany,
Abstract: The arguments for the qualitative data analysis have been based on the standard critique of positivism. In this critique the difference between human and natural sciences is sometimes overemphasized. There are, however, new trends in the philosophy of science and methodology that try to reconcile this issue. These are critical realism and closely connected to the former naturalism. In these methodologies the question of choosing a method in empirical research is seen only as a technical matter subordinated to the research issue. Thus these methodologies also emphasize intensive research and triangulation. They have made way to the variability of methods in empirical research. Since the 1980’s mixing methods has further been facilitated by the development of computer programs planned to rationalize qualitative data analysis. These offer new technical opportunities for bridging the gap between the qualitative and quantitative analysis. The aim of this paper is to show how to cross the old border by using programs like QSR NVivo, MS Excel and SPSS. This will be illustrated by using two examples to show a) how the qualitative data can be analyzed quantitatively and b) how to categorize the open-ended answers of a survey for the further qualitative analysis.

LUPPI, Francesca (08.2009), "A Modest Proposal to Include Time into FsQCA", Ljubjana,

MAHONEY, James (1999), "Nominal, Ordinal, and Narrative Appraisal in Macrocausal Analysis", American Journal of Sociology, 104, 4, 1154-1196.

---------- (2000), "Strategies of Causal Inference in Small-N Analysis", Sociological Methods and Research , 28, 4, 387-424.

________, "Comparative-Historical Methods: The State of the Art. Lecture for the COMPASSS Meeting, 25-6 November 2004, Leuven." (2004):2004.

---------- (2004), "Introduction: A Note on Terminology", Qualitative Methods: Newsletter of the American Political Science Association Organized Section on Qualitiative Methods, 2, 2, 2.

MANNEWITZ, Tom (2011), "Two-Level Theories in QCA: a Discussion of Schneider and Wagemann's Two-Step Approach", COMPASSS Working Paper 2011-64, 2011-64,
Abstract: Comparative methods based on set theoretic relationships, such as ‘fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis’ (fs/QCA) represent an useful tool for dealing with complex causal hypotheses in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions under the constraint of a mediumsized number of cases. However, real world research situations might make the application of fs/QCA difficult in two respects, namely, with regard to the complexity of the results and the phenomenon of limited diversity. We suggest a two-step approach as one possibility to mitigate these problems. After introducing the difference between remote and proximate factors, the application of a two-step fs/QCA approach is demonstrated analysing the causes of the consolidation of democracy. We find that different paths lead to consolidation but all of them are characterised by a fit of the institutional mix chosen to the societal context in terms of power dispersion. Hence, we demonstrate that the application of fs/QCA in a twostep manner helps to formulate and test equifinal and conjunctural hypotheses in medium-size N comparative analyses and, thus, to contribute to an enhanced understanding of social phenomena.

MARKOFF, John (1990), "A Comparative Method: Reflections on Charles Ragin's Innovations in Comparative Analysis", Historical Methods, 23, 4, 177-181.

MARMOR, Theodore R. and LIEBERMAN, Evan S. (9.2.2004/9.5.2004), "Tobacco Control in Comparative Perspective: Eight Nations in Search of an Explanation", paper presented at : APSA Annual Meeting 2004, Chicago,

MARX, Axel (QCA Models and Random Models: Is There a Difference? (unpublished manuscript).

--------- (2004), "Systematisch Comparatief Case Onderzoek en Evaluatieonderzoek", Tijdschrift voor Sociologie,

---------- (2006), "Towards a More Robust Model Specification in QCA Results From a Methodological Experiment", COMPASSS Working Paper, 43, 25p.
Abstract: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a research technique which was developed by Charles C. Ragin and has been applied in several studies that appeared in major sociological journals. Recently, QCA has been criticized concerning the validity of the models it generates. Lieberson has hypothesized that QCA is unable to distinguish real from random data. In other words, it is argued that QCA always finds a model even on the basis of random data. The paper addresses this issue through a methodological experiment. It uses randomly created data-matrices to show that QCA can make a distinction between real and random data. However, it only does so under certain conditions namely when the proportion of variables on cases goes below a certain threshold, which differs as a function of the combination of variables on cases. Secondly, it argues that there is an upper-limit to the number of variables which can be used in a QCA-analysis. Both limiting conditions are the result of the problem of uniqueness which is a consequence of the use of Boolean algebra and have not yet been addressed in the literature. Five implications for comparative case research-design and QCA are discussed.

______ (2008), Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Is There a Difference Between Random and Real Models? (unpublished manuscript).

---------- (03.19.2009), "Model Specification in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", paper presented at : Master Class- Fine Tuning QCA Applications, Leuven,

---------- (2010), "Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (CsQCA) and Model Specification: Benchmarks for Future CsQCA Applications", International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 4, 2, 138-158.

MARX, Axel, CAMBRÉ, Bart, and RIHOUX, Benoît (2012 forthcoming), "Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Assessing the Potential for Organizational Studies (Working Title)", in FISS, Peer C., CAMBRÉ, Bart, and MARX, Axel (eds), Configurational Theory and Methods in Organizational Research

MARX, Axel and DUSA, Adrian (2011, forthcoming), "Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (CsQCA), Contradictions and Consistency: Benchmarks for Model Specification", Methodological Innovations,

MARX, Axel and PEETERS, Hans (2004), "Win for Life. An Empirical Exploration of the Social Consequences of Introducing a Basic Income", COMPASSS Working Paper, 29, 54p.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is twofold. First of all, the paper discusses why, how, and to what extent, natural experiments such as lotteries can contribute to research which empirically explores possible social consequences of the introduction of a Basic Income. The second aim is to focus on the question of what, if anything, happens after the introduction of a Basic Income. The paper is structured in three parts. The first part of the paper addresses the question of why natural experiments constitute an interesting research-strategy. Via a comparison with a genuine experiment a theoretical case is made to conduct lottery research, which has some distinctive strengths vis-à-vis an experiment. The second part of the paper discusses an ongoing pilot-project which investigates the consequences of winning the Belgian lottery game Win for Life (unconditional lifelong monthly allowance of 1.000 euro). It is assessed to what extent this game represents a good proxy for a Basic Income and what conclusions can be drawn from it. In addition, the results of a pilot-project are discussed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). A specific issue of model-selection in a QCA-type of analysis is also addressed. In a third part, a proposal for the extension of lottery research is suggested.

MCVEIGH, R., NEBLETT, C., and SHAFIQ, S. (2006), "Explaining Social Movement Outcomes: Multiorganizational Fields and Hate Crime Reporting", Mobilization, 11, 23-49.
Abstract: Social movement organizations and nonprofit organizations can affect local communities in numerous ways, some of which are intended and some of which are unintended. Assessing the influence of these organizations is complicated because the effect that an organization has on a community depends in part on the attributes of the community in which it is embedded. This article draws attention to the importance of multiorganizational fields in determining social movement consequences through an analysis of hate crime enforcement and reporting in U.S. counties. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), in combination with more traditional statistical techniques, identifies fifteen configurations of variable attributes that almost always result in reported hate crimes. The analysis shows how measures of civil rights activism, political opportunities, grievances, and multiorganizational fields combine in local settings to produce hate crime reporting with near certainty. Results indicate that the resourcefulness, heterogeneity, and funding sources of the nonprofit sector play a key role in determining whether hate crimes are reported.

MELINDER, Karin (9.18.2003/9.21.2003), "QCA and Correlational Methods", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section "Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications", Panel "The Potential of Statistical Methods in “Small N” and “Medium N” Situations", Marburg, Germany,
Abstract: QCA is normally used in political science and with nominal data. The aim of this paper is to present a way to combine QCA with quantitative data and methods. A number of European countries are compared according to their levels of fatal injuries and various structural factors. The method employed involves a combination of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Pearson correlation. The QCA table presented shows a pattern where countries with a special combination of variable values have many traffic accidents and few suicides, whereas countries with the opposite pattern have few traffic accidents and many suicides. But it is hard to tell which variables impact on which. Correlation coefficients, however, reveal the importance of each specific variable in relation both to each other and to the outcome. Combining QCA with Pearson correlations compensates for one of the disadvantages with QCA, namely the difficulty of ranking factors. Correlations, however, in one way functions similar to QCA in that it gives the same patterning of variables when not using partial correlations that control for other variables.

MELINDER, Karin A. and ANDERSSON, Ragnar (9.6.2000/9.9.2000), "Multivariate Analysis in Qualitative Research", paper presented at : 3rd Nordic Health Promotion Research Conference, Tampere,
Abstract: Background : Multivariate analysis has mostly been performed using quantitative methods. In these, controlling for confounders and inter-correlated variables is treated as important. The aim of this paper is to discuss the role of confounders and inter-correlated variables when utilizing qualitative rather than quantitative techniques.
Material and methods: A number of European countries are compared according to their levels of fatal injuries and various structural factors. The method employed involves a combination of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Pearson correlation. QCA uses binary data, and has the advantage of being capable of presenting a pattern on the basis of a variety of variables. One disadvantage of OCA is that it is hard to rank factors in accordance with their importance. The advantage of Pearson correlation is that results can be presented in the form of a matrix displaying values on many variables.
Results: The QCA table presented shows a pattern where countries with a special combination of variable values - low GNP, high level of unemployment, high alcohol consumption and many Catholics - have many traffic accidents and few suicides, whereas countries with high GNP, a low unemployment rate, low alcohol consumption and few Catholics do not. But it is hard to tell which variables impact on which. Pearson correlation coefficients, however, reveal the importance of each specific variable. When the table provided by QCA is complemented with Pearson coefficients it is found that - although both unemployment rate and alcohol consumption contribute to the formation of the QCA pattern - their roles differ between rich, non-Catholic countries and less-developed, Catholic countries.
Discussion: Confounding variables, which in quantitative analysis are seen as problematic, can be regarded as an asset in qualitative analysis. The latter kind of analysis enables a patterning of cases that is not possible when relying solely on the former.

MILES, Matthew B. and HUBERMAN, A. Michael (1994), Qualitative Data Analysis: an Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd revised ed., Thousand Oaks, Sage.

MILES, Matthew B. and WEITZMAN, Eben A. (1994), "Appendix. Choosing Computer Programs for Qualitative Data Analysis", in MILES, Matthew B. and HUBERMAN, A. Michael, Qualitative Data Analysis: an Expanded Sourcebook 2nd revised ed., Thousand Oaks, Sage, pp. 311-317.

MISUMI, Kazuto (9.14.2000/9.16.2000), "Two Levels of Dyscommunication: an Analysis by Boolean Role Model ", paper presented at : 4th Conference of the Asia Pacific Sociological Association, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya (Japan). (abstract at : http://www.world.ryukoku.ac.jp/~pauline/Kosaka.html)
Abstract: This paper analyzes, based on Boolean model of social role, how the subjective internal structures of roles condition the dyscommunication between actors. We postulate that a role consists of some role elements in an individual¹s image. Suppose a role X, and also suppose a performer who has image X¹ and an observer who has image X². In general, X can be discriminated by an observer under the condition that X¹X² equals to X², or at least that X¹X² and X² share one or more Boolean sum of products. The first order dyscommunication occurs when one or more role elements are not shared between subgroups of actors. Taking a simple model of two elements, we examine the cases in which this type of dyscommunication occurs. Even if each subgroup enrolls the different elements in the definition of role X respectively, actors might be confronted with the second order dyscommunication. Being a set of role elements commonly shared among actors does not mean everyone have same type of image; so that, the condition mentioned above may not be satisfied in some combinations between types. We examine such cases based on the extended three elements¹ model. An implied situation of this study is intercultural communication, as well as international marriage increasing in rural area of Japan.

MISUMI, Kazuto (2001), "Two Levels of Dyscommunication: an Analysis by Boolean Role Model ", Sociological Theory and Methods, 16, 2, 229-243. (abstract at : http://www.world.ryukoku.ac.jp/~pauline/Kosaka.html)

MISUMI, Kazuto (2001), "Yakuwari Riron Moderu [A Model of Role Theory]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo,

---------- (2002), "A Boolean Model of Role Discrimination", Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 26, 1-2, 111-121. (abstract at : http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/groups/mathsoc/hawaii/abstracts.htm)
Abstract: This paper analyzes, based on Boolean approach by C.C.Ragin, how the subjective internal structures of social roles condition the possibility of role discrimination. I postulate, in an individualfs image, a role consists of some role elements, which construct an internal hierarchical structure (role image) depending on each elementfs contribution to the role discrimination as a whole. Then the role discrimination is formulated as a Boolean equation, taking the role elements as independent variables and the role discrimination itself as a dependent variable. Suppose a role X, and a performer who has image Xf and an observer who has image Xh communicate ea ch other. In general, between such two given actors, X can be discriminated by an observer under the condition that XfXh equals to Xh, or at least th at XfXh and Xh share one or more Boolean products; however, X is never di scriminated otherwise. At first, I take a simple case of two elements and examine the possibility of role discrimination for all possible combinations of images. After that, some general propositions as to the possibility of role discrimination, that hold regardless of the number of role elements, are derived.

MITCHELL, Ronald and BERNAUER, Thomas (2004), "Beyond Story-Telling: Designing Case Study Research in International Environmental Policy", in SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (Eds), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, pp. 81-106.

MOHR, John W. (1998), "Measuring Meaning Structures", Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 345-70.

MÜLLER, Leos and NOVAKY Gyorgy (1997), Om komparativ metod inom historievetenskapen (unpublished manuscript). (online at : )

MUNOZ, Lucio (2002), "Non-Traditional Research Methods and Regional Planning Needs in Developing Countries: Is There an Ideal Methodology?", Theomai Journal, 6,

MUNOZ, Lucio (2003), "Linking Sustainable Development Indicators by Means of Present/Absent Sustainability Theory and Indices: The Case of Agenda 21", GDS, IIG,

---------- (2004), Developing a Rapid Deforestation Assessment and Planning Methodology for Central America Based on Qualitative Comparative Analysis,(unpublished dissertation) (unpublished).

MUNOZ, Lucio (2009), "Beyond Traditional Sustainable Development: Sustainability Theory and Sustainability Indeces Under Ideal Present-Absent Qualitative Comparative Conditions", Mineria Sustentable, REDESMA, 3, 1,

MUÑOZ, Lucio (2008), "Agriculture and Global Warming: Should the Biofuel Route Be Expected to Be a Socially Friendly Agricultural Policy?", Biocombustibles, 2, 2,

MUÑOZ, Lucio (2003), "Eco-Economic Development Under Social Constraints: How to Redirect It Towards Sustainability?", THEOMAI, 8,

---------- (2004), "Weak Landscape-Strong Emission Impact Based Development: Is This the Most Likely Response in All Countries to Global Warming Issues?", THEOMAI,

--------- (2008), "Renewable Energy Vrs Social Needs: What Do Environmentalists Must Do to Induce the Development of a Sustainable Market Fueled Only by Renewable Energy?", Agrocombustibles, 2, 1,

---------- (2009), "How Do Agricultural Development Benefits Actually Spread: Is It the Trickle Down Effect or the Embudo Effect?", Environment and Society, 378,

NEFF, Daniel (09.21.2009), "Critical Realism, FsQCA and the Concept of Fuzzy Set", paper presented at : The Second UK-Japan Roundtable on The Frontiers of the Qualitative Comparative Method, Sapporo,

NOMIYA, Daishiro (2001), "Buuru Daisuu Apurouchi to Toukeiteki Shuhou [Boolean Approach and Statistical Method]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 42-57.

NOMIYA, Daishiro (2001), "Minsyuu no Hanran to Shakai Hendou: Rekishiteki Deita heno Ouyou [Peasants' rebellion and social change: application [of QCA] to historical data]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative comparative analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 79-94.

---------- (2004), "Atteindre la connaissance configurationnelle: remarques sur l'utilisation précautionneuse de l'AQQC", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 11, 1, 131-133.

NOMURA, Hisako (3-5th June 2008), "Transforming Variable Using SPSS/TOSMANA for QCA Analysis", paper presented at : Expert Roundtable on the Study of Strategies of Social Change Using the Method of Qualitative Comparatvie Analysis (QCA), Manchester,

NORKUS, Zenonas (2002), "Lyginamasis metodas ir daugeriopo konjunktûrinio priebastingumo problema:[Comparative Method and the Problem of Multiple Conjunctural Causation]", Lietuvos Aukstuju Mokyklu Darba. Istorija, 52, 79-90.

Norkus, Zenonas, "Contemporary Comparative Historical Sociology." (2003):2003.

ODELL, John S. (2004), "Case Study Methods in International Political Economy", in SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (Eds), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, pp. 56-80.

ODELLS, John S. (2004), "Case Study Methods in International Political Economy", in SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (Eds), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, pp. 56-80.

Olsen, Wendy, "Intermediate Level Qualitative Comparative Analysis Including Fuzzy Sets." (2004): 31 pp. 2004.

________, "Introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis." (2004):2004.

OLSEN, Wendy and NOMURA, Hisako (2007), "Necessity, Entailment, and Sufficiency in a Time-Series Framework. Some Ontological Assumptions of the Econometric Approach Vs. the Configurational Approach", paper presented at : COMPASSS Seminar, Louvain-la-Neuve,
Abstract: time.

OSLEN, Wendy (09.21.2009), "Causal Arguments in QCA- A Realist Approach", paper presented at : The Second UK-Japan Roundtable on the Frontiers of the Qualitative Comparative Method, Sapporo,

PAJUNEN, Kalle, "Comparative Casual Analysis in Processual Strategy Research: A Study of Casual Mechanisms in Organizational Decline and Turnarounds ",
Abstract: Process analysis constitutes a potential basis for casual explanations beyond mere correlation. This paper presents a methodology for processual strategy research that offers a systematic approach for causal explanation across complex sequences of events and enables consistent theorization about underlying causal mechanisms driving the processes. In addition, a comparative analysis of two organizational decline and turnaround processes is presented in order to illuminate the methodology and to construct a theory of causal mechanisms underlying the decline and turnaround process. The findings indicate that the turnaround is a matter of four necessary casual mechanisms that cumulatively and interdependently work against the mechanism of decline.

PHILLIPS, Dianne (2003), "Review Article: Research Training by the Package", Sociology, 37, 1, 165-172.

PLATT, Jennifer (1992), "Cases of Cases… of Cases", in RAGIN, Charles C. and BECKER, Howard S. (eds), What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, New-York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 21-52.

PLOUG, Niels (2001), Appendix 4.3: Institutional Analysis of the Welfare State (unpublished manuscript). (online at the Graduate School for "Integration, Production and Welfare" : http://www.grad-inprowe.dk/Sociology/Appendix4-3.htm)

QUEIROZ ATHIAS, Leonardo (9.18.2003/9.21.2003), "Two Macro-Level Research Designs Applied to the Same Set: Invalid Ballots in Brazil and in Belgium Studied Through Ecological Approach and QCA", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section "Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications", Panel "The Potential of Statistical Methods in “Small N” and “Medium N” Situations", Marburg, Germany,
Abstract: This papers deals with the analysis of the methodological pertinence and the results of two research designs: a large N statistical analysis and a QCA. The subject of invalid ballots is not enough explored, and even less comparatively. Three objectives are pursued : to account for variation of blank and null ballots in time, to account for variation among different concomitant or near elections, and to account for variation in space. I analyze blank and null ballots at three different levels and with different techniques : regional, national and international (comparative). These objectives and the purpose of triangulation call for different empirical designs. The first and the second objectives are being studied so far with different kinds of statistical tests. The third goal is the one that gives body to this paper. My analysis (also) tests the following hypothesis: which level of analysis is more fecund to account for invalid ballots in this (comparative) set. Does one country help understanding the other? Are there common patterns? At the regional level (and across the two countries) an ecological approach is to take place (cf. Ersson et al.). Concerning the macro-level comparison, a QCA will be put together. The qualitative analysis is to be a full QCA analysis of elections at the national level with theory and hypothesis testing intent. It has as outcome invalid ballots and the cases are the country-year-elections. To take all election types at once would lead the analysis to an indeterminate design (too many cases), therefore different successive and parallel analyses will be made. Criteria for analyzing the “fit” of research designs can be efficacy in theory and hypothesis testing, success in summarizing data, parsimony, and efficacy in accounting for variation in time, a difficulty that touches ecological as well as QCA analyses.

RAGIN, Chalres (2009), "Reflections on Casing and Case Oriented Research", in BYRNE, David and RAGIN, Charles (eds), The SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods , England, Sage, pp. 522-543.

RAGIN, Charles (2004), "From Fuzzy Sets to Crisp Truth Tables", COMPASSS Working Paper - Re-Worked Version of the WP2004-26, 28, 34p.
Abstract: 1 One limitation of the truth table approach is that it works best when causal conditions are simple presence/absence dichotomies (i.e., Boolean or "crisp" sets). Many of the causal conditions that interest social scientists, however, vary by level or degree. For example, while it is clear that some countries are democracies and some are not, there are many in-between cases. These countries are not fully in the set of democracies, nor are they fully excluded from this set. Fortunately, there is a well-developed mathematical system for addressing partial membership in sets, fuzzy-set theory. Section 2 of this paper provides a brief introduction to the fuzzyset approach, building on Ragin (2000). Fuzzy sets are especially powerful because they allow researchers to calibrate partial membership in sets using values in the interval between 0 (nonmembership) and 1 (full membership) without abandoning core set-theoretic principles, for example, the subset relation. Ragin (2000) demonstrates that the subset relation is central to the analysis of multiple conjunctural causation, where several different combinations of conditions are sufficient for the same outcome. While fuzzy sets solve the problem of trying to force-fit cases into one of two categories (membership versus nonmembership in a set), they are not well suited for conventional truth table analysis. With fuzzy sets, there is no simple way to sort cases according to the combinations of causal conditions they display because each case's array of membership scores may be unique. Ragin (2000) circumvents this limitation by developing an algorithm for analyzing configurations of fuzzy-set memberships that bypasses truth tables altogether. While this algorithm remains true to fuzzy-set theory through its use of the containment (or inclusion) rule, it forfeits many of the analytic strengths and virtues that follow from analyzing evidence in terms of truth tables. For example, truth tables are very useful for investigating "limited diversity" and the consequences of different "simplifying assumptions" that follow from the use of different subsets of "remainders" to reduce complexity (see Ragin 1987; Ragin and Sonnett 2004). Analyses of this type are difficult without using a truth table as the starting point. Ragin and Sonnett (2004), for example, show how to use QCA to aid counterfactual analysis and link the analysis of counterfactual conditions to core practices in case-oriented research. Truth tables are central to the analysis of counterfactuals, and the techniques described in Ragin and Sonnett (2004) cannot be implemented without the aid of truth tables. Section 3 of this paper builds a bridge between fuzzy sets and truth tables, demonstrating that it is possible to construct a conventional Boolean truth table from fuzzy-set data. It is important to point out that this new technique takes full advantage of the gradations in set membership central to the constitution of fuzzy sets and is not predicated on a dichotomization of fuzzy membership scores. To illustrate these procedures I use data collected on class voting in the advanced industrial societies, compiled by Paul Nieuwbeerta (see, e.g., Nieuwbeerta and de Graaf 1999; Nieuwbeerta and Ultee 1999; Nieuwbeerta, de Graaf and Ultee 2000). It is important to point out that the approach sketched in this paper offers a new way to conduct fuzzy-set analysis of social data. This new analytic strategy is superior in several respects to the one sketched in Fuzzy-Set Social Science (Ragin, 2000). While both approaches have strengths and weaknesses, the one presented here uses the truth table as the key analytic device. A further advantage of the fuzzy-set truthtable approach presented in this paper is that it is more transparent. Thus, the researcher has more direct control over the process of data analysis. This type of control is central to the practice of case-oriented research.

RAGIN, Charles (09.06.2007/09.08.2007), "Using Fuzzy Sets and Qualitative Comparative Methods to Analyse Longitudinal Data", paper presented at : 4th ECPR General Conference, Panel on "Comparative Research Design and Configurational Methods", Pisa,

RAGIN, Charles (2009), " Book Reviews", Swiss Political Science Review, 15, 2, 395-426.

RAGIN, Charles and STRAND, Sarah (2007), "Using QCA to Study Causal Order: Comment on Caren and Panofsky (2005)", COMPASSS Working Paper, 45, 17p.
Abstract: The goal of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is to identify the different combinations of causally relevant conditions linked to an outcome. The researcher typically focuses on a qualitative outcome and seeks to identify the different conjunctural conditions that generate it. In this way QCA allows for causal complexity--for the possibility that no single cause may be either necessary or INUS sufficient. Instead causes are viewed as conditions: insufficient but necessary components of unnecessary but sufficient combinations of conditions (Mackie 1965). Caren and Panofsky (2005) seek to advance QCA by demonstrating that it can be used to study causal conditions that occur in sequences and introduce a technique they call TQCA (temporal qualitative comparative analysis). In their sequence formulation the causal conjuncture is a of conditions or events. While we applaud their effort, in this comment we seek to clarify aspects of their analysis and to present a generalization of the approach that is more amenable to truth table analysis and use of existing software, fsQCA (Ragin 1987; 2000; Ragin, Drass, and Davies 2006). Our first task is to correct what appear to be errors of omission in their analysis. Specifically, they seem to have stopped the process of logical minimization short of completion. We show that it is possible to produce a logically simpler solution than the one they present, while still remaining true to the principles they advocate. Our second task is to demonstrate how to use fsQCA to implement a generalization of their procedure. This procedure takes advantage of an under-utilized feature of fsQCA software, namely, the facility in crisp-set analyses to code a causal condition not only as "present" versus "absent," but also as "irrelevant." The coding of "irrelevant" is especially important in analyses of event sequences, where event order is relevant only if the events actually occur. Thus, the question, "Which came first, event A or event B?” is relevant only if both A and B are coded "present.".

RAGIN, Charles C. (1987), The Comparative Method. Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, University of California Press.

RAGIN, Charles C. (1989), "The Logic of the Comparative Method and the Algebra of Logic", Journal of Quantitative Anthropology, 1, 2, 373-398.

---------- (1989), "New Directions in Comparative Research", in KOHN, Melvin L. (ed.), Cross-National Research in Sociology, Newbury Park, Sage Publications, pp. 57-76.

---------- (1991), "Introduction : the Problem of Balancing Discourse on Cases and Variables in Comparative Social Science", in RAGIN, Charles C. (ed.), Issues and Alternatives in Comparative Social Research, Leiden, E.J. Brill, pp. 1-8.

---------- (ed.) (1991), Issues and Alternatives in Comparative Social Research, Leiden, E.J. Brill.

RAGIN, Charles C. (1992), "Introduction: Cases of "What Is a Case ?"", in RAGIN, Charles C. and BECKER, Howard S. (eds), What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, New-York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-18.

RAGIN, Charles C. (1993), Shakai Kagaku ni okeru Hikaku Kenkyuu: Sitsuteki Bunseki to Keiryouteki Bunseki no Tougou ni mukete [Japanese translation of : The comparative method. Moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies (1987)], translators [chief translator : N. Kanomata] KANOMATA, N. et.al., Kyoto, Mineruva syobo.

---------- (1994), Constructing Social Research. The Unity and Diversity of Method, Newbury Park, CA, Pine Forge Press.

RAGIN, Charles C. (1994), "Introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis", in JANOSKI, Thomas and HICKS, Alexander M. (eds), The Comparative Political Economy of the Welfare State, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 299-319.

RAGIN, Charles C. (1995), "Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis to Study Configurations", in KELLE, Udo (ed), Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis. Theory, Methods and Practice, London, Sage Publications, pp. 177-189.

---------- (1996), "Comparaison, analyse qualitative et formalisation", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 3, 2, 383-403.

RAGIN, Charles C. (1997), "Turning the Tables: How Case-Oriented Methods Challenge Variable-Oriented Methods", Comparative Social Research, 16, 27-42.

RAGIN, Charles C. (1999), "Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis to Study Causal Complexity", Health Services Research, Dec. (special supplement), 1225-1239.
Abstract: Discusses why and how different combinations of causal conditions lead to the same outcome and ways qualitative research can contribute to understanding in these circumstances.

______ (2002), Course Content. Analyzing Qualitative Data on "Multiple Instances" (unpublished manuscript).

RAGIN, Charles C. (2002), "Préface", in DE MEUR, Gisèle and RIHOUX, Benoît, L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA) : approche, techniques et applications en sciences humaines, Louvain-la-Neuve, Academia-Bruylant, pp. 11-14.

RAGIN, Charles C. (2004), "Innovative Causal Analysis and Policy Research", paper presented at : European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop on “Innovative Comparative Methods for Policy Analysis. An Interdisciplinary European Endeavour for Methodological Advances and Improved Policy Analysis/Evaluation.”, Erfurt, Germany,

RAGIN, Charles C. (2009), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis Using Fuzzy Sets (FsQCA)", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage,

RAGIN, Charles C. and BECKER, Howard S. (eds) (1992), What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, New-York, Cambridge University Press.

RAGIN, Charles C., BERG-SCHLOSSER, Dirk, and DE MEUR, Gisèle (1996), "Political Methodology: Qualitative Methods", in GOODIN, Robert E. and KLINGEMANN, Hans-Dieter (eds), A New Handbook of Political Science, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 749-768.

RAGIN, Charles C. and BRADSHAW, York W. (1991), "Statistical Analysis of Employment Discrimination : a Review and a Critique", Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 10, 199-228.

RAGIN, Charles C., MAYER, Susan E., and DRASS, Kriss A. (1984), "Assessing Discrimination : a Boolean Approach", American Sociological Review, 49, 2, 221-234.

RAGIN, Charles C and RIHOUX, Benoît (2004), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): State of the Art and Prospects", Qualitative Methods: Newsletter of the American Political Science Association Organized Section on Qualitative Methods , 2, 2, 3-13.

RAGIN, Charles C., SHULMAN, David, WEINBERG, Adam, and GRAN, Brian (2003), "Complexity, Generality, and Qualitative Comparative Analysis", Field Methods, 15, 4, 323-340.
Abstract: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) offers researchers the opportunity to combine the intensiveness of case-oriented research strategies and the extensiveness of variable-oriented approaches in a single framework. QCA is specifically designed for a moderate number of cases, too few for variable-oriented research designs and too many for in-depth, case-oriented analysis. To illustrate QCA’s applicability to moderate-sized data sets, we analyze data on forty-one villages in southern India reported in Robert Wade’s (1988) comparative study of villagewide collective action, Village Republics. Using QCA, we show that Wade’s explanation of villagewide collective action is incomplete. We complement his strictly ecological explanation with a sociological perspective and show that intervillage competition is an important condition for villagewide collective action.

Ragin, Charles C. and others, "Symposium: the Case of Case Study Research." 13, 1 (2000):2000.

RAGIN CHARLES C. and SONNETT, John (2004), "Between Complexity and Parsimony: Limited Diversity, Counterfactual Cases, and Comparative Analysis", COMPASSS Working Paper, 23, 25p.
Abstract: 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. 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. 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, "difficult" and "easy," and demonstrate procedures for incorporating "simplifying assumptions" into QCA based on the analysis of "easy" counterfactual cases. We illustrate these methods with comparative data on international fishing regimes collected by Olav Schram Stokke (2004).

---------- (2004), "Between Complexity and Parsimony: Limited Diversity, Counterfactual Cases, and Comparative Analysis", in KROPP, Sabine and MINKENBERG, Michael (eds), Vergleichen in der Politikwissenschaft, Wiesbaden, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften,
Abstract: 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. 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. 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, "difficult" and "easy," and demonstrate procedures for incorporating "simplifying assumptions" into QCA based on the analysis of "easy" counterfactual cases. We illustrate these methods with comparative data on international fishing regimes collected by Olav Schram Stokke (2004).

RAGIN, Charles C. and STRAND, Sarah I. (2008), "Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis to Study Causal Order: Comment on Caren and Panofsky (2005)", Sociological Methods & Research, 36, 431-441,

RAGIN, Charles C. and ZARET, David (1983), "Theory and Method in Comparative Research: Two Strategies", Social Forces, 61, 3, 731-754.

RANTALA, Kati (1998), "Art As Communicative Practice for Teenagers", YOUNG - Nordic Journal of Youth Research, 6, 4. (online at : http://www.alli.fi/nyri/young/1998-4/articleRantala4-98.htm)

RANTALA, Kati and HELLSTRÖM, Eeva (2001), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis - a Hermeneutic Approach to Interview Data", International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 4, 2, 87-100.

RANTALA, Kati and HELLSTRÖM, Eeva (7.1998), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis and a Hermeneutic Approach to Interview Data", paper presented at : Fourth ISA World Congress of Sociology, Session ‘The Computerized Analysis of Textual Records’, Montréal,

RATLIFF, D. E. (August 29, 2002.), "Analytic Induction As a Qualitative Research Method of Analysis., Http://Don.Ratliff.Net/Qual/Analytic.Html. August 29, 2002.",

Rayane, Laurence and Sylvie Scheman, "Etude de l'article:"Children's First Names: An Empirical Study of Social Taste" de Stanley Lieberson et Eleanor O. Bell." (2002):2002.

RIHOUX, Benoît (1999), La transformation de l'organisation des partis écologistes en Europe Occidentale. Contribution à une théorie du changement partisan, Département des Sciences Politiques et Sociales, Université catholique de Louvain (unpublished).

---------- (2001), Les partis politiques : organisations en changement. Le test des écologistes, Coll. Logiques Politiques, Paris, L'Harmattan.

---------- (2.5.2001), "Les partis écologistes en Europe : un cas d'école pour l'analyse du changement dans les organisations partisanes", paper presented at : Conférence des Lundis du CEVIPOF (Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, CNRS) 2000-2001, "Les partis politiques en France et en Europe", session "Les partis écologistes en France et en Europe", Paris,

---------- (5.16.2001), "Een diepgaande toepassing van QCA : de verklaring van de organisationële "transformatie" van Groene partijen in Westeuropa", paper presented at : Doctorandusseminarie, Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen, KULeuven, Leuven,

---------- (9.6.2001/9.8.2001), "Comparing the Organizational 'Transformation' of Green Parties", paper presented at : ECPR 2001 General Conference, Panel on "Green Parties", Canterbury (UK),

---------- (10.5.2001), "Pourquoi les organisations changent-elles? Analyse d’un “cas d’école”: les partis écologistes en Europe", paper presented at : Séminaire de recherche du Laboratoire d'Analyse des Systèmes de Communication d'Organisation (LASCO), Louvain-la-Neuve

---------- (11.29.2001), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Applications, Objects and Limits", paper presented at : Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen, KULeuven, Ph.D seminar, Leuven, Belgium,

---------- (09.20.2009), "Latest Innovations in Configurational Comparative Methods and the Challenges Ahead", paper presented at : The Second Japan-UK Roundtable on the Frontiers of the Qualitative Comparative Method, Sapporo,

---------- (06.06.2011/06.10.2011), "Systematically Comparing ‘Thick’ Multi-Level Cases of Water Governance Regimes: the Potential of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", paper presented at : Keynote Speech at the ESF Conference on 'Water Governance Meeting the Challenges of Global Change', Session on 'Methods for Comparative Analyses of Multi-Level Water Governance Regimes', University Centre Obergurgl, Austria,
Abstract: Analyzing multi-level water governance regimes raises several thorny methodological challenges. Indeed the multi-level nature of such regimes is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of their complexity, or only one dimension of or only one way to conceptualize this complexity. There are many other dimensions of complexity, e.g. the ‘nested’ nature of some constituent parts, the changing or fuzzy boundaries, the open-ended and non-linear interaction between individuals, organizations, institutions and ecosystems (being themselves complex and ‘open’), the interconnections between the ‘cases’ (regimes) and therefore the presence of diffusion/contagion, learning processes, … This paper seeks to examine to what extent QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis), both as an approach and as a set of techniques, could add leverage to analyze this complexity across cases of water governance regimes, in particular in «intermediate-N» research designs which seem to be particularly relevant in this field. To do so, QCA is first briefly presented. Then, a few existing empirical applications connected to water management policies and regimes (and more generally natural resources governance regimes) are surveyed, in order to identify some of their strengths and limitations. Third, concrete proposals are made to exploit further the potential of QCA to address more fully the issue(s) of complexity, in particular by engaging QCA more fully in a «dialogue with the cases».

RIHOUX, Benoit, DUMONT, Patrick, and DANDOY, Régis (2005), "L’effet des médias et des programmes de partis sur le contenu des accords de gouvernement, 1991-1999: particratie ou médiacratie?", in WALGRAVE, Stefaan, DE WINTER, Lieven, and NUYTEMANS, Michiel, Politieke-agendasetting in België (1991-2000). De moeilijke dialoog tussen publieke opinie, media en het politieke systeem, Gent, Academia Press, pp. 123-148.

RIHOUX, Benoît and ENGELI, Isabelle (2012, forthcoming), "Intermediate-N Comparison: Configurational Comparative Methods", in ENGELI, Isabelle and ROTHMAYR, Christine (eds), Comparative Policy Studies: Conceptual and Methodological ChallengesPalgrave, Louvain-la-Neuve and Erfurt, 2005.

RIHOUX, Benoit and LOBE, Bojana (2009), "The Case for Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Adding Leverage for Thick Cross-Case Comparison", in BYRNE, David and RAGIN, Charles (eds), The Sage Handbook of Case-Based Methods, London, Sage, pp. 222-243 .

RIHOUX, Benoît (2003), "Bridging the Gap Between the Qualitative and Quantitative Worlds? A Retrospective and Prospective View on Qualitative Comparative Analysis", Field Methods, 15, 4, 351-365.

---------- (5.10.2003), "Innovative Methods for Policy Research. The Added Value of Systematic Cross-Case Analysis", paper presented at : Distinguished guest lecture for the Erfurt School of Public Policy, Universität Erfurt, Germany,

---------- (2004), "Six applications d'Analyse Quali-Quantitative Comparée (AQQC) et des Ensembles Flous (EF): mode d'emploi et originalités [Six applications of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy Sets: instructions for use and original features]", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 11, 1, 11-16.

---------- (5.10.2004), "Innovative Methods for Policy Research. The Added Value of Configurational Comparative Analysis", paper presented at : Distinguised guest lecture for the Erfurt School of Public Policy, Universität Erfurt, Germany,

---------- (5.10.2004), "Innovative Methods for Policy Research. The Added Value of Systematic Cross-Case Analysis", paper presented at : Distinguised guest lecture for the Erfurt School of Public Policy, Universität Erfurt, Germany,

---------- (6.04.2004/6.05.2004), "Recent Developments in QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) and Comparative Configurational Methods: Beyond Methodological Triangulation?", paper presented at : International Symposium in Honour of Paul Lazarsfeld, Brussels,

RIHOUX, Benoît (05.24.2005), "L'analyse Quali-Quantitative Comparée (AQQC-QCA): promesses et plus-values pour l'évaluation [Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): promises and added value for evaluation]", paper presented at : Journée d'étude 'L'évaluation des politiques publiques, entre enjeu politique et enjeu de méthode', Sciences Po Paris et CEVIPOF, Paris,

RIHOUX, Benoît (9.6.2005), "Systematic Comparative Case Analysis: a Third Way Between Qualitative and Quantitative Methods ?", paper presented at : International Methodology Workshop, Universität Wien (Vienna, Austria).,

---------- (2006), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Systematic Comparative Methods: Recent Advances and Remaining Challenges for Social Science Research", International Sociology, 21, 5, 679-706.

---------- (06/2006), "L'analyse quali-quantitative comparée (AQQC-QCA): promesses et plus-values pour l'évaluation [Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): promises and added value for evaluation]", Les cahiers du CEVIPOF, 44, 79-86.

---------- (12.16.2006), "QCA and Its Potential for Cross-Country Analysis", paper presented at : Two-day intensive seminar at the Institute of Advanced Studies (IHS), Vienna, Austria,

---------- (01.12.2007/01.13.2007), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) : Getting More Out of Systematic Comparison of Cases for the GDN Projects", paper presented at : Global Development Network, Workshop on Methodology for Comparative Analysis, Beijing,
Abstract: This paper aims to present Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), the most frequently applied Configurational Comparative Analysis (CCA) technique, and to establish concrete connections with the GDN projects, in particular the “Understanding Reform” project. For this purpose, a conceptually oriented introduction to QCA is first offered. Two analytic procedures commonly used by comparative researchers (and which constitute a key foundation of QCA) are presented and contrasted with correlational analysis, the main analytical engine of mainstream (e.g. regression-based) quantitative social science. Second, a quick overview of the state of the art is provided, so as to show the diversity and scope of QCA applications. Third, a published application is used to illustrate the key steps of a standard QCA procedure. Fourth, some recent developments, as well as some key prospects of QCA, are laid out. Finally, some concrete suggestions are made as how to exploit the potential of QCA and linked techniques in support of the “Understanding Reform” project.

---------- (2008), "Case-Orientated Configurational Research: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Fuzzy Sets, and Related Techniques", in BOX-STEFFENSMEIER, Janet, BRADY, Henry, and COLLIER, David (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 722-736.

---------- (2008), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques: Recent Advances and Challenges", in PICKEL, Susanne, PICKEL, Gert, LAUTH, Hans-Joachim, and JAHN, Detlef (eds), Methoden der vergleichenden Politik- und Sozialwissenschaftt. Neuere Entwicklungen und Anwendungen, Wiesbaden, VS-Verlag , pp. 365-386.

RIHOUX, Benoît (6.3.2008/6.5.2008), "Key Ongoing Innovations in QCA and Related Techniques: Research Design, Technical Refinements and Software Development", paper presented at : Expert Workshop on the Study of Strategies of Social Change Using the Method of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), University of Manchester, Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research,

---------- (6.6.2008), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in a Flexible Mixed Methods Design: the Dialogue Between Case-Oriented Work, QCA and Quantitative Analysis", paper presented at : Keynote Lecture at the Interdisciplinary Workshop on "Systematic Mixed Methods Research", University of Manchester, Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research,

RIHOUX, Benoît (02.19.2009), "Les méthodes "comparatives configurationnelles" et la Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): une intrroduction ["Configurational Comparative" methods and Qualitative Comparative Analysis: an introduction]", paper presented at : Séance au programme intensif européen Erasmus/Socrates (Master) [Lecture at an intensive European Erasmus/Socrates Masters programme], University of Lisbon, Portugal,

---------- (06.03.2009/06.05.2009), "An Introduction to Configurational Comparative Methods and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", paper presented at : Methodology Seminar, Bachelor in Marketing Studies, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia,

---------- (12.01.2009), "An Introduction to Configurational Comparative Methods and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", paper presented at : Distinguished guest lecture, Institute for European Studies (IES), Free University of Brussels (VUB),

---------- (02.25.2010), "The Comparative Approach: From 'Soft' Comparison to Configurational Comparative Methods", paper presented at : IMISCOE (International Migration Integration Social Cohesion) Ph.D Winter School, Lisbon, Portugal,

---------- (2011, forthcoming), "Configurational Comparative Methods", in BECK, Nathaliel (ed.), IPSA Encyclopedia of Political Science. Methodology Volume, Thousand Oaks, London and New Delhi, Sage,

---------- (03.24.2011), "'QCA' (Qualitative Comparative Analysis): quali, quanti, ou voie médiane? ['QCA' (Qualitative Comparative Analysis): quali, quanti, or middle way?]", paper presented at : Séminaire De Recherche DIM, Sciences Po Paris,

RIHOUX, Benoît, BOL, Damien, and REZSÖHAZY, Ilona (2012 forthcoming), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Public Policy Analysis: an Extensive Review", German Policy Studies,

RIHOUX, Benoît and DE MEUR, Gisèle (2009), "Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (CsQCA)", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage, pp. 33-68.

RIHOUX, Benoît, DE MEUR, Gisèle, MARX, Axel, VAN HOOTEGEM, Geert, and BURSENS, Peter (2004), "Introduction. "L'analyse comparée systématique de cas": ouvrir le(s) débat(s) [Introduction. Systematic comparative case analysis: opening up the debate(s)]", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 11, 1, 117-118.

RIHOUX, Benoît, DE MEUR, Gisèle, YAMASAKI, Sakura, and RONSSE, Sophie (2003), "Inventaire des "bonnes pratiques" en Analyse Quali-Quantitative Comparée (AQQC)", COMPASSS Didactics Paper,

---------- (2003), "Inventory of Good Practices in QCA", COMPASSS Didactics Paper,

RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (9.2.2004/9.5.2004), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): State of the Art and Prospects", paper presented at : APSA 2004 Annual Meeting, Panel 47-9, Chicago,

---------- (eds) (2009), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Applied Social Research Methods, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage.

---------- (2009), "Introduction", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage, p. xvii-xxv.

RIHOUX, Benoît, RAGIN, Charles C., YAMASAKI, Sakura, and BOL, Damien (2009), "Conclusions: the Ways Ahead", in RIHOUX, Benoît and RAGIN, Charles C. (eds), Configurational Comparative Methods. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques, Thousand Oaks and London, Sage, pp. 167-178.

RIHOUX, Benoît, VARONE Frédéric, and DE MEUR Gisèle (2.14.2003), An Innovative Technique for the Evaluation of Socio-Economic Programmes : Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (unpublished manuscript).

RIHOUX, Benoît and YAMASAKI, Sakura (2003), "Participation gouvernementale et adaptation organisationnelle: une analyse quali-quantitative comparée des partis écologistes en Europe occidentale", Res Publica, XLV, 1, 143-171.

ROHWER, Goertz (2008), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis: A Discussion of Interpretations", COMPASSS Working Paper WP2008-54,
Abstract: This paper (which is part of an ongoing project that investigates possibilities to apply statistical (or more general: formal) notions and methods to narrative data) tries to understand an approach proposed by Charles C. Ragin: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).

ROMME, A. Georges L. (1995), "Boolean Comparative Analysis of Qualitative Data: a Methodological Note", Quality and Quantity, 29, 4, 317-329.
Abstract: This paper explores the use of Boolean logic in the analysis of qualitative data, especially on the basis of so-called process theories. Process theories treat independent variables as necessary conditions which are binary rather than variable in nature, while the dependent variable is a 'final cause'. In this respect, Boolean comparison appears to be a rigorous method for testing process theories on the basis of qualitative evidence, for example, from case studies. It is argued that Boolean logic may compensate for some of the weaknesses of the conventional approach to process studies - going back to Stuart Mill's (1843) system of logic - by systematically comparing observations without forsaking complexity too much. In addition, Boolean logic systematically structures the kind of interpretive dialogue between theory and evidence typically found in qualitative research. Finally, a procedure for using Boolean analysis is outlined. This procedure involves systematic attempts to falsify and identify hypotheses on the basis of truth tables constructed from qualitative data.

ROUHANA, Rima (2009), The Design of the Performance Monitoring Systems in Hospitals: a Contingent Comparative Approach, Liege, Editions de l'Université de Liege.
Abstract: Our research applies to the healthcare sector which is operating in a period of significant and rapid evolutions since the last thirty years. It investigates the design of the performance monitoring systems in healthcare organizations, in a contingent and comparative perspectives. This contribution summarizes the results of four chapters and uses respectively three methodologies, applied to answer the following “what” and “how” general questions: - What influences the design of the performance monitoring systems adopted in the healthcare organizations? - How does it evolve with the hospital’s attributes evolution? - What are the major internal and external motivations and/or the major barriers that have emphasized and/or limited its evolution? - What is the role of the healthcare players on the hospital’s management? In a contingent perspective, the first chapter, based on macro-economic analysis of the healthcare sector, identifies the increasing need to monitor performance at the hospital entity level. It points out to some social, political, technological and competitive contingent factors that have emerged from the environmental mutations. These contingent factors are then integrated in an original unifying model that is validated via three empirical chapters. - The first chapter is dedicated to the contingent model’s validation in the Belgian healthcare sector. It investigates the link between these variables and the management tools, via an online questionnaire, a test of information and a test of independence. - The second chapter appraises the manager’s perception of uncertainty in volatile environments and analyzes the impact of some contingent factors affecting his decision-making style. It relies on the contingency theory of leadership that is applied to assess the external environmental mutations that are manipulating the organizational attributes (structure, size, level of technology and ownership). Hence, they are emerging certain situations of uncertainty that shape the managerial choices (“decision style”, autonomy and personal profile) on the adoption of a suitable management system. The methodology is based on a “qualitative comparative approach” of thirty case studies, lead in two heterogeneous environments (Belgium and Lebanon). - The last empirical chapter goes beyond the organizational attributes to investigate the role and impact of the various players who are involved in healthcare organizations. Based on a qualitative approach, we illustrate, for every player, his position within the system. Consequently, we define his culture, intentions, and responsiveness that manipulate the organization’s internal climate and shape the design of the performance monitoring systems. Out of twenty-two case studies, the qualitative findings are expected to add knowledge on the adequate choice of a management system, within three healthcare organizational structures: university, general/university and general hospitals.

ROUHANA, Rima and VAN CAILLIE, Didier (2009), "The Design of the Performance Monitoring System in Hospitals: Managers’ Perception of Uncertainty in Volatile Environments",
Abstract: In a period of significant and rapid changes, an hospital is in pursuit of providing better services through delivering the best quality of care at low costs (Kimberly and Zajac, 1985; Starr, 1982; WHO, 2000). From a macroeconomic point of view, nations, despite their diversity, are facing an increase of health care spending at a faster rate than national wealth. This increase is resuming due to many factors such as the higher household revenues, the aging of the population, the appearance of new disabling illnesses, etc. (Nolte et al., 2003). As a consequence, governments are developing rationalized policies that aim to better manage the rise in health spending, in an attempt to better manage the shift of the supply (resources supply) and the demand for healthcare services. Since, once these factors occur, the cycle of the hospital’s entity (organization) is disturbed; hence, actions must be taken to correct deviations (Anthony, 1965; Drucker, 1955; Daft and Macintosh, 1984; Koontz and O'Donnell, 1976). Monitoring the hospital’s performance appears then evolving over time, to a reform in pursuit of more efficiency. In this perspective, the hospital’s top managements are designing their management control systems (MCSs) to help their organizations combining three potentially divergent conceptual approaches: a “customer” one, an “economic” one and a “budgetary” one, to achieve a leading positioning. Given that, today’s hospital performance is expected to include elements of community care and public health, as well as the social and the employment functions. Management control is thus becoming increasingly complex across the healthcare industry. From integrated patient care, to reducing costs and keeping stuff up-to-date, hospital’s administrators are using many dissimilar systems (Pfeffer and Salancik, 1977; Roemer and Schonik, 1973) to manage and stimulate performance (Robson, 2003). Dedicated to this subject, we rely on the concept of monitoring performance and the contingency theory (the notion of creating an equilibrium of fit in organizations), to appraise the manager’s perception of uncertainty in volatile environments (Galbraith 1977). From this starting point, the first prime interest of our study is then to analyze the impact of several contingent factors on the manager’s decision making concerning the design of a suitable MCS, in a hospital context. Consistent with each variable, we then elaborate our hypotheses, in the second part of this communication, while considering the assets and the limits of the contemporary systems versus the traditional tools already in use within hospitals. We finally investigate the manager’s choice while resting on the qualitative/quantitative comparative approach (QQCA) of thirty case studies, lead in two different environments (Belgium and Lebanon).

RUESCHEMEYER, Dietrich (1991), "Different Methods - Contradictory Results? Research on Development and Democracy", in RAGIN, Charles C. (ed.), Issues and Alternatives in Comparative Social Research, Leiden, E.J. Brill, pp. 9-38.

RYAN, Gery W. and BERNARD, H. Russell (2000), "Data Management and Analysis Methods", in DENZIN, Norman and LINCOLN, Yvonna (eds), Handbook of Qualitative Research 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, Sage, pp. 769-802. (proofs online at : http://www.missouri.edu/~anthgr/papers/ryanqualitative.pdf)

SAGER, Fritz and LEDERMANN, Simone (2006), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) und realistische Evaluation", in UWE, Flick (ed.), Evaluationsforschung: Konzepte, Methoden, Umsetzung, Reinbeck, Rowohlt, pp. 250-264.

SAVOLAINEN, Jukka (1994), "The Rationality of Drawing Big Conclusions Based on Small Samples: in Defence of Mill's Methods", Social Forces, 72, 4, 1217-1224.

Scheider, Carsten and Ingo Rohlfing, "It's Complex! Combining Set-Theoretic Methods and Case Studies in Multi-Method Research.".

SCHIFFINO, Nathalie and YAMASAKI, Sakura (11.24.2003/11.26.2003), "A Methodological Tool in Policy Analysis: Application of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to GMO and ART Policies in Belgium and France", paper presented at : Austrian Sociological Association Congress 2003, Vienna, Austria,

SCHNEIDER, Carsten (2006), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis Und Fuzzy Sets", in BEHNKE, Joachim, GSCHWEND, Thomas, SCHINDLER, Delia, and KNAPP, Kai-Uwe, Methoden Der Politikwissenschaft. Neuere Qualitative Und Quantitative Analyseverfahren , Baden Baden, Nomos Verlag, pp. 273-286.

SCHNEIDER, Carsten Q. (07.15-16.2006), "It Might Look Like a Regression Equation... But It's Not! An Intuitive Approach to the Presentation of QCA and FS/QCA Results", paper presented at : International Conference on Comparative Social Sciences , Tokyo, Japan,

SCHNEIDER, Carsten Q. and GROFMAN, Bernard (2006), "It Might Look Like a Regression Equation... but It Is Not! An Intuitive Approach to the Presentation of QCA and FSQCA Results", COMPASSS Working Paper , 39, 61p.
Abstract: Scholars who have presented their QCA and fs/QCA results in conference papers or journal articles will most likely have encountered the problem that an audience not trained in these approaches tends to read the notations and graphs displaying the results as if they stemmed from standard statistical techniques such as linear regression or factor analysis. This leads to gross misunderstandings, since the underlying mathematical models and the epistemology are different, and because the notations and graphs used in QCA and fs/QCA carry a different meaning than similar looking ones in standard statistical approaches. Thus readers may think they know what’s going in QCA analyses when they really don’t. The main aim of this paper is to offer seven ways, some new to this paper, of presenting results in QCA and fs/QCA that are designed to make the interpretability of results from these methods clearer and more intuitive: (1) truth tables; (2) solution formulas; (3) parameters of fit; (4) Venn diagrams; (5) dendograms; (6) x-y plots; and (7) membership scores for solution terms – the latter two only appropriate for fuzzy set QCA. We show that each form tends to be confused with one or more presentational formscommonly used in standard statistical techniques, its “false friend(s),” and thus misinterpreted; and so we try to clarify the implications of each of these presentational tools by pointing out what they do not mean. Generally speaking, the presentation of results generated with any kind of method applied in comparative social research has multiple purposes, not all of which can always be achieved simultaneously in one presentational form. In grosso modo, the presentation of results aims at: (a) displaying relations between variables; (b) highlighting descriptive or causal accounts for specific (groups of) cases; (c) expressing the fit of the result obtained with the data at hand. Trying to accomplish all three of these purposes is particularly important for QCA and fs/QCA because they have been explicitly introduced as methods for bridging the gap between qualitative (case-oriented) and quantitative (variableoriented) approaches of social scientific research. While the individual presentational forms serve one or more (but never all) of the three above-mentioned purposes, using a combination of them in a fashion that covers all three bases allows us to display the full potential and logic of QCA and fs/QCA methods.

---------- (09.06.2007/09.08.2007), "Graphical Representations of Fuzzy Set Results: How Not to Get Your Audience Confused", paper presented at : 4th ECPR General Conference, Panel on "Comparative Research Design and Configurational Methods", Pisa,

SCHNEIDER, Carsten Q. and WAGEMANN, Claudius (7.4.2002/7.7.2002), "Limited Diversity Limited Applicability? The Role of Theory in QCA-Based Studies of Democratisation ", paper presented at : "Methods of Comparative Political Science. Procedure and Examples of International and Inter-Cultural Comparative Studies" of the DVPW-Working Group "Intercultural Comparison of Democracy", University Greifswald, Germany,

---------- (9.2.2004/9.5.2004), "The Fuzzy-Set/QCA Two-Step Approach to Middle-Range Theories", paper presented at : APSA 2004 Annual Meeting, Chicago,

---------- (2006), "Reducing Complexity in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Remote and Proximate Factors and the Consolidation of Democracy", European Journal of Political Research, 45, 5, 751-786.

---------- (2006), "Reducing Complexity in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Remote and Proximate Factors and the Consolidation of Democracy", COMPASSS Working Paper - Re-Worked Version of the WP2002-1, 35, 61p.
Abstract: Comparative methods based on set theoretic relationships, such as ‘fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis’ (fs/QCA) represent an useful tool for dealing with complex causal hypotheses in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions under the constraint of a mediumsized number of cases. However, real world research situations might make the application of fs/QCA difficult in two respects, namely, with regard to the complexity of the results and the phenomenon of limited diversity. We suggest a two-step approach as one possibility to mitigate these problems. After introducing the difference between remote and proximate factors, the application of a two-step fs/QCA approach is demonstrated analysing the causes of the consolidation of democracy. We find that different paths lead to consolidation but all of them are characterised by a fit of the institutional mix chosen to the societal context in terms of power dispersion. Hence, we demonstrate that the application of fs/QCA in a twostep manner helps to formulate and test equifinal and conjunctural hypotheses in medium-size N comparative analyses and, thus, to contribute to an enhanced understanding of social phenomena.

SCHNEIDER, Carsten Q. and WAGEMANN, Claudius (2007), Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) und Fuzzy Sets. Ein Lehrbuch für Anwender und jene, die es werden wollen, Opladen & Farmington Hills, Verlag Barbara Budrich.

SCHNEIDER, Carsten Q. and WAGEMANN, Claudius (2008), "Standards guter Praxis in Qualitative Analysis (QCA) und Fuzzy-Sets", in PICKEL, Susanne, PICKEL, Gert, LAUTH, Hans-Joachim, and JAHN, Detlef (eds), Neue vergleichende sozialwissenschaftliche Methoden, Wiesbaden, VS-Verlag, pp. 387-412/.

---------- (forthcoming), Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy Sets. A User's Guide,

SEAWRIGHT, Jason (9.18.2003/9.21.2003), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis Vis-a-Vis Regression Analysis: Comparing the Underlying Assumptions", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Section "Methodological Advances in Comparative Research : Concepts, Techniques, Applications", Panel "QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) in Comparative Research: Applications", Marburg, Germany,
Abstract: Comparisons of Qualitative Comparative Analysis vis-a-vis regression analysis have not adequately considered the assumptions about causation behind each of these tools. Yet it is important to ask the generic question: how many untestable, or hard-to-test, assumptions must be met for us to believe the results of any particular analytic technique? This paper attempts to address this question by considering three of the most important families of assumptions employed in regression analysis: assumptions about correct functional form, missing variables, and inferring causation from association. For each assumption, the role of corresponding assumptions in QCA will be explored. Regarding the functional form of causal relationships, QCA builds strict assumptions into measurement procedures. Regarding missing variables, while earlier versions of QCA require a strong assumption of no causally relevant missing variables, more recent procedures allow missing variables, but only if those variables have no statistical relationship with the included variables. Regarding inferring causation from association, QCA makes causal inference on the basis of patterns of association by pure assumption. That is, association is assumed to have a one-to-one relationship with causation. In all three of these categories, QCA is found to require more restrictive assumptions that regression analysis. Therefore, with respect to these foundational issues, QCA does not represent an improvement over regression.

---------- (2004), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis Vis-a-Vis Regression", Qualitative Methods: Newsletter of the American Political Science Association Organized Section on Qualitative Methods, 2, 2, 14-17.

---------- (9.2.2004/9.5.2004), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis Vis-à-Vis Regression", paper presented at : APSA 2004 Annual Meeting, Chicago,

---------- (2005), "Assumption, Causal Inference, and the Goals of QCA", Studies in Comparative International Development (SCID), 40, 1, 39-42.

---------- (2005), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis Vis-à-Vis Regression", Studies in Comparative International Development (SCID), 40, 1, 3-26.
Abstract: Abstract Discussions of Charles C. Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) have not adequately considered the assumptions about causation on which this method depends. Yet in evaluating any method, it is important to ask the question: How many untestable, or hard-to-test, assumptions must be met for us to believe the findings it produces? Advocates of QCA claim that one of its major strengths is that it requires fewer restrictive assumptions than techniques such as regression analysis. Hence, close assessment of the assumptions that are entailed is particularly salient to evaluating QCA. This article addresses these issues by considering three of the most important kinds of assumptions discussed in the context of regression analysis: assumptions about the correct form of the relationship, missing variables, and inferring causation from association. For each assumption, the role of corresponding assumptions in QCA will be explored and illustrated through an analysis of leftparty electoral fortunes in Latin America. Regarding the correct form of causal relationships, QCA in effect builds highly demanding assumptions into measurement procedures. Concerning missing variables, whereas earlier versions of QCA require a strong assumption of no causally relevant missing variables, more recent procedures allow some kinds of missing variables, but build in mutually contradictory statistical assumptions about those variables. Resolving these contradictions essentially converts QCA into an application of regression analysis. Regarding the process of inferring causation from association, QCA makes causal inference on the basis of patterns of association purely by assumption. That is, association is assumed to have a one-to-one relationship with causation. For all three groups of assumptions, QCA is found to require assumptions that, are at least as restrictive as those employed in regression analysis.

SHALEV, Michael (6.12.1998/6.14.1998), "Limits of and Alternatives to Multiple Regression in Macro-Comparative Research", paper presented at : Second Conference on The Welfare State at the Crossroads, Stockholm,

SICAKKAN, Hakan Gürcan (1999), The Political-Historical Roots of West European Models of Citizen and Alien: an Application of Qualitative Comparative Analysis on Macro Historical Data , Bergen, IMER-Norway/Bergen Publications.
Abstract: A clarification of the relationship between West European political history and present models of citizen and alien is crucial to understanding better today's mechanisms and processes of new formations of social, economic, and political boundaries. The major hypothesis in this paper is that historical processes of state formation and nation building played a significant role in the emergence of contemporary legal models of citizen and alien. The article aims at documenting that states generated diverse value systems and corresponding legal discourses framing conceptions of phenomena 'citizen' and 'alien' while they opted for creating the 'right' loyalties and identifications in order to secure continuity of their legitimacy. Stein Rokkan's typology of state formation and nation building in Europe is employed for delineating the variation in European political history across countries. Citizenship, immigration, and aliens' laws of eighteen West European countries are used as data sources for representing the variation in European legal conceptions of citizen and alien. Charles Ragin's qualitative comparative method (QCA) is employed as the basic methodological tool for generating a synthetic, combinatorial solution to uncovering the systematic relationship between types of state formation and nation building, and contemporary citizenship laws.

---------- (4.14.2000/4.16.2000), "The Political-Historical Roots of West European Models of Citizen", paper presented at : ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Workshop on "??", Copenhagen,

SICAKKAN, Hakan Gürcan and GÜNHAN, Atilla E. (1995), "Neural Networks As an Alternative Model in System Identification Paradigm: A Comparison of Statistics, Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Neural Networks As Tools of System Identification", Reports in Information Science (Bergen, Institutt for Informasjonsvitenskap, Universitetet i Bergen),

SIVESIND, Karl Henrik and SELLE, Per (07.11.2004/07.14.2004), "Is There a Social Democratic Civil Society Regime in the Welfare Field?", paper presented at : Paper Presented at the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) Sixth International Conference, Toronto,
Abstract: It is frequently assumed that voluntary and nonprofit organizations play a limited role in welfare service provision in the Nordic, social democratic countries. The public sector has the main responsibility for meeting the population’s welfare needs (Janoski 1998; Salamon & Anheier 1998). This paper confronts this assumption with results from a comparative analysis of highly industrialized countries with extensive welfare arrangements. We focus on civil society sector employment in relation to total employment in the welfare field, including education and research, health, and social services. Explanatory factors are public welfare spending, share of income from donations, and religious homogeneity. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (Ragin 2000) is applied to sort countries in types. The results show that the consequences of public sector welfare spending on civil society welfare employment vary depending on other social conditions. In liberal countries, low public sector welfare spending results in a small civil society share of employment. The preconditions are religious heterogeneity and large shares of civil society income from donations. In other Western European countries, the size of public sector welfare spending is inversely proportional with the size of the civil society share of employment, depending on religious heterogeneity. The Nordic countries have the smallest share of civil society welfare services, highest religious homogeneity, and largest public welfare costs. They do not represent a separate constellation of factors, but are closely followed by presumably corporatist countries like France and Austria. When data from Denmark are available and taken into account together with recent developments, the distinctiveness of the Nordic countries will probably be further reduced.

SIVESIND, Karl Henrik and SELLE, Per (2009), "Does Public Spending “Crowd Out” Nonprofit Welfare?", in ENJOLRAS, Bernard and SIVESIND, Karl Henrik (eds), Civil Society in Comparative PerspectiveEmerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 105-134.
Abstract: Social origins theory proposes that countries cluster around different models according to how public welfare spending affects nonprofit sector scale (Anheier & Salamon, 2006; Salamon & Anheier, 1998). This article confronts these assumptions about a liberal, corporatist, and social democratic model with results from a comparative analysis of highly industrialized countries with extensive welfare arrangements. We focus on nonprofit sector employment in relation to total employment in the welfare field, including education and research, health, and social services. Explanatory factors are public welfare spending, share of income from donations, and religious homogeneity. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (Ragin, 2000) is applied to sort countries in types. The results show that the consequences of public sector welfare spending on nonprofit welfare employment vary depending on other social conditions. In liberal countries, low public sector welfare spending results in a small nonprofit share of employment. The preconditions are low religious homogeneity and large shares of nonprofit income from donations. In other Western European countries, the size of public sector welfare spending is inversely proportional with the size of the nonprofit share of employment, depending on religious homogeneity. The Nordic countries have the highest religious homogeneity, and largest public welfare costs, and accordingly, the smallest share of nonprofit welfare services. However, a similar “crowding out” pattern can be found in the presumably corporatist countries such as France, Austria, and also to some extent in Germany and Italy. In the other end of the line, we find the Netherlands, which is the clearest example of the presumed corporatist pattern in this sample. Religious homogeneity comes into play in both the liberal and the Western European causal constellation in accordance with Weisbrod's theory of government failure/market failure (Weisbrod, 1977), which indicates that this factor is more important for nonprofit welfare regimes than previously thought.

SKAANING, Svend-Erik (2005), "Respect for Civil Liberties in Post-Communist Countries: a Multi-Methodological Test of Structural Explanations", COMPASSS Working Paper , 34, 33p.
Abstract: This paper aims at uncovering factors explaining extent of membership in the group of liberal polities among the post-communist countries. The empirical examination makes use of three methodological tools – crisp-set method, fuzzy-set method, and OLS-regression – associated with two different approaches – diversity-oriented and variable-oriented – to test theoretically different structural conditions/variables supposed to facilitate the development of civil liberties. Six factors are included in the analysis: ethno-religious diversity, natural resources, early development, and three modernization indicators, i.e., GDP/cap., education and agricultural employment. The results diverge considerable between different approaches, but minimally between the QCA methods connected to the same approach. The OLS-regression shows that early development, ethnic diversity, and education are significantly correlated with civil liberty; education, though, not in the theoretically expected direction. On the other hand, the crisp-set analysis, using logical cases in the reduction procedure, points out early developed and not early developed as a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence and absence of a liberal regime, respectively. Finally, the fuzzy-set analysis, very similarly, emphasizes early development as a sufficient condition for liberal regimes in the post-communist context, if an inclusion of all simplifying assumptions is allowed, and three paths to a not liberal regime are uncovered, that is, the conjunction of the necessary condition not early developed with either not wealthy, not independent of natural resources, or not low agricultural employment rate. Thus, early development is undoubtedly identified as the most important factor in the explanation of the respect for civil liberty in post-communist countries. Regarding the QCA methods, they appear to be valuable supplements and at times even alternatives to standard statistical tests – the fuzzy-set method probably somewhat more than the crisp-set method – especially when the case number is rather low and when the relationship between the phenomenon to be explained and the explanatory factors is characterized by multiple conjunctural causation and necessity and/or sufficiency.

---------- (May 2007), "Explaining Post-Communist Respect for Civil Liberty: a Multi-Methods Test", Journal of Business Research, 60, 5, 493-500.
Abstract: This article explains the level of respect for civil liberty in post-communist countries. The methodological triangulation employs both QCA methods and OLS-regression to test the influence of structural conditions, the democratization literature emphasizes. The results show that the political legacy, that is, previous experience with civil liberty and a rule-abiding bureaucracy relates strongly to present civil liberty performance. The importance of the remaining factors (modernization indicators, dependence on natural resources, and ethno-religious diversity) is somewhat unclear because the results of the methods applied diverge. Expect a lack of congruence given their different assumptions and logics. As to the QCA methods in specific, they are apparently valuable supplements, and at times even plausible alternatives, to standard statistical tests.

SKAANING, Svend-Erik (09.06.2007/09.08.2007), "Assessing the Robustness of Crisp-Set and Fuzzy-Set QCA Results", paper presented at : 4th ECPR General Conference, Panel on "Comparative Research Design and Configurational Methods", Pisa,

Smollenaars, Ellie, "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)." (2000):2000.

Fragments from E. Smollenaar's book (2001 : 90-98).

SPAGNOLETTI, Paolo (2010), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis for Conducting Multiple Case Study Research: Concept and Discussion", Sprouts: Working Papers on Information Systems, 10, 95,
Abstract: We aim to make a contribution by deepening the understanding on how Qualitative Comparative Analysis methods can be applied for theory building in multiple-case studies when the relationship between Information Technology and organizations is investigated. In our presentation, we will outline a research design using qualitative comparative analysis, show one example of applying the method in the field of eHealth research, and discuss the pros and cons of our methodological choice.

SPITZLINGER, Roland (2006), Mixed Method Research - Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Scholarly Papers Series, Vienna, Vienna University of Economics and Business .
Abstract: Traditionally most social researchers either employ purely qualitative or quantitative methods, even though a mixed method strategy may promise better results. The present paper introduces Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as a mixed method alternative for data analysis. It may be of particular value when dealing with small-n case studies, which typically do not permit profound statistical testing. QCA enables researchers to filter those variables or combinations of variables that empirically result in (and possibly explain) a certain outcome. As such, the method can also be used to analyze the impact of social networks on companies’ innovation performance and promises valuable new insights in the field.

SPREITZER, Astrid and YAMASAKI, Sakura (2004), "Beyond Methodological Tenets. The Worlds of QCA and SNA and Their Benefit to Policy Analysis", COMPASSS Working Paper, 27, 28p.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present combinations of Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and their benefit to Policy Analysis. We think that QCA and SNA are particularly suited to explain complex macro-social phenomena, just like policies. SNA gives access to a set of actors and the relationships between them. The main goal is to model these relationships in order to study action and structure in their mutual dependence (Wasserman and Faust 1997). QCA on the other hand helps to uncover regularities across cases while maintaining within-case complexity; it offers "multiple conjunctural explanations" (Ragin 1987, 2003). First we expose our understanding of Policy Analysis and the problems research on the topic faces. The second part of the paper focuses on SNA and QCA as two approaches, which stand in between of the conventional qualitative/quantitative logic of research. Therefore we will explain the main principles of the methods but also show the communities of the two, the underlying meta-theoretical assumptions, the opportunities they offer to appear as supplementing to each other. Finally, it is to explore, how the combination of SNA and QCA helps to explain policies.

---------- (9.25.2004/9.28.2004), "Beyond Methodological Tenets - The Worlds of QCA and SNA and Their Benefit to Policy Analysis", paper presented at : ESF Exploratory Workshop on "Innovative Comparative Methods for Policy Analysis. And Interdisciplinary European Endeavour for Methodological Advances and Improved Policy Analysis/Evaluation", Erfurt, Germany,

---------- (2005), "Comparative Social Network Analysis. Policy Network Typology Building With QCA.", paper presented at : University of Oxford Centre for Criminology. Social Network Analysis: Advances and Empirical Applications Forum., Oxford, United Kingdom,

SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (2004), "Conclusion: Multimethod Research", in SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (Eds), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, pp. 367-382.

---------- (2004), "Introduction: Methodology in International Relations Relations", in SPRINZ, Detlef F. and NAHMIAS-WOLINSKY, Yael (Eds), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, pp. 1-18.

---------- (Eds) (2004), Models, Numbers and Cases: Methods for Studying International Relations, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.

STEPHENS, John D. (1998), "Historical Analysis and Causal Assessment in Comparative Research", APSA-CP. Newsletter of the APSA Organized Section in Comparative Politics, 9, 1, 22-25. (Online at : http://www.shelley.polisci.ucla.edu/apsacp/APSA-CP_Winter_1998.pdf)

STOKKE, Olav Schram (2003), "Boolean Analysis, Mechanisms, and the Study of Regime Effectiveness", COMPASSS Working Paper, 5, 35p.

SWYNGEDOUW, Marc (2004), "Quelques réflexions sur la notion de causalité dans l'AQQC", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 11, 1, 133-136.

---------- (04.2004), "Review of: "L'Analyse Quali-Quantitative Comparée (AQQC-QCA)" (G. De Meur & B. Rihoux, Louvain-La-Neuve: Academia Bruylant, 2002. 175 Pp.)", European Sociological Review, 20, 2, 161-162.

TAROHMARU, Hiroshi (9.14.2000/9.16.2000), "Boolean analysis with multi-value variables as independent variables", paper presented at : 4th Conference of the Asia Pacific Sociological Association, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya (Japan). (abstract at : http://www.world.ryukoku.ac.jp/~pauline/Kosaka.html)
Abstract: Qualitative comparative analysis with Boolean algebra developed by Charles C. Ragin is not only a comparative method for international comparison, but also a method for the formalization of sociological concepts and theories. Though this method has merits, of course it also has demerits. One of the demerits is that this method cannot take independent variables other than 2-value variables. The aim of this paper is to remedy this limitation, namely to advance a new Boolean Analysis with multi-value variables as independent variables.

---------- (2001), "Kenri Nouryoku Ron: Rekishi Gnsyou heno Ouyou [Reconstruction of Ehrlich's Die Rechtsfähigkeit: Application [of QCA] to Historical Phenomena]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo, pp. 113-129.

---------- (2001), "Tachi Hensuu no Buuru Daisuu Bunseki [Boolean Analysis to Multi-Nominal Variables]", in KANOMATA, Nobuo, NOMIYA, Daishiro, and HASEGAWA, Keiji (eds), Shituteki Hikaku Bunseki [Qualitative Comparative Analysis], Kyoto, Mineruva Syobo,

TAROHMARU, Hiroshi and TANAKA, Sigeto (1997), "Boolean Analysis with Multi-value Variables as Independent Variables (in Japanese)", Oosaka-Daigaku Ningen-Kagaku-Bu Kiyou (Bulletin, Faculty of Human Sciences, Osaka University), March, 169-183.
Abstract: Qualitative Comparative Analysis with Boolean algebra which was developed by Charles C. Ragin is not only a comparative method for intemational comparison, but also a method which has many other applications. Though this method has some merits, of course, it has some demerits also. One of the demerits is that this method cannot take independent variables other than 2-value variables. The aim of this paper is to remedy this limitation, namely to advance a new Boolean Analysis with multi-value variables as independent variables.

TARROW, Sidney (1995), "Bridging the Quantitative-Qualitative Divide in Political Science", American Political Science Review, 89, 2, 471-474.

THIRIOT, Céline, MARTY, Marianne, and NADAL EMMANUEL (Eds) (2004), Penser la politique comparée. Un état des savoirs théoriques et méthodologiques, Paris, Editions Karthala.

THOITS, Peggy A. (1995), "Stress, Coping, and Social Support Processes: Where Are We? What Next?", Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, Extra Issue: Forty Years of Medical Sociology: The State of the Art and Directions for the Future, 53-79.

TILLEUX, Olivier (12.2002), Projet de thèse: Les conditions de la capacité dirigeante des élites locales en Wallonie. Etude comparative. (unpublished manuscript).

Tremblay, Gaëtan, "L'analyse comparée des politiques publiques." (2004):2004.

TYRKKÖ, Arja (1999), I skärningspunkten mellan arbetsliv och föräldraskap. En studie om livsformer i 1990-talets Sverige [The intersaction between working life and parenthood. A study of life-modes in Sweden in the 1990s], Arbete och Halsä Vetenskaplig Skriftserie, Uppsala Universitet, Arbetslivsinstitutet. (online at : http://www.niwl.se/ah/1999-17.pdf; abstract at : http://www.soc.uu.se/publications/doktabst/1999-8_a.html)
Abstract: The central problem area of this dissertation concerns the connection between working life and parenthood. The main purpose is to develop an analytical strategy which validity is determined by the extent to which it can consider and cover the complexity of the con-ditions and practices of everyday life for working parents. Starting in an understanding of the concept life-mode as a sensitizing concept, an analytical model is developed and a Boolean approach is used to study the complex interrelation between working life and parenthood. In the dissertation the relationship between working life and parenthood is studied focusing on the work place. Parenthood, organization and gender are three key concepts which direct the analysis of the organizational forms everyday life take on.

VAN ELDIK, Hanno (03.19.2009), "Beyond Role Conflict? Flexibility and the Balance Between Work and Family Life", paper presented at : Masterclass QCA, Leuven,

VAN ESSEN, Anne, "From 'Thick Case Description' Towards 'Thick Variable Description'? Developing an Explanatory Research Design for a Small-n Study About Health Care Reform", paper presented at : Methodology Matters, The Hague, Netherlands,

Van Humskerken, Frédéric, "Questions complémentaires de méthodologie quantitative en sociologie: exercice d'analayse quali-quantitative comparée." (2002):2002.

Van Noten, Benoit, "Application de la méthode AQQC au départ d'une recherche portant sur la comparaison de la diminution de la pauvreté dans les zones rurales des différents Etats de l'Inde." (2002):2002.

VANDERBORGHT, Yannick and YAMASAKI, Sakura (2004), "Des cas logiques… contradictoires? Un piège de l’AQQC déjoué à travers l’étude de la faisabilité politique de l’Allocation Universelle", Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée, 11, 1, 51-66.

---------- (2004), "The Problem of Contradictory Simplifying Assumptions in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)", paper presented at : 2nd ECPR General Conference, Marburg, Germany,

VARONE, Frédéric, RIHOUX, Benoît, and MARX, Axel (9.25.2004/9.28.2004), "Policy Evaluation and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Challenges and Answers", paper presented at : ESF Exploratory Workshop on "Innovative Comparative Methods for Policy Analysis. And Interdisciplinary European Endeavour for Methodological Advances and Improved Policy Analysis/Evaluation", Erfurt, Germany,

VINK, Maarten and VAN VLIET, Olaf (2007), "Not Quite Crisp, Not Yet Fuzzy? ... Assessing the Potential and Pitfalls of Multi-Value QCA", COMPASSS Working Paper, 52, 29p.
Abstract: This paper assesses the strengths and shortcomings of multi-value Qualitative Comparative Analysis (mvQCA) a comparative technique for small to medium size datasets that has been integrated in the TOSMANA software developed by Lasse Cronqvist. Its main difference with Charles Ragin's 'crisp-set' QCA (csQCA) which only allows for conditions with 0 or B values, is that the dataset can also contain causal conditions with three or more categories. MvQCA thus avoids relatively crude dichotomization and arguably better captures the richness of information of the raw data. Unlike 'fuzzy-set' QCA (fsQCA), developed by Ragin to go beyond the classic dichotomous approach, mvQCA is still based on dichotomous outcomes and applies Boolean minimization principles in a similar way to csQCA. Its major advantage, according to its proponents, is that it deals better with the classic QCA problem of contradictory configurations where cases with the same explanatory characteristics display different outcomes and in principle cannot be taken into account for logical minimization. We discuss the logical status of mvQCA, its impact on limited diversity, and present a re-analysis of a recent paper to show how mvQCA uses threshold-setting to solve contradictions.

VINK, Maarten P. and VAN VLIET, Olav (2009), "Not Quite Crisp, Not Yet Fuzzy? Assessing the Potentials and Pitfalls of Multi-Value QCA", Field Methods, 21, 3, 265-289.
Abstract: This article assesses the strengths and shortcomings multi-value qualitative comparative analysis (mvQCA), a comparative technique for small- to medium-sized data sets that has been integrated in the TOSMANA software developed by Lasse Cronqvist. The main difference with "crisp-set" QCA is that in mvQCA, the conditions can have more values than just the Boolean values 0 and 1, whereas the main difference with "fuzzy-set" QCA is that mvQCA conditions remain discrete. The major advantage of nondichotomous categorization, according to its proponents, is that it reduces the likelihood of contradictory configurations because of a more homogeneous grouping of cases. We give an overview of existing mvQCA applications, with a detailed discussion of two recent publications, and argue that crisp-set and fuzzy-set alternatives should be less easily discarded. as the mvQCA solution conies with substantial set-theoretical costs.

VIS, Barbara (03.19.2009), "Can FsQCA Be of Value for a Moderate Large-N Study?", paper presented at : Research Note Prepared for the Master Class Fine-Tuning QCA Applications, Leuven,

VÍTEK, Miloš (2000), Systematika Mezinárodních Srovnání [Systematic International Comparison] (unpublished manuscript). (Course material. Online at the University of Pardubice, at : http://www.vslib.cz/em/old/3_2000/em3.htm)
Abstract: The observable behavior of individuals, groups or nations can be compared between two countries, among a smaller or a greater number of countries mutually. The comparison has the form of contextual description, classification, hypotheses testing or prediction. The comparison of international data combines political, economic, cultural and other aspects in a systematic way.

WADE, Robert Hunter and GOLDSTEIN, Markus (2003), "The Causes of Village Cooperation: Comment on Ragin, Shulman, Weinberg, and Gran", Field Methods, 15, 4, 341-350.

WAGEMANN, Claudius (2007), "QCA e «Fuzzy Set Analysis». Che Cosa è e Che Cosa Non è", Rivista Italiana Di Scienza Politica, 37, 3, 385-410.
Abstract: [In Italian] The article presents «Qualitative Comparative Analysis » (QCA), introduced in the 1980s and since then further developed by the American social scientist Charles C. Ragin. The QCA methodology is based on set-theoretical relationships, analyzing social science data with regard to sufficient and necessary conditions. Three aspects of causality are particularly emphasized in QCA, namely, equifinality, conjunctural causation, and assymmetric causation. The novelty of QCA consists in the fact that it allows the researcher to take complex causal structures into account. Fuzzy set QCA (fsQCA) enlarges the range of applicability even further. The article finishes with a discussion in how far QCA is really a «qualitative» method and proposes an agenda which issues regarding QCA should be settled in the next future, most importantly, the creation of a «code of good standard».

Wagemann, Claudius, "'Qualitative Comparative Analysis'. Une terza via fra studio di caso e approccio statistico." (2008):2008.

WAGEMANN, Claudius and SCHNEIDER, Carsten (2010), "Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy-Sets: Agenda for a Research Approach and a Data Analysis Technique", Comparative Sociology, 9, 3, 376-396.
Abstract: 'Qualitative Comparative Analysis' (QCA) is an increasingly applied methodological tool in comparative social sciences. It is well suited for the analysis of causally complex claims framed in terms of necessity and sufficiency. This article presents the epistemology of QCA and discusses its applicability to social science research questions. It also illustrates some of the features that have recently been added to this set of methodological tools. This article is best read in close conjunction with Schneider and Wagemann's 'Standards of Good QCA Practice,' the next paper in this journal issue.

WAGEMANN, Claudius and SCHNEIDER, Carsten (2010), "Standards of Good Practice in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy-Sets", Comparative Sociology, 9, 3, 397-418.
Abstract: As a relatively new methodological tool, QCA is still a work in progress. Standards of good practice are needed in order to enhance the quality of its applications. We present a list from A to Z of twenty-six proposals regarding what a 'good' QCA-based research entails, both with regard to QCA as a research approach and as an analytical technique. Our suggestions are subdivided into three categories: criteria referring to the research stages before, during, and after the analytical moment of data analysis. This listing can be read as a guideline for authors, reviewers, and readers of QCA. Adapted from the source document.

WAGEMANN, Claudius and SCHNEIDER, Carsten Q. (2007), "Standards of Good Practice in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy-Sets", COMPASSS Working Paper, 51, 35p. (http://www.compasss.org/WagemannSchneider2007.pdf)
Abstract: Over the last couple of years, we witness an increasing curiosity for a methodological family, generally identified with its acronym, 'QCA'. This stands for 'Qualitative Comparative Analysis', which was introduced for the first time to a wider public by the American social scientist Charles Ragin in 1987 (1987). Since then, QCA has been modified, extended and improved several times (Ragin 2000; Ragin 2003b; Ragin 2006a Ragin 2006b; and Ragin and Sonnett 2004). These developments have contributed to a better applicability of QCA to empirical social scientific research questions and to its prominence within the discipline. In this article, we will, first, present the 'state of the art' of QCA and will introduce both its basic principles and the different variants of this group of 'Configurational Comparative Methods' (a term coined by Rihoux and Ragin 2007a, which might probably substitute ‘Qualitative Comparative Analysis’ in the long run). After this, we will propose a list of criteria for a 'good' QCA analysis. We hope that our contribution can be a guideline for QCA users as to which aspects have to be considered when carrying out QCA analyses in order to render them not only technically correct, but also to make the best out of the analytically relevant information one can generate with QCA. Furthermore, the standard of good practice which we propose can also be a helpful instrument for readers and commentators when they have to evaluate empirical analyses based on QCA techniques.

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