Crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research Articles

Utilization of Karnaugh Maps in Multi-Value Qualitative Comparative Analysis

A recent debate in the literature of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) concerns the potentials and pitfalls of the multi-value variant (mvQCA) in comparison with the more established crisp-set QCA (csQCA) and fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA) variants. So far, the mvQCA methodology has been implemented either algebraically or via specific software tools such as TOSMANA. The main goal of this paper is to enhance the mvQCA methodology through the utilization of several varieties of Karnaugh maps including (a) the Conventional Karnaugh Map (CKM), (b) the Multi-Valued Karnaugh Map (MVKM), and (c) the Variable-Entered Karnaugh Map (VEKM). The paper offers a tutorial exposition of each of these maps in terms of two recently-published problems concerning the legal provision (introduction) and implementation of party bans in sub-Saharan Africa. Results obtained via various map techniques agree exactly among themselves, and are generally more compact than those obtained earlier via elementary algebraic manipulations, or even via software tools. We show, by way of example, that coding multi-valued variables by binary ones has a harmful primary effect of increasing the input domain. This effect is partially counterbalanced by a (contrarily to common belief) beneficial secondary effect of introducing genuine don’t-care configurations. We also address the issue of unresolved contradictory configurations, and propose two strategies to cope with them. The maps used tackle seven binary variables (or their equivalent), a number beyond the typical map limit of six variables. They are used to produce not only the minimal sum of a Boolean function but the complete sum as well. Though this paper is basically intended as a contribution to mvQCA methodology, it is also of significant utility in any field that demands the use of the Karnaugh map. It serves as a unification/exposition of three fundamental variants of the map, and has a definite pedagogical advantage for the wide spectrum of map users.

Political parties and social media campaigning

Do new media level the playing field during election campaigns (‘equalization’) or do they mirror existing inequalities between parties (normalization)? Empirical studies come to contradictory findings. Part of the answer is in the timing: first social media level the playing field, afterwards bigger parties see the benefit and invest in it. Yet, this raises a new question: given that social media are cheap and easy to use, how can investing in them tip the balance? Based on a critical assessment of the literature and in-depth interviews, we advance a new theoretical framework to address both contradictions: the motivation-resource-based diffusion model. We link this model to the broader party and campaigning literature and formulate expectations, in terms of party size and ideology, about which parties use social media professionally. Afterwards, we conduct a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of the Dutch parties (2010 and 2012 elections) to assess these expectations. We find that populism, postmaterialism, and party size matter but in different ways in the different phases of diffusion.

International sport federations’ commercialisation: a qualitative comparative analysis

ABSTRACTResearch question: This study examines the conditions and configurations that particularly influence International Federations’ (IFs) commercialisation.Research method: Crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) is used to determine the conditions that are related to an IFs’ commercialisation. Sixteen interviews were conducted in six Olympic IFs and one international sport umbrella organisation.Results and findings: The findings reveal a variety of high and low commercialisation configurations. Specialisation is a key condition in both high and low commercialisation, and social media engagement is central in high commercialisation. Strategic planning and low accountability have low degrees of overlap with high commercialisation outcomes. With 13 out of 22 IFs achieving high levels of commercialisation, the findings demonstrate that IFs are increasingly developing business-like behaviours.Implications: The findings highlight the importance of specialisation and social media engagement to achieve high commercialisation. However, when IFs assume a monetisation agenda, there are associated risks such as stakeholder legitimacy, mission drift, goal vagueness and adherence to good governance principles.

“Project Battle” or “Policy War”?: Protest, Advocacy, and the Outcomes of Environmental Contention in China

Over the past decade, several environmental protests against hazardous projects have been mounted across China. Though extensive scholarship has been devoted to the outcomes of environmental contention, a significant distinction between local government's one-off decision change regarding the specific project and long-term, locked-in policy change towards better governance has largely been overlooked. Meanwhile, environmental contention in authoritarian China has largely been studied in terms of disparate episodes, making systematic observation and effective comparison difficult. Using crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA), this article investigates the effect of social contention on shaping environmental governance, analysing 20 influential cases of environmental protests in China from 2007 to 2014. It demonstrates that environmental contention efforts often yield different fruits in their “project battles” than in their “policy wars.” Moreover, this study argues that environmental protests necessitate ample effort of public policy from a variety of social agents with multifaceted mechanisms and strategies, highlighting the significance of the protest–advocacy linkage in extracting better governance from local states in authoritarian settings.

Mexican cartel negotiative interactions with the state

This research applies pure sociology to the negotiation activity of Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). By operationalizing status along several social dimensions, the author employs crisp set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (cs QCA) to identify unique status configurations associated with negotiative interactions with the state. The results indicate that high status configurations are unique to groups that utilize negotiations in a particular territory. These findings provide further insight into the different positions of strength from which DTOs will pursue non-violent activity.

Crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) and Criminology

This article presents Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA; Ragin, 1987, 2000) as a useful methodological approach for criminological research. The aim is to introduce QCA’s logic and assumptions and a step-by-step guide to its application of crisp-set QCA using an illustrative hypothetical example. While QCA is a relatively new method and not widely used within criminological research thus far, it offers a unique approach that is particularly well suited to the field. This article is intended to serve as an introduction to those researchers interested in QCA and to demonstrate how they may incorporate it into their research.

What is Our Purpose Here?: Network Relationships and Goal Congruence in a Goal-directed Network

‘Whole’ goal-directed networks are inherently full of conflict and tensions (Provan and Kenis 2008), but a certain level of agreement about network level goals is important for goal-directed service delivery networks. This work examines goal congruency in a large, heterogeneous child and youth health and well-being network. By drawing on the dimensions of social capital to categorize types of network relationships, the types of relationships that are associated with perceived goal congruence between network and organizational member goals are examined. Using crisp set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (cs-QCA), the results indicate that the perception of goal congruence is present when organizations have a strong tie to network management staff and either bridging or linking ties. Implications are discussed for network governance and management, focusing especially on the types relationships among network members that may need to be facilitated to support goal congruence, and thus, effective network functi...

Pathways to Program Success: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of Communities Putting Prevention to Work Case Study Programs.

To examine the elements of capacity, a measure of organizational resources supporting program implementation that result in successful completion of public health program objectives in a public health initiative serving 50 communities. We used crisp set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to analyze case study and quantitative data collected during the evaluation of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) program. CPPW awardee program staff and partners implemented evidence-based public health improvements in counties, cities, and organizations (eg, worksites, schools). Data came from case studies of 22 CPPW awardee programs that implemented evidence-based, community- and organizational-level public health improvements. Program staff implemented a range of evidence-based public health improvements related to tobacco control and obesity prevention. The outcome measure was completion of approximately 60% of work plan objectives. Analysis of the capacity conditions revealed 2 combinations for completing most work plan objectives: (1) having experience implementing public health improvements in combination with having a history of collaboration with partners; and (2) not having experience implementing public health improvements in combination with having leadership support. Awardees have varying levels of capacity. The combinations identified in this analysis provide important insights into how awardees with different combinations of elements of capacity achieved most of their work plan objectives. Even when awardees lack some elements of capacity, they can build it through strategies such as hiring staff and engaging new partners with expertise. In some instances, lacking 1 or more elements of capacity did not prevent an awardee from successfully completing objectives. These findings can help funders and practitioners recognize and assemble different aspects of capacity to achieve more successful programs; awardees can draw on extant organizational strengths to compensate when other aspects of capacity are absent.

Identifying Resilient and Non-Resilient Labour Conditions in Europe Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Based on the concept of labour market resilience, this paper is aimed to determine the combination of initial conditions behind resilient and non-resilient labour markets after the financial crisis in 2008 in Europe. We start from the assumption that some initial conditions in 2007 are crucial to achieve a specific labour result when a shock appears. In this sense, the effect of temporary employment in cyclical sectors, labour market flexibility, the level of education among the workforce, and the expenditure on Labour Market Policies (LMP) have been tested using crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) in 25 European countries. Whilst our results do not explain labour market resilience in its entirety, we have found a model explaining 85% of the non-resilient cases. These findings suggest that the different levels of initial conditions may have prompted dissimilar labour adjustments with varying success rates in dealing with the job losses.

GDP growth and convergence determinants in the European Union: a crisp-set analysis

Abstract Economic growth and convergence remains a topical issue. This study uses a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis of data from European Union countries in order to establish which conditions could be considered necessary and sufficient to make these countries converge. Based on six different conditions (GDP, secondary education, life expectancy, fertility rate, government consumption and inflation rate), this study finds that the main conditions affecting convergence are government consumption ratio (lower levels will increase convergence), education levels and life expectancy (both with a positive influence on convergence). The first two conditions show quite interesting results: in fact, reduction of government expenditure and budget constraints are an open debate; and the European Union’s aim to become a more competitive economy can only be attained with higher levels of education.

Driving lean and green project outcomes using BIM: A qualitative comparative analysis

Driven by a plethora of external and internal influences, the construction industry has independently embraced lean principles and green initiatives. Prima facie significant synergies have been reported between these two paradigms. It is foreseen that when tapped and adopted in unison, these paradigms may yield additional benefits for the construction projects. This synergy is investigated in this research. Further this study identifies and proposes Building Information Modelling (BIM) as an enabler for gaining lean and green project outcomes. The study uses crisp set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) method for exploring the causal combinations of different BIM capabilities and asserts that causal combinations of four BIM capabilities: MEP system modelling, energy and environment analysis, constructability analysis and structural analysis, when implemented on construction projects can lead to lean and green outcomes. With the help of sixteen cases it is shown that adoption of BIM leads to improved project outcomes especially ones targeting lean and green aspects.

Governing innovation in U.S. state government: An ecosystem perspective

In the public sector, the strategic quest for IT-based innovation often starts by hiring a successful private sector CIO and hoping his or her prior experience will transfer. However this often ignores the existence and influence of other entities and IT governance structures that form the innovation ecosystem. Applying the legal view of agency theory to the U.S. state innovation ecosystem and using a crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) approach, we investigate factors that are associated with public sector IT-based innovation. We find that CIO characteristics, structural oversight mechanisms, CIO relationships with authorities, and the state environment combine to form configurations that lead to both high and low performance.

Configurations and entrepreneurial orientation of young firms

Purpose – Extant literature highlights the inadequacy of using just four domains – leadership, strategy, structure, and environment – for identifying firms’ configurations. The purpose of this paper is to answer the questions – what firm-level and external elements should be used to identify young firms’ configurations? Which among these is the core element? Design/methodology/approach – This paper relies on literatures on configuration approach and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to build the assertions concerning the issue of theoretical specification used for generating young firms’ configurations, and its core element. Crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (CS-QCA) of the data collected from 70 young firms supports the arguments. Various robustness analyses reaffirm these assertions. Findings – Literature review reveals that EO represents a firm’s decision-making proclivity concerning new entry and proactive risk-taking. CS-QCA supports the assertions that: inclusion of EO improves the configurational explanation of young firms’ performance; EO is the core element of young firms’ configurations; and market orientation or social capital cannot substitute EO in configurational studies of young firms’ performance. CS-QCA serves as a tool to support an alternative theoretical stance that questions the adequacy of extant domains used to identify configurations. Originality/value – This paper theorizes for inclusion of EO as an additional domain for identifying young firms’ configurations, and exploits novel capability of set theoretic methods of CS-QCA to explore the issues of model specification and conjunctural causation, and ascertain the core element of configurations.

Success Factors of European Syndromic Surveillance Systems: A Worked Example of Applying Qualitative Comparative Analysis.

IntroductionSyndromic surveillance aims at augmenting traditional public health surveillance with timely information. To gain a head start, it mainly analyses existing data such as from web searches or patient records. Despite the setup of many syndromic surveillance systems, there is still much doubt about the benefit of the approach. There are diverse interactions between performance indicators such as timeliness and various system characteristics. This makes the performance assessment of syndromic surveillance systems a complex endeavour. We assessed if the comparison of several syndromic surveillance systems through Qualitative Comparative Analysis helps to evaluate performance and identify key success factors.Materials and MethodsWe compiled case-based, mixed data on performance and characteristics of 19 syndromic surveillance systems in Europe from scientific and grey literature and from site visits. We identified success factors by applying crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. We focused on two main areas of syndromic surveillance application: seasonal influenza surveillance and situational awareness during different types of potentially health threatening events.ResultsWe found that syndromic surveillance systems might detect the onset or peak of seasonal influenza earlier if they analyse non-clinical data sources. Timely situational awareness during different types of events is supported by an automated syndromic surveillance system capable of analysing multiple syndromes. To our surprise, the analysis of multiple data sources was no key success factor for situational awareness.ConclusionsWe suggest to consider these key success factors when designing or further developing syndromic surveillance systems. Qualitative Comparative Analysis helped interpreting complex, mixed data on small-N cases and resulted in concrete and practically relevant findings.

The rise of governments in global oil governance: Historical dynamics, transaction cost economics, and contemporary implications

In this paper, I aim to explain why global oil companies created different governance structures to deal with similar challenges. I test several hypotheses derived from transaction cost economics. These hypotheses link movements in asset specificity and uncertainty to changes in the level of hierarchy and political involvement of governance structures. To test these hypotheses, I conduct a crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of seven important governance changes. The analysis leads to the following preliminary theory: increasing and highly volatile global oil production as well as declining market positions for important actors create long-term pressure for governance change. But they do not trigger this change, nor do they predetermine the form it will take. Actors actually change governance structures in reaction to more recent events. They will try to increase government involvement, if they face a more uncertain environment or contradictory market trends. They will more likely prefer stronger hierarchy at a given level of government involvement, if they have to deal with an increasingly diverse market environment.

Gender expertise in public policy: towards a theory of policy success

List of Tables List of Figures 1. Knowledge, Expertise and Public Policy: The Changing Relationship Between Science and Public Policy Introduction Foundations and Contributions Research Questions Methodology Plan and Review of Results 2. Conceptualizing Gender Expertise: Locating the Expertise in Gender Expertise Introduction Context Guideline Naming Guideline Zones Guideline Dimensions Guideline Necessity Guideline Negation Guideline Interdependence Guideline Causal Relationships Guideline Traveling Guideline Operationalization Guideline Conclusion 3. Locating the Experts: Identifying the Actors, Mapping the Terrain Introduction Who are the Experts? Utilizing Location to Categorize Expertise Gender Expert Activities Work Experience Locating the Policy Experts: Examining the RNGS Data Conclusions 4. Fighting Against Windmills? Identifying the Ingredients of Policy Success Introduction Policy Success Non-Feminist Theories of Public Policy and Ingredients for Expert Feminist Comparative Policy Literature and Ingredients for Success Methodology Results Discussion Conclusions 5. Triangulating the Factors that Impact Success: Searching for Common Explanations of Policy Success Introduction Methods Result Conclusions 6 Assessing the Factors that Impact the Success of Gender Experts in Public Policy Introduction Understanding Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research Network on Gender, Politics and the State Explaining Gender Expert Policy Success: Conditions Utilized in QCA Analysis Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Gender Expert Success Conclusions 7. Gender Expert Success in Public Policy: Toward a Better Understanding Introduction Findings Developing Theoretical Propositions Theoretical Contributions Concluding Remarks Bibliography Appendices Interview Protocol and Coding Survey Questions Survey Coding csQCA Values Truth Tables of Gender Expert Success

Configurations of Resources, Strategy, Structure and Environment in Young High-technology Firms: Evidence from Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Traditional configuration approach uses some combinations of four domains, namely, environment, strategy, structure and leadership, for identifying organizational configurations. Responding to call for improving extant theoretical specification, this article draws on resource-based view to argue for the inclusion of resource as a domain. Crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis is used to analyze the primary data collected through questionnaire from 60 Indian, young high-technology firms. Configurations of high-performing young firms from high-technology sector in India exhibit reliance on high entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to balance the issue of unavailability of managers with high-growth experience. Firms either choose new product development strategy or inorganic corporate development strategy depending mainly upon environmental contexts. In none of the configurations achieving high performance, ‘high number of experienced managers’ and high EO are simultaneously absent; in the majority of the configurations, the condition ‘high number of experienced managers’ is absent, and the absence of high EO coincides with the absence of ‘corporate development strategy’ or with ‘small size’. These findings on configurations, their internal causal mechanisms and implications are discussed.

The Effectiveness of Coercive and Persuasive Counterinsurgency Practices since 1945

Which counterinsurgency approaches are most effective in defeating insurgencies? Counterinsurgency advocates and critics have debated the effectiveness of winning hearts and minds as well as using brute force against ordinary civilians. But little scholarship has sought to systemically compare these counterinsurgency approaches among a broad range of cases. This paper seeks to remedy this gap in the literature with an empirical analysis of 47 counterinsurgency wars from 1945–2000 to evaluate the effectiveness of coercive and persuasive approaches to counterinsurgency. To do so, I use crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), or Boolean analysis, to identify the presence or absence of six coercive and persuasive counterinsurgency practices across all cases. This method enables me to highlight how counterinsurgency victory can be produced by combinations of practices rather than a single set of practices that might be expected to be useful across cases. The results demonstrate that many combinations of coercive, persuasive, and mixed counterinsurgency practices can lead to victory. However, more persuasive combinations of practices consistently lead to counterinsurgent victory compared to others, although limited coercion against civilians is constant in all cases of counterinsurgency. These findings cast doubt on the ability of counterinsurgents to refrain from harming civilians and suggest that victory requires a mix of both positive and negative incentives for cooperation.

Comparison of implementation success across three national initiatives to improve veterans' access to specialty care

Methods The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used as the basis for defining potential factors affecting implementation success and guided data collection and analysis. For each of the initiatives, a sample of facilities was selected to maximize variability in implementation success, defined uniquely for each initiative. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders from each of the facilities. Interview responses were coded deductively based on the CFIR and were used to obtain an overall rating for each site, by construct. Site ratings were dichotomized and analyzed using crisp set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (cs-QCA).

Symmetric and asymmetric motivations for compliance and violation: A crisp set qualitative comparative analysis of Chinese farmers

AbstractThis article applies crisp set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) to gain insight into the compliance motivations and behaviors of 101 Chinese farmers. It seeks to understand how eight motivations (capacity to comply, legal knowledge, deterrent effect of sanctions, cost–benefit analysis, descriptive social norms, morals, general duty to obey, and procedural justice) combine in compliant and non‐compliant behavior, and whether there is only one combination of motivations or several that lead to compliance and non‐compliance. It illustrates how csQCA assists in making visible and analyzing situations of interacting compliance motivations (conjunctural causality) and situations where different combinations of motivations result in similar compliance behavior (equifinality). It identifies symmetrical and non‐symmetrical relationships between specific compliance motivations and compliance behaviors – indicating that motivations for non‐compliance are not necessarily the opposite of those for compliance. This non‐symmetry may logically be explained because deterrence plays a different role in compliance decisions than in non‐compliance decisions. The article concludes by highlighting the relevance of such insights for theorizing on compliance and for law enforcement, and the limitations of the method applied.