This course addresses advanced issues that arise if and when scholars embrace notions of sets and their relations. While it is a course about set-theoretic methods writ large, most of the time, we will discuss issues specific to QCA. We will try and address all the following topics but, depending on participants' needs and interests, … Continue reading ECPR Methods School: Advanced Topics in Set-Theoretic Methods and QCA →

The goal of this workshop is to provide a ground-up introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and fuzzy sets. Participants will get intensive instruction and hands-on experience with the fsQCA software package and on completion should be prepared to design and execute research projects using the set-analytic approach. Update: The workshop has been canceled due … Continue reading Southern California QCA Workshop – CANCELED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS →

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a method that has become part of the toolbox in disciplines such as political science, sociology, public administration and organization and management studies. QCA can be used to answer any research question if one is interested in analyzing patterns of necessity and sufficiency in a group of cases, ranging from … Continue reading Qualitative Comparative Analysis →

This course provides training on methods that enable a researcher to construct a solid and well-argued comparative research design (CRD) – any research enterprise that comprises at least two ‘cases’ or units of analysis.  We will cover multiple options, from very few cases (small-n) to multiple cases (intermediate-n) to many cases (larger-n).  By the end … Continue reading Comparative Research Designs (1st ECPR Virtual Summer School) →

This course introduces you to Qualitative Comparative Analysis and fuzzy sets, and their application in the social sciences, using the R software environment.  It starts out by familiarising you with the basic concepts of the underlying methodological perspective, including formal logic, Boolean algebra, causal complexity, and calibration. From there, we move to the central notions … Continue reading Qualitative Comparative Analysis (1st ECPR Virtual Summer School) →

Prof. Dr. Dr. Lasse Gerrits (IHS, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and Dr. Sofia Pagliarin (University of Bamberg, Germany) will present Trajectory-based QCA (TJ-QCA) as a new way to account for and integrate processes over time in QCA both conceptually and methodologically. Research methods usually struggle with the complexity of social processes, such as policy processes, and … Continue reading CECAN Webinar: Trajectory-Based Qualitative Comparative Analysis (TJ-QCA) →

This webinar begins with a short introduction to NCA, followed by a comparison of NCA and QCA and suggestions for using both techniques to complement one another.  The webinar will last approximately 1.5 hours (~60 minutes of presentation plus ~30 minutes of Q&A). To facilitate participants from different time zones, the webinar will be offered … Continue reading Webinar: Combining NCA and QCA →

This course provides training on methods that enable a researcher to construct a solid and well-argued comparative research design (CRD) – any research enterprise that comprises at least two ‘cases’ or units of analysis.  We will cover multiple options, from very few cases (small-n) to multiple cases (intermediate-n) to many cases (larger-n), and in particular … Continue reading ECPR Winter School: Comparative Research Design →

This course introduces you to Qualitative Comparative Analysis and fuzzy sets, and their application in the social sciences, using the R software environment.  It starts out by familiarising you with the basic concepts of the underlying methodological perspective, including formal logic, Boolean algebra, causal complexity, and calibration. From there, we move to the central notions … Continue reading ECPR Winter School: Qualitative Comparative Analysis →

This course will deepen your understanding of the potentials and pitfalls of set-theoretic methods. The skills you gain will enable you to be more critical and assertive if and when you choose or reject set-theoretic methods as the most appropriate research method for your research project. By the end of this course, you will be … Continue reading ECPR Winter School: Advanced Qualitative Comparative Analysis →