COMPASSS

Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Applied Research (online)
2026-09-03 - 2026-09-04 | Online
This course will provide you with an interactive online learning environment using advanced pedagogical tools, and is specifically designed for masters level students and above. The course is limited to a maximum of 20 participants, ensuring that the teaching team can address the unique needs of each individual.
Course overview
Upon completion of this course, you will have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and how to apply it to a research project within your area of study. This knowledge and practical experience will equip you with valuable skills for conducting in-depth research and analysis in your field.
ECTS Credits
3 ECTS credits awarded for engaging fully in class activities.
1 additional ECTS credit awarded for completing a post-course assignment.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) course (in Italian) at UniMORE, Modena, Italy | September, 21-25 2026
2026-09-21 - 2026-09-25 | UniMORE, Modena, Italy
Five-day QCA course (taught in Italian) with focus on the calibration of qualitative data. The course is part the School in Qualitative and Mixed Methods hosted by the Fondazione Marco Biagi and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UniMORE), Italy.
Course Overview:
The course offers the theoretical and methodological foundations to perform QCA, from set-conceptualisation, to configurational thinking, to casing and data calibration. By means of examples and exercises, the course focusses on the collection and calibration of qualitative data, although the acquired knowledge and skills can be applied to any type of data for QCA performance. The participants will also take part in tutored classes in the afternoon to apply what they learned about QCA to their prospective or on-going research projects. The course also includes sessions on the practical application of QCA by using the R packages ‘QCA’ and ‘SetMethods’ in the R Studio environment by replicating selected published QCA papers.
More information on the course is available at this page.
Who should attend:
This course targets Italian-speaking master and doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty across the social and human sciences who are interested in configurational thinking using set-analytic methods to examine causal complexity.
About QCA
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) has been introduced by Charles C. Ragin’s (1987) book ‘The Comparative Method.’ Rooted in historical comparative research in political sciences, QCA expands the logic of qualitative analysis to multiple case studies. By following a formalised workflow, QCA allows researchers to perform systematic cross-case comparison and assess the ‘fit’ of the obtained results in comparative terms by relying on specific parameters.
Most interesting to QCA is the ‘shift of mindset’ required along all the stages of the research, as cases have to be considered elements belonging to conditions (factors) and outcomes (‘effects’) conceptualised as sets. QCA rests on configurational thinking for the representation and explanation of the selected cases in the sample through the concepts of necessity and sufficiency, equifinality, multifinality and limited diversity, which are the main elements composing causal complexity which characterises QCA.
QCA is typically applied to samples composed of small- or intermediate-n (usually, 10-50 cases), but it is increasingly used by researchers to examine large-n datasets from a configurational and set-theoretic logic.
Contact Information
For questions or additional information, please contact dr. Sofia Pagliarin by writing to pagliarin@ihs.nl

Japan QCA Conference 2026 - Paper Development Workshop (PDW)
2026-10-30 - 2026-10-31 | Waseda University, Tokoyo, Japan
Japan QCA Conference 2026 – 30 – 31 October 2026 in Tokyo

ジャパン QCA カンファレンス・論文開発ワークショップ（2026 年 10 月 30 日～31 日）の

In addition to keynote speeches by Carsten Schneider and Peer Fiss, the conference will feature a Paper Development Workshop (PDW) and an Expert Workshop (EW).

The Paper Development Workshop (PDW) at the 2026 Japan QCA Conference offers researchers who use QCA in their domains the chance to present their work at various stages of development. The workshop comprises small roundtable sessions in which QCA paper developers can receive detailed, constructive feedback from QCA experts and discuss the methodological aspects of their projects intensively.
The Call for Abstracts is open to researchers from various domains who wish to share QCA experiences, exchange ideas, and develop their own QCA papers. The PDW at the 2026 Japan QCA Conference is an in-person event hosted by Waseda University in Tokyo.
Submission Procedure
Please submit your abstract (maximum 500 words) via the following online form by 14 August 2026 at the latest. Submitted abstracts will be reviewed by an expert panel and may not be accepted if they are at an earlier stage than applying QCA, or if they are purely conceptual rather than an empirical application of QCA. The panel will also evaluate the clarity of purpose and the methodological rigor of the study. Therefore, your abstract must declare your QCA-based research design, including: (1) your research question(s); (2) the analytical framework; (3) the strategy for collecting raw data and calibration in your cases; and (4) the reasons for using QCA to address your research gap. Within the word limit, you should provide detailed information on the data, such as the number of cases and conditions, as well as the empirical findings of your QCA study. You will be notified about the acceptance of your abstract around 31August 2026, at which point you will be invited to submit a full paper of no more than 8,000 words for presentation at the PDW.
Conference fee and travel grant
There is no conference fee for the 2026 Japan QCA conference. PhD students who have no or insufficient funding to travel to Tokyo may apply for a travel grant. Expect travel grants to not exceed 50,000 YEN. We will provide further details when we notify you of the decision regarding your abstract.
The conference programme
Participants are warmly invited to attend the plenary session, at which Carsten Schneider and Peer Fiss will deliver keynote speeches. There will also be an expert roundtable session discussing the progress of QCA practices, as well as panel sessions where participants can learn about the latest methodological developments in QCA.
Further information
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by email to jqca2026@gmail.com.
We look forward to receiving your submissions for this Call for Papers.
Your Organizational Team,
Sho Niikawa (Kobe University)
Airo Hino (Waseda University)
