An Introduction to the Logic and Practice of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

This workshop provides an introduction into Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), a method based on set theory and Boolean algebra to uncover relations between explanatory conditions and an outcome in medium- to large-n datasets.

We will discuss the set-theoretic and Boolean foundations of the method, its logic of inference and learn how to use the method in practice, working with real-life datasets. This workshop is aimed at beginners and no previous knowledge of set-theoretic fundamentals or the method is required. A working knowledge of the software R is beneficial but not necessary. Participants should bring a laptop computer with a recent copy of R and RStudio installed.

About the lecturer

Dr. David Kuehn is a Senior Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies. Dr. Julia Grauvogel is a Senior Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute of African Affairs and Editor of Africa Spectrum and Speaker of the Research Team "Interventions and Security", RP 2 "Peace and Security".