Course Information and Reading List Please note the following: In case you need or want a grade for the course, the grade is determined as follows: - Participation in class: 30 % - Research paper: 70 % You will find all mandatory readings in the course platform in ILIAS before the course starts. For some texts, the relevant pages are a subset of the whole publication. Do not be confused when an article/book section is longer than is written here. In case you are interested in one of the topics, the texts listed under further readings are suggestions that should help you in digging deeper into the field. Texts are ordered chronologically, which generally is the best order to read them. When the order is not chronological, I recommend that you follow the suggested order. In general, about the first half of a session is dedicated to a methodological discussion of a specific issue. The second half is concerned with the application of what we have discussed before. For the practical parts of the course, you have to install the following two freely available software packages on your laptop: o fsqca 2.0 and QCA 3.0 are available at http://www.u.arizona.edu/~cragin/fsqca/software.shtml o Tosmana: http://www.tosmana.net The software and manuals can be found in ILIAS as well (folder Software ). You are expected to bring your laptop with you every week (except of the first three weeks). If you do not have a laptop, please approach me as soon as possible so as to organize one for each session. The datasets that we will use in class and the texts from which they were taken can be found in a separate folder in ILIAS in due time. Week 1: Structure of the course and introduction Berg-Schlosser, Dirk, Gisèle De Meur, Charles C. Ragin and Benoît Rihoux (2008): Qualitative Comparative Analysis as an Approach. Rihoux, Benoît and Charles Ragin (eds.): Configurational Comparative Methods: Thousand Oaks: Sage: 1-18. Ragin, Charles C. (1997): Turning the Tables: How Case-Oriented Research Challenges Variable-Oriented Research. Comparative Social Research 16: 27-42. Achen, Christopher H. (2005): Two Cheers for Charles Ragin. Studies in Comparative International Development 40 (1): 27-32. Schrodt, Philip A. (2006): Beyond the Linear Frequentist Orthodoxy. Political Analysis 14 (3): 335-339. Shalev, Michael (2007): Limits and Alternatives to Multiple Regression in Comparative Research. Mjøset, Lars (eds.): Capitalisms Compared. Amsterdam: JAI Press: 269-308. chap. 10. Schneider, Carsten Q. and Bernard Grofman (2010): An Introduction to Crisp-Set QCA, with a Comparison to Binary Logistic Regression. Political Research Quarterly, forthcoming. - 1 -
I. Basics Week 2: Causal complexity and Boolean algebra Mahoney, James, Erin Kimball and Kendra L. Koivu (2009): The Logic of Historical Explanation in the Social Sciences. Comparative Political Studies 42 (1): 114-128. Qualitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of Berkeley Press: 98-101. 89-104. chap. 1. Solomon, Alan David (1990): The Essentials of Boolean Algebra. Quick Access to the Important Facts and Concepts. Piscataway: Research and Education Association: 1-25. Specifically on necessary conditions: Dion, Douglas (1998): Evidence and Inference in the Comparative Case Study. Comparative Politics 30 (2): 127-145. Braumoeller, Bear F. and Gary Goertz (2000): The Methodology of Necessary Conditions. American Journal of Political Science 44 (4): 844-858. Goertz, Gary, and Harvey Starr (2003): Necessary Conditions. Theory, Methodology, and Applications. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Levy, Jack S. and Gary Goertz (2007): Explaining War and Peace: Case Studies and Necessary Condition Counterfactuals. London: Routledge. On sufficiency (and necessity): Seawright, Jason (2002): Testing for Necessary and/or Sufficient Conditions: Which Cases Are Relevant? Political Analysis 10 (2):178-193. Clarke, Kevin A. (2002): The Reverend and the Ravens: Comment on Seawright. Political Analysis 10 (2):194-197. Braumoeller, Bear F., and Gary Goertz (2002): Watching Your Posterior: Comment on Seawright. Political Analysis 10(2):198-203. Seawright, Jason (2002): What Counts as Evidence? Reply. Political Analysis 10 (2): 204-207. II. Crisp-set QCA Week 3: Constituting populations and choosing conditions chap. 2. Ragin, Charles C. (1992): "Casing" and the Process of Social Inquiry. Ragin, Charles C. and Howard S. Becker (eds.): What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 217-226. Amenta, Edwin and Jane D. Poulsen (1994): Where to Begin: A Survey of Five Approaches to Selecting Independent Variables for Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Sociological Methods & Research 23 (1): 22-53. - 2 -
Berg-Schlosser, Dirk and Gisèle De Meur (2008): Comparative Research Design: Case and Variable Selection. Rihoux, Benoît and Charles C. Ragin (eds.): Configurational Comparative Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage: 19-32. Week 4: From variables to crisp-sets and types 71-82. Rihoux, Benoît and Gisèle De Meur (2008): Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage: 39-44. Week 5: Logic and functions of truth tables Qualitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of Berkeley Press: chaps. 6-7. Barton, Allen H. (1955): The Concept of Property Space in Social Research. Lazarsfeld, Paul F. and Morris Rosenberg (eds.): The Language of Social Research. A Reader in the Methodology of Social Research. New York: Free Press: 40-53. chap. 4. Week 6: Minimization of truth tables Qualitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of Berkeley Press: 93-101. Rihoux, Benoît and Gisèle De Meur (2008): Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage: 56-65. Vanderborght, Yannick and Sakura Yamasaki (2003): The problem of contradictory simplifying assumptions in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Paper presented at the ECPR General Conference, Marburg, 18-21 September. Caramani, Daniele (2009): Introduction to the Comparative Method with Boolean Algebra, Los Angeles: SAGE: chap. 7. chaps. 8-9. Rihoux, Benoît and Gisèle De Meur, G (2008): Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage: 48-52. Two advanced texts: Clark, William Roberts, Michael J. Gilligan and Matt Golder (2006): A Simple Multivariate Test for Asymmetric Hypotheses. Political Analysis 14 (3): 311-331. Baumgartner, Michael (2009): Inferring Causal Complexity. Sociological Methods & Research 38 (1): 71-101. Week 7: Goodness-of-fit measures in csqca Unfortunately, there currently is no English text addressing this topic. Perhaps there will be one by the time we will have this session, I will keep you informed. - 3 -
III. Fuzzy set QCA Week 8: Basics of fuzzy sets chap. 6. chaps. 7-9. Week 9: Calibration: from variables to fuzzy sets chaps. 4-5. Smithson, Michael and Jay Verkuilen (2006): Fuzzy Set Theory: Applications in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks: Sage: chap. 3. Week 10: Minimization of fuzzy-set truth tables chap. 7. chap 10. Smithson, Michael and Jay Verkuilen (2006): Fuzzy Set Theory: Applications in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks: Sage: chaps. 6-7. Braumoeller, Bear F. (2003): Causal Complexity and the Study of Politics. Political Analysis 11 (3): 209-233. Week 11: Goodness-of-fit measures in fsqca Ragin, Charles C. (2006): Set Relations in Social Research: Evaluating Their Consistency and Coverage. Political Analysis 14 (3): 291-310. chaps. 8-9. Goertz, Gary (2006): Assessing the Trivialness, Relevance, and Relative Importance of Necessary and Sufficient Conditions in Social Science. Studies in Comparative International Development 41 (2): 88-109. Eliason, Scott R., and Robin Stryker (2009): Goodness-of-Fit Tests and Descriptive Measures in Fuzzy-Set Analysis. Sociological Methods & Research 38 (1): 102-146. - 4 -
IV. Advanced topics Cologne Graduate School Week 12: Two-step QCA Schneider, Carsten Q., and Claudius Wagemann (2006): Reducing Complexity in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Remote and Proximate Factors and the Consolidation of Democracy. European Journal of Political Research 45 (5): 751-786. Week 13: Analyzing causal sequences with TQCA Caren, Neal, and Aaron Panofsky (2005): TQCA: A Technique for Adding Temporality to Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Sociological Methods & Research 34 (2): 147-172. Ragin, Charles C. (2007): Using QCA to Study Causal Order: Comment on Caren and Panofsky (2005). typescript. Week 14: QCA combined with case studies Rohlfing, Ingo, and Carsten Q. Schneider (2009): Combining fuzzy-set QCA and case studies in the analysis of party competition. typescript. Week 15: Standards of good practice in QCA Schneider, Carsten Q., and Claudius Wagemann (2010): Standards of Good Practice in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy Sets. Comparative Sociology. De Meur, Gisèle, Benoît Rihoux, and Kazura Yamasaki (2008): Adressing the Critiques of QCA. In Rihoux, Benoît and Charles Ragin (eds.): Configurational Comparative Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage: 147-165. - 5 -