Inside the black box of collaboration: a process-tracing study of collaborative flood risk governance in the Netherlands

The Identification of Causal Mechanisms in Sustainable Urban Transitions—A Systematic Approach to Case Selection

“…The cross-case regularities identified from the truth table in the QCA should be interpreted and verbalized into causal mechanisms [35,36]. Therefore, after applying the QCA, the analysis of the cases is deepened in an attempt to unveil the causal mechanisms between the conditions and the outcome, and to make causal inferences about the way in which the mechanism operates [19,37]. The description and analysis of the mechanisms is crucial to explain causation [11,32].…”

“…The description and analysis of the mechanisms is crucial to explain causation [11,32]. The causal mechanism is defined as a system in which the activities of the actors transfer causal forces from the causes to the outcomes [11,24,26,36,37]. The mechanistic perspective of causation seeks to uncover the causal process [18], to explain how and through what kind of process an outcome is brought about or produced [38].…”

“…Employing configurational and mechanistic approaches together provides an accurate picture of the investigated reality, allowing the identification of potential causes and selecting cases for further within-case analysis [23,36]. QCA distinguishes between the causal conditions that can produce something and the contextual conditions under which the mechanisms act as the causal pathways between causes and effects [11,31,37]. In SMMR, the causal mechanisms are expected to be present in certain cases when the conditions that trigger them are present [24,37].…”

“…QCA distinguishes between the causal conditions that can produce something and the contextual conditions under which the mechanisms act as the causal pathways between causes and effects [11,31,37]. In SMMR, the causal mechanisms are expected to be present in certain cases when the conditions that trigger them are present [24,37]. SMMR involves an in-depth analysis of the specific causal mechanisms that allows examination of the "why"-of combinations of conditions, via QCA, and the "how"-of the causal mechanism, via process tracing of a causal relationship [37].…”

“…In SMMR, the causal mechanisms are expected to be present in certain cases when the conditions that trigger them are present [24,37]. SMMR involves an in-depth analysis of the specific causal mechanisms that allows examination of the "why"-of combinations of conditions, via QCA, and the "how"-of the causal mechanism, via process tracing of a causal relationship [37]. SMMR is based on the fact that QCA-based inference becomes stronger "if" and "when" withincase evidence is added via process tracing, with the study of selected cases to establish the existence of causal relationships [19,21,36].…”