Studying configurations with qualitative comparative analysis: Best practices in strategy and organization research

Qualitative comparative analysis is increasingly applied in strategy and organization research. The main purpose of our essay is to support this growing community of qualitative comparative analysis scholars by identifying best practices that can help guide researchers through the key stages of a qualitative comparative analysis empirical study (model building, sampling, calibration, data analysis, reporting, and interpretation of findings) and by providing examples of such practices drawn from strategy and organization studies. Coupled with this main purpose, we respond to Miller’s essay on configuration research by highlighting our points of agreement regarding his recommendations for configurational research and by addressing some of his concerns regarding qualitative comparative analysis. Our article thus contributes to configurational research by articulating how to leverage qualitative comparative analysis for enriching configurational theories of strategy and organization.

Download Full-text

Standards of Good Practice in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy-Sets

Comparative Sociology ◽

10.1163/156913210x12493538729793 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 397-418 ◽

Cited By ~ 433

Author(s):

Carsten Q. Schneider ◽

Claudius Wagemann

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Fuzzy Sets ◽

Good Practice ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Research Approach ◽

Analytical Technique ◽

Work In Progress ◽

Methodological Tool

AbstractAs 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.

Download Full-text

A Framework for Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis for the Review of the Literature

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2175 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Anthony Onwuegbuzie ◽

Rebecca Weinbaum

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Literature Review ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Comparison Analysis ◽

Qualitative Data Analysis ◽

Analysis Technique ◽

Similar Vein

Onwuegbuzie, Leech, and Collins (2012) demonstrated how the following 5 qualitative data analysis approaches can be used to analyze and to synthesize information extracted from a literature review: constant comparison analysis, domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, componential analysis, and theme analysis. In a similar vein, Onwuegbuzie and Frels (2014) outlined how discourse analysis can be used. Thus, the purpose of this article is to provide a framework for using another qualitative data analysis technique to analyze and to interpret literature review sources—a process that we call a Qualitative Comparative Analysis-Based Research Synthesis (QCARS). Using a real review of the literature, we illustrate how to conduct a QCARS using a qualitative comparative analysis software program.

Download Full-text

Using mixed research approaches to understand rural depopulation

Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales ◽

10.7201/earn.2019.01.06 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 99 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Luisa Alamá-Sabater ◽

Vicente Budí ◽

José María García-Álvarez-Coque ◽

Norat Roig-Tierno

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Fuzzy Set ◽

Spatial Data ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Spatial Data Analysis ◽

Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis ◽

Regional Policies ◽

Rural Depopulation ◽

Urbanized Region

<span lang="EN-US">There is a growing consensus on the need to propose specific policies to face rural depopulation. This article applies fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to define the presence or absence in each municipality of the conditions leading to the presence or absence of depopulation. We also perform Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) of population growth to identify hotspots of rural depopulation. The methodologies prove useful to evaluate and guide regional policies that address depopulation processes in the context of a relatively urbanized region.</span>

Download Full-text

Using mixed research approaches to understand rural depopulation

Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales ◽

10.7201/10.7201/earn.2019.01.06 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 99

Author(s):

Luisa Alamá-Sabater ◽

Vicente Budí ◽

Jose Maria García-Álvarez-Coque ◽

Norat Roig-Tierno

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Fuzzy Set ◽

Spatial Data ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Spatial Data Analysis ◽

Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis ◽

Regional Policies ◽

Rural Depopulation ◽

Urbanized Region

Download Full-text

Addressing the Challenges Related to Transforming Qualitative Into Quantitative Data in Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Journal of Mixed Methods Research ◽

10.1177/1558689818770061 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 503-535 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Debora de Block ◽

Barbara Vis

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Quantitative Data ◽

Mixed Methods Research ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Calibration Data ◽

Sensitivity Testing ◽

Data Presentation ◽

Data Calibration

The use of qualitative data has so far received relatively little attention in methodological discussions on qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). This article addresses this lacuna by discussing the challenges researchers face when transforming qualitative data into quantitative data in QCA. By reviewing 29 empirical studies using qualitative data for QCA, we explore common practices related to data calibration, data presentation, and sensitivity testing. Based on these three issues, we provide considerations when using qualitative data for QCA, which are relevant both for QCA scholars working with qualitative data and the wider mixed methods research community involved in quantitizing.

Download Full-text

Relative educational poverty: conceptual and empirical issues

Quality & Quantity ◽

10.1007/s11135-021-01226-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Judith Glaesser

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Empirical Study ◽

Panel Study ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Educational Status ◽

Basic School ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Relevant Work ◽

Over Time

AbstractThis paper’s goal is to discuss implications for the empirical study of low educational status arising from the use of the concept of educational poverty in research. It has two related conceptual foci: (1) the relationship of educational poverty with material poverty and to what extent useful parallels exist, and (2) the distinction of absolute and relative (educational) poverty and whether the notion of absolute (educational) poverty is a sensible one. For the concept of educational poverty to be analytically fruitful, clear conceptualisation and operationalisation of the relevant issues are required. The paper contributes to the aim of providing these by building on existing work on educational poverty and by drawing on relevant work on material poverty as well as discussing some conceptual challenges and some of the challenges arising from the operationalisation of the concepts. Some of these challenges are illustrated using examples based on data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). In a further step, factors which may lead to a greater risk of being in relative educational poverty are analysed, employing the method multi-value Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The empirical findings highlight the relative nature of educational qualifications: the usefulness of a basic school leaving qualification has changed over time, and it has not been the same for different groups. Thus, a conceptualisation of low educational status as educational poverty has been shown to be useful, and it has been demonstrated that the relative nature of educational poverty ought to be taken into account by researchers.

Download Full-text

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in der Soziologie – Perspektiven, Potentiale und Anwendungsbereiche / Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Sociology – Perspectives, Potential, and Areas of Application

Zeitschrift für Soziologie ◽

10.1515/zfsoz-2015-0602 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 44 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Jonas Buche ◽

Markus B. Siewert

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Best Practices ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis

ZusammenfassungQualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) wurde von dem Soziologen Charles C. Ragin als Verbindung von fallorientierten, konfigurativen Ansätzen und mengentheoretischem Denken präsentiert. Mittlerweile hat sich QCA - von Ragin und anderen weiterentwickelt - als mengentheoretischer Ansatz zur Untersuchung sozialer Phänomene im sozialwissenschaftlichen Methodenkanon etabliert. Der vorliegende Beitrag zielt darauf ab, Forschungsperspektiven und -potentiale von QCA als (relativ) junge Methode für soziologische Fragestellungen aufzuzeigen. Auf der Grundlage einer Rundschau von 77 publizierten, soziologischen Zeitschriftenartikeln wird einerseits ein breiter Überblick über Anwendungsbereiche, aktuelle Trends und Entwicklungen von QCA in der Soziologie gegeben. Andererseits werden am Beispiel der publizierten Studien die einzelnen Analyseschritte einer QCA besprochen und dabei gängige Fallstricke aufgezeigt, wobei sowohl practiced practices als auch best practices in ihrer Anwendung herausgearbeitet werden.

Download Full-text

Case‐Oriented Configura‐Tional Research: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (Qca), Fuzzy Sets, and Related Techniques

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199286546.003.0031 ◽

2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Benoît Rihoux

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Best Practices ◽

Fuzzy Sets ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Short Description ◽

The Other ◽

Technical Advances ◽

The One ◽

Cross Fertilization

This article investigates the tradition of case-oriented configurational research, focusing specifically on qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as a tool for causal inference. It first presents two analytic procedures commonly used by comparative researchers. A short description of the state-of-the-art of QCA applications is offered, in terms of discipline, types of cases, models, combinations with other methods, and software development. It then reviews different uses of QCA, as well as generic ‘best practices’. Some key recent evolutions are illustrated: on the one hand the development, beyond dichotomous ‘crisp set’ QCA (csQCA), of multi-value QCA (mvQCA), fuzzy sets, and fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA), and on the other hand technical advances and refinements in the use of the techniques. Finally, the article gives some concluding reflections as to expected developments, upcoming innovations, remaining challenges, expansion of fields of application, and cross-fertilization with other approaches.

Download Full-text