Case Studies Nested in Fuzzy-set QCA on Sufficiency

Abstract

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a method for cross-case analyses that works best when complemented with follow-up case studies focusing on the causal quality of the solution and its constitutive terms, the underlying causal mechanisms, and potentially omitted conditions. The anchorage of QCA in set theory demands criteria for follow-up case studies that are different from those known from regression-based multimethod research (MMR). Based on the evolving research on set-theoretic MMR, we introduce principles for formalized case selection and causal inference after a fuzzy-set QCA on sufficiency. Using an empirical example for illustration, we elaborate on the principles of counterfactuals for intelligible causal inference in the analysis of three different types of cases. Furthermore, we explain how case-based counterfactual inferences on the basis of QCA solutions are related to counterfactuals in the course of processing a truth table in order to produce a solution. We then flesh out two important functions that ideal types play for QCA-based case studies: First, they inform the development of formulas for the choice of the best available cases for with-case analysis and, second, establish the boundaries of generalization of the causal inferences.

Multiple Conjunctural Impact on Digital Social Innovation: Focusing on the OECD Countries

“…The fussy-set multiple conjunctural analysis is able to analyze the combination of causal conditions when compared to the existing qualitative methods, without an assumption of the independence between variables and the linear relationship. As a result, through the fussy-set multiple conjunctural analysis, this study has the strength of analyzing causal relationship by integrating not only the unilineal effects by certain variables, but also multiple causal conditions [38][39][40].…”

Archetype analysis in sustainability research: methodological portfolio and analytical frontiers

“…More systematic use of independent data sets and multiple methods for validation purposes represents a promising avenue for future archetype analysis. Some of the methods addressed in this study can provide examples in these respects, for instance with reference to the use of case studies that explore QCA results (Schneider and Rohlfing 2016) and recent contributions https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss3/art34/ that link QCA and process tracing (Schneider and Rohlfing 2013), and embedding these in mixed-method research (Rohlfing and Schneider 2018).…”

The Time-Series of Energy Mix and Transition: A Comparative Study of OECD Countries through the Fuzzy-Set Analysis

“…The Fuzzy-set Analysis (methodology) is a special form of case study method as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) suggested by Zadeh from the University of Berkeley in 1965, and it has been used in diverse ways by scholars such as Ragin and Kvist in application to Social Sciences [29,30]. The Fuzzy-set analysis is an improved version of the method from Qualitative Comparative Analysis [31,32] that was previously used in the Social Sciences.…”

“…Second, due to this property, Fuzzy-set analysis enables dealing of the middle-case studies (15-25 cases), which comparative case analysis and regression analysis could not address despite being substantial subjects for analysis, and makes middle-class comparative analysis possible [29,31]. Moreover, it is also used in analyzing joint causal relations by paying due consideration to interactive effects between each quality in a given case [29,30]. Third, it can explain diverse social phenomena.…”