Standards of Good Practice in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy-Sets
Abstract
As a relatively new methodological tool, QCA is still a work in progress. Standards of good practice are needed in order to enhance the quality of its applications. We present a list from A to Z of twenty-six proposals regarding what a “good” QCA-based research entails, both with regard to QCA as a research approach and as an analytical technique. Our suggestions are subdivided into three categories: criteria referring to the research stages before, during, and after the analytical moment of data analysis. This listing can be read as a guideline for authors, reviewers, and readers of QCA.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cites
Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research
King, G., Keohane, R. O., & Verba, S. (1994) · Princeton University Press · doi:10.1515/9781400821211 · Cited by 7,225 · see citing works
Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research: A Menu of Qualitative and Quantitative Options
Seawright, J., & Gerring, J. (2008) · Political Research Quarterly · doi:10.1177/1065912907313077 · Cited by 3,827 · see citing works
Configurational Comparative Methods: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques
Rihoux, B., & Ragin, C. (2009) · SAGE Publications · doi:10.4135/9781452226569 · Cited by 3,089 · see citing works
Lieberson, S., & Ragin, C. C. (2001) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/3089736 · Cited by 2,814 · see citing works
The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies.
Smith, H. L., & Ragin, C. C. (1990) · Population and Development Review · doi:10.2307/1972971 · Cited by 2,813 · see citing works
The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies
Ragin, C. C. (2014) · doi:10.1525/9780520957350 · Cited by 2,130 · see citing works
What Is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry
Dodier, N., Ragin, C. C., & Becker, H. S. (1994) · Revue Française de Sociologie · doi:10.2307/3322115 · Cited by 1,956 · see citing works
Set Relations in Social Research: Evaluating Their Consistency and Coverage
Ragin, C. C. (2006) · Political Analysis · doi:10.1093/pan/mpj019 · Cited by 1,784 · see citing works
Abbott, A. J., & Ragin, C. C. (2001) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/3089735 · Cited by 982 · see citing works
Fuzzy thinking: the new science of fuzzy logic
(1993) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.31-2050 · Cited by 967 · see citing works
Qualitative Comparative Analysis using Fuzzy Sets (fsQCA)
Ragin, C. C. (2009) · Configurational Comparative Methods: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques · doi:10.4135/9781452226569.n5 · Cited by 890 · see citing works
Sartori, G. (1991) · Journal of Theoretical Politics · doi:10.1177/0951692891003003001 · Cited by 704 · see citing works
Earman, J., & Mackie, J. L. (1976) · The Philosophical Review · doi:10.2307/2184048 · Cited by 637 · see citing works
The Possibility Principle: Choosing Negative Cases in Comparative Research
Mahoney, J., & Goertz, G. (2004) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055404041401 · Cited by 616 · see citing works
Interaktionsformen: Akteurzentrierter Institutionalismus in der Politikforschung
Scharpf, F. W. (2000) · Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics · Cited by 577 · see citing works
Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards
Collier, D. A., & Brady, H. E. (2004) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 562 · see citing works
ALIGNING ONTOLOGY AND METHODOLOGY IN COMPARATIVE POLITICS
Hall, P. A. (2003) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511803963.012 · Cited by 533 · see citing works
Making It Count: The Improvement of Social Research and Theory
Reitz, J. G., & Lieberson, S. (1988) · The Canadian Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/3340822 · Cited by 507 · see citing works
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as an Approach
Berg‐Schlosser, D., Meur, G. D., Rihoux, B., & Ragin, C. C. (2009) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781452226569.n1 · Cited by 479 · see citing works
Turning the Tables: How Case-Oriented Research Challenges Variable-Oriented Research
Ragin, C. C., Ragin, C. C., Brochmann, G., Engelstad, F., Kalleberg, R., Leira, A., & Mjøset, L. (2016) · SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781473915480.n15 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards
Weyland, K. G. (2005) · Perspectives on Politics · doi:10.1017/s1537592705590157 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Fuzzy: A Program for Performing Qualitative Comparative Analyses (QCA) in Stata
Longest, K. C., & Vaisey, S. (2008) · The Stata Journal Promoting communications on statistics and Stata · doi:10.1177/1536867x0800800106 · Cited by 327 · see citing works
State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe : The Theory of Stein Rokkan
Flora, P., Kuhnle, S., & Urwin, D. W. (1999) · MADOC (University of Mannheim) · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Between Complexity and Parsimony: Limited Diversity, Counterfactual Cases, and Comparative Analysis
Ragin, C. C., & Sonnett, J. (2005) · Vergleichen in der Politikwissenschaft · doi:10.1007/978-3-322-80441-9_9 · Cited by 316 · see citing works
Schneider, C. Q., & Wagemann, C. (2010) · Comparative Sociology · doi:10.1163/156913210x12493538729838 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Self-citationSchneider, C. Q., & Wagemann, C. (2006) · European Journal of Political Research · doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.2006.00635.x · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Self-citationMaking It Count: The Improvement of Social Research and Theory
Smith, D. S., & Lieberton, S. (1987) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1869915 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Evidence and Inference in the Comparative Case Study
Dion, D. (1998) · Comparative Politics · doi:10.2307/422284 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Strategies of Causal Assessment in Comparative Historical Analysis
Mahoney, J. (2003) · Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511803963.011 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
Scope Statements: Imperatives for Evaluating Theory
Walker, H. A., & Cohen, B. P. (1985) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2095540 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis
(2023) · doi:10.4324/9781003107774-27 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
(1997) · Comparative social research · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Causal Complexity and the Study of Politics
Braumoeller, B. F. (2003) · Political Analysis · doi:10.1093/pan/mpg012 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Necessary Conditions: Theory, Methodology, and Applications
Macmillan, R. (2004) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.1177/009430610403300374 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Two-Level Theories and Fuzzy-Set Analysis
Goertz, G., & Mahoney, J. (2005) · Sociological Methods & Research · doi:10.1177/0049124104266128 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Fuzzy set theory : applications in the social sciences
Smithson, M. J., & Verkuilen, J. (2006) · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Amenta, E., & Poulsen, J. D. (1994) · Sociological Methods & Research · doi:10.1177/0049124194023001002 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) und Fuzzy Sets
Schneider, C. Q., & Wagemann, C. (2007) · Verlag Barbara Budrich eBooks · doi:10.2307/j.ctvdf08f5 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Self-citationKvist, J. (2007) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2007.01.005 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) : State of the Art and Prospects
Rihoux, B., & Ragin, C. C. (2004) · Digital Access to Libraries (Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), l'Université de Namur (UNamur) and the Université Saint-Louis (USL-B)) · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Goertz, G. (2006) · Studies in Comparative International Development · doi:10.1007/bf02686312 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Configurational comparative methods
Cragun, D. L. (2020) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781788975995.00034 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
What You See and What You Get: Pitfalls and Principles of Nested Analysis in Comparative Research
Rohlfing, I. (2008) · Comparative Political Studies · doi:10.1177/0010414007308019 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Claiming Too Much: Warnings about Selection Bias
Collier, D. A., Mahoney, J., & Seawright, J. (2004) · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Innovative Comparative Methods for Policy Analysis
Rihoux, B., & Grimm, H. (2006) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/0-387-28829-5 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
The Consolidation of Democracy: Comparing Europe and Latin America
(2008) · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Diversity, Ideal Types and Fuzzy Sets in Comparative Welfare State Research
Kvist, J. (2006) · Kluwer Academic Publishers eBooks · doi:10.1007/0-387-28829-5_8 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Schneider, C. Q., & Grofman, B. (2006) · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Self-citationMAKING COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS COUNT
Ragin, C. C. (2007) · Revista de História Comparada · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Of the Four Methods of Experimental Inquiry
Mill, J. S. (2011) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139149839.024 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Introduzione alla ricerca comparata
Morlino, L. (2005) · IRIS - Institutional Research Information System (Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli) · Cited by 15 · see citing works
MacRobert, A. M. (1999) · Sky and Telescope · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Qualitative Comparative Analysis und Policy-Forschung
Wagemann, C. (2008) · VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-531-90774-1_14 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationOf the four methods of experimental inquiry.
Mill, J. S. (2011) · Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer eBooks · doi:10.1037/12401-022 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mikalef, P., & Pateli, A. (2017) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.09.004 · Cited by 1,038 · see citing works
Bouwman, H., Nikou, S., & de Reuver, M. (2019) · Telecommunications Policy · doi:10.1016/j.telpol.2019.101828 · Cited by 653 · see citing works
Assessing the Robustness of Crisp-set and Fuzzy-set QCA Results
Skaaning, S.-E. (2011) · Sociological Methods & Research · doi:10.1177/0049124111404818 · Cited by 407 · see citing works
Combining QCA and Process Tracing in Set-Theoretic Multi-Method Research
Schneider, C. Q., & Rohlfing, I. (2013) · Sociological Methods & Research · doi:10.1177/0049124113481341 · Cited by 385 · see citing works
Self-citationMikalef, P., & Krogstie, J. (2020) · European Journal of Information Systems · doi:10.1080/0960085x.2020.1740618 · Cited by 331 · see citing works
Leadership Styles: A Comprehensive Assessment and Way Forward
Fischer, T., & Sitkin, S. B. (2023) · Academy of Management Annals · doi:10.5465/annals.2020.0340 · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Hug, S. (2013) · Political Analysis · doi:10.1093/pan/mps061 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Wang, L., Wang, Z., Wang, X., & Zhao, Y. (2021) · Electronic Commerce Research and Applications · doi:10.1016/j.elerap.2021.101080 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
How to build models for government: criteria driving model acceptance in policymaking
Kolkman, D. A., Campo, P., Balke-Visser, T., & Gilbert, N. (2016) · Policy Sciences · doi:10.1007/s11077-016-9250-4 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Cooper, B. R., Hill, L. G., Parker, L., Jenkins, G. J., Shrestha, G., & Funaiole, A. (2022) · Implementation Science Communications · doi:10.1186/s43058-022-00303-4 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“8 is accepted as a suitable benchmark for initial inclusion in QCA analyses, a significantly greater value should be observed when making claims about the necessity of a condition [44].”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialExamining online shopping cart abandonment through the lens of consumer confusion
Changani, S., Sahu, S., & Kumar, R. (2026) · Journal of Consumer Marketing · doi:10.1108/jcm-11-2024-7352 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Schneider, C. Q., & Wagemann, C.
- Affiliations
- Central European University (AT)
- 2Istituto italiano di scienze umane Palazzo Strozzi, Piazza degli Strozzi, 50123 Florence, Italy, Email: claudius.wagemann@sumitalia.it
- Venue
- Comparative Sociology
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2010
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 397-418
- ISSN
- 1569-1322 (ISSN-L)
- 1569-1330
- OpenAlex
- W2119092313
- Semantic Scholar
- 43c9783a4bf73730907a187e8e88e0835038edba
- Cited by
- 1,473
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 112 · 2025: 155 · 2024: 155 · 2023: 139 · 2022: 135 · 2021: 144 · 2020: 108 · 2019: 118 · 2018: 73 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 74 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 38 · 2013: 42 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 89.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Comparative Sociology (publishedVersion)
- Open Research (Auckland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Science Research and Education
- Keywords
- qualitative comparative analysis, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, methodological recommendations, research methodology, data analysis
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
