400001 SE SE Methods for Doctoral Candidates (2013S)

The Seminar provides a systematic in-depth introduction into methods for comparative political research. Starting from Mill‘s classical methods of agreement and difference, the course elaborates the logical foundations of configurational methods, especially Qualitative Comparative Analysis as developed by Charles Ragin. This method is particularly appropriate for research designs with a medium number of cases (too many for case studies, too few for statistical analysis), which ask questions regarding necessary and sufficient conditions for the presence or absence of a certain outcome and assume the possibility of causal complexity (causal conditions do not work independent of each other but produce the outcome in combination) and equifinality (several causal pathways can lead to the same outcome). These assumptions distinguish the case-oriented logic of configurative research as a formalized qualitative method from variable-oriented quantitative methods. The course discusses different variants of QCA (crisp-set, multi-value, and fuzzy-set) and also provides guidance for practical research problems such as data calibration. The course offers empirical applications and an introduction into the computer programs fs/QCA und Tosmana.