Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Performing Basic Analyses using R

This 2-day in-person workshop introduces Qualitative Comparative Analysis as an approach and a technique, its main assumptions, its standard procedures and operations, and the technical environment (R software and packages) used for its application. QCA enables researchers to model causal complexity by analyzing whether different configurations of conditions are necessary or sufficient for an outcome, based on a formalized comparison of intermediate to large numbers of cases. Throughout the course, emphasis is put on a thorough understanding of the formal logic of set-theoretic methods and QCA, including topics such as Boolean algebra, causal complexity, sets and their calibration, necessity, and sufficiency. The course also discusses the logic and analysis of truth tables and the most important problems that emerge when this analytical tool is used for exploring social science data. Right from the beginning, participants are exposed to performing set-theoretic analyses with the relevant R software packages using data from published applications in the social sciences.

Please keep in mind that this is an intensive workshop, for which you have to come prepared. It is recommended to complete the readings for each class well in advance. Moreover, you must be familiar with R.

Dates

The course will take place in person at the GIGA in Hamburg on the 28th and 29th October 2024, both days from 10 am to 5 pm. Please note that the course is open for external participants.

About the lecturer

Dr. Carsten Q. Schneider is Professor of Political Science and Pro-Rector for External Relations at Central European University (CEU), Vienna. He is author three books on set-theoretic methods and QCA published with Cambridge University Press in 2012, 2021, and 2023, the latest one entitled ‘Set-Theoretic Methods: Combining QCA and Case Studies’. His articles appeared, among others, in Comparative Political Studies, Democratization, European Journal of Political Research, Political Analysis, Political Research Quarterly, and Sociological Methods and Research. Schneider is the winner of the 2019 David-Collier Mid-Career Achievement Award. From 2009-14, he was an elected member of the German Academy of Young Scientists and in 2009-10 a Kennedy Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for European Studies.