Aggregation Bias and the Analysis of Necessary and Sufficient Conditions in fsQCA

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bear F. Braumoeller
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Aggregation Bias ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
The Social ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
Causal Complexity

Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) has become one of the most prominent methods in the social sciences for capturing causal complexity, especially for scholars with small- and medium- N data sets. This research note explores two key assumptions in fsQCA’s methodology for testing for necessary and sufficient conditions—the cumulation assumption and the triangular data assumption—and argues that, in combination, they produce a form of aggregation bias that has not been recognized in the fsQCA literature. It also offers a straightforward test to help researchers answer the question of whether their findings are plausibly the result of aggregation bias.

scholarly journals The Qualitative Comparative Analysis: An Overview of a Causal Complexity Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 08020
Author(s):  
Monika Smela
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Causal Explanation ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Global Affairs ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
Causal Complexity

Research background: Alongside with the development of configurative comparative analysis aiming at identification of necessary and sufficient conditions, various formal methods used for this purpose have been formulated during the last decades. One of them is qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), one of approaches used for causal explanation of phenomena of cases performed in the field of international economics and global affairs. Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the article is to provide a detailed overview of the QCA method in global context, to define its methodologic foundations and consequently introduce the key concepts of the method. The article also provides a comparison of QCA to typical tools of qualitative and quantitative approaches. On the basis of this part, both pros and cons of QCA are derived. Methods: Basically, the methods of analysis, deduction and comparison are used to fulfil the purpose of the article. The existing and available papers and books coping with the topic of QCA and its position among other research methods are reviewed to provide an overview on the selected method. Findings & Value added: The QCA is a method based on analysing stated relations. It bridges the quantitative and qualitative research and reveals certain patterns based on causal complexity principles, however, it is done regarding heterogeneity and diversity of individual researched cases. It is a method applicable to the middle number of cases, it means too few cases for statistical methods on the other hand too many cases for typical qualitative approaches.

Eco-Holonic as a Framework for the Design of Sustainable Autopoietic Cyberphysical Systems

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
María Jesús Ávila-Gutiérrez ◽  
Francisco Aguayo-González
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Living Systems ◽  
Cyberphysical Systems ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

The concept of autopoiesis created by scientists Maturana and Varela to specify the necessary and sufficient conditions of living systems has been strongly criticized by different authors. In spite of the constant attempts to introduce it to the sciences in general, it has only managed to be partially installed, although very strongly, in the social sciences. This chapter will seek to clarify what kind of problems the concept of autopoiesis presents and, in accordance with this, will present a new perspective. The concept of autopoiesis will be analyzed, placing it within the systems theory, critically evaluated, and its deficiencies made evident. Based on this, the concept of interpoiesis for the resolution of the deficiencies presented in the autopoiesis will be presented in order to install this new concept in the discussion. Finally, the concept will be evaluated from the Holonic paradigm shortened a case of application for business from the circular economy.

scholarly journals Systematische kwalitatieve vergelijkende analyse

KWALON ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Verweij ◽  
Lasse M. Gerrits
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
The Social

Systematic Qualitative Comparative Analysis Systematic Qualitative Comparative Analysis Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) was introduced in the social sciences by Charles Ragin in 1987. Literature on and applications of QCA show the method as a way to systematically organize, summarize and compare qualitative data to discover and analyze patterns occurring over cases. Although the literature stresses the importance of iterating between theory and data in its procedures, its grounded nature remains relatively underexposed. In this article we illustrate the principles of QCA by means of a qualitative comparative analysis of fourteen Dutch spatial planning projects, thereby also articulating the method’s grounded nature.

scholarly journals Regime and Sociology: A Comparative History of Sociology in Postwar Europe with Qualitative Comparative Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Matthias Duller
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Postwar Europe ◽  
Regime Types ◽  
History Of ◽  
Continuous Presence ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

Abstract Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this article presents a systematic comparison of differences in the institutional success of sociology in 25 European countries during the academic expansion from 1945 until the late 1960s. Combining context-sensitive national histories of sociology, concept formation, and formal analyses of necessary and sufficient conditions, the article searches for historical explanations for both successful and inhibited processes of the institutionalization of sociology. Concretely, it assesses the interplay of political regime types, the continuous presence of sociological prewar traditions, political Catholicism, and the effects of sociological communities in neighboring countries and how their various combinations are related to more or less well-established sociologies. The results can help explain adversary effects under democratic conditions as well as supportive factors under nondemocratic conditions.

The origins, development, and application of Qualitative Comparative Analysis: the first 25 years

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Marx ◽  
Benoît Rihoux ◽  
Charles Ragin
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Quantitative Research Methods ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
The Social

A quarter century ago, in 1987, Charles C. Ragin published The Comparative Method, introducing a new method to the social sciences called Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). QCA is a comparative case-oriented research approach and collection of techniques based on set theory and Boolean algebra, which aims to combine some of the strengths of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Since its launch in 1987, QCA has been applied extensively in the social sciences. This review essay first sketches the origins of the ideas behind QCA. Next, the main features of the method, as presented in The Comparative Method, are introduced. A third part focuses on the early applications. A fourth part presents early criticisms and subsequent innovations. A fifth part then focuses on an era of further expansion in political science and presents some of the main applications in the discipline. In doing so, this paper seeks to provide insights and references into the origin and development of QCA, a non-technical introduction to its main features, the path travelled so far, and the diversification of applications.

scholarly journals Fibonacci Graphs

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aysun Yurttas Gunes ◽  
Sadik Delen ◽  
Musa Demirci ◽  
Ahmet Sinan Cevik ◽  
Ismail Naci Cangul
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Graph Theory ◽  
Degree Sequence ◽  
Golden Ratio ◽  
Fibonacci Numbers ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

Apart from its applications in Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Social Sciences, Anthropology, etc., there are close relations between graph theory and other areas of Mathematics. Fibonacci numbers are of utmost interest due to their relation with the golden ratio and also due to many applications in different areas from Biology, Architecture, Anatomy to Finance. In this paper, we define Fibonacci graphs as graphs having degree sequence consisting of n consecutive Fibonacci numbers and use the invariant Ω to obtain some more information on these graphs. We give the necessary and sufficient conditions for the realizability of a set D of n successive Fibonacci numbers for every n and also list all possible realizations called Fibonacci graphs for 1≤n≤4.

Qualitative comparative analysis for reviewing evidence and making decisions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Fuzzy Set ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Policy Learning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fuzzy Set Analysis

This chapter looks at another technique that has grown in popularity – qualitative comparative analysis – in the social sciences to analyse situations with comparative rigour through access to medium-N. In this, the author explores the logic of Boolean and fuzzy set analysis and then explores any applications to policy learning identified. This chapter will offer an assessment of the limitations to the technique but also the enormous potential it holds.

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