Set-Theoretic Methods for the Social Sciences

Abstract

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and other set-theoretic methods distinguish themselves from other approaches to the study of social phenomena by using sets and the search for set relations. In virtually all social science fields, statements about social phenomena can be framed in terms of set relations, and using set-theoretic methods to investigate these statements is therefore highly valuable. This book guides readers through the basic principles of set theory and then on to the applied practices of QCA. It provides a thorough understanding of basic and advanced issues in set-theoretic methods together with tricks of the trade, software handling and exercises. Most arguments are introduced using examples from existing research. The use of QCA is increasing rapidly and the application of set-theory is both fruitful and still widely misunderstood in current empirical comparative social research. This book provides the comprehensive guide to these methods for researchers across the social sciences.

A configurational and experimental approach to compare British and Chinese cultural profiles of generation Y

“…Scholars from various disciplines and backgrounds (Fiss, Cambre and Marx, 2013;Homayouni, Tang Sai & Napsiah,2009;Kvist, 2007;Schneider and Wagemann,2012;) use fsQCA to classify societal and organizational behavior as well as cultural values (Fotiadis, Yeh & Huan, 2016;Ott and Kimura, 2016). Geckhamer (2011) uses fsQCA to analyze the cross-cultural differences in compensation schemes and to classify types which benefit this analysis.…”

“…In line with the postulate of fsQCA research design (Ragin, 2009, Rihoux andRagin, 2008;Schneider and Wagemann, 2012), this study combines a qualitative and an experimental approach to understand cultural profiles on an individual and dyad level. The participants of the study are final year Management students -after a year in management placements to return to these firms after graduation.…”

Transparency and Public Value—Analyzing the Transparency Practices and Value Creation of Public Utilities

“…We use fsQCA for this first step, building on a public value score for each case awarded by experts and an assessment of the transparency practices of each organization based on interviews with stakeholders. Second, we need to check whether transparency leads to value creation as organizations learn to engage stakeholders, or that the reverse is the case and Ragin (2008), provides us with a tool to systematically analyze the differences between the sixteen utilities while grounding the analysis in theory and leveraging the qualitative insights from our interviews (Goertz & Mahony, 2012;Schneider & Wagemann, 2012). Furthermore, fsQCA allows us to catalogue the different configurations of information disclosure, so we can identify the combinations of transparency practices which produce the best public value outcomes (Van Der Heijden, 2015).…”

“…This means that more caution has to be practiced when analyzing these cases. These scores can be translated to fsQCA set membership by establishing a theoretically informed crossover, minimum and maximum point for the sets (Ragin, 2008;Schneider & Wagemann, 2012). We decided to place the 0.50 membership score at the 9-point mark.…”

Outsiderness among young people in Europe: A fuzzy set analysis

“…This paper applies fsQCA (Ragin, 2008;Schneider and Wagemann, 2012) to examine the determinants of outsiderness among young people, a method that has been gaining in popularity and application. Three main reasons explain the choice of this method.…”