TY  - JOUR
VL  - 49
EP  - 386
SP  - 356
N2  - Recent years have witnessed a host of innovations for conducting research with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Concurrently, important issues surrounding its uses have been highlighted. In this article, we seek to help users design QCA studies. We argue that establishing inference with QCA involves three intertwined design components: first, clarifying the question of external validity; second, ensuring internal validity; and third, explicitly adopting a specific mode of reasoning. We identify several emerging approaches to QCA rather than just one. Some approaches emphasize case knowledge, while others are condition oriented. Approaches emphasize either substantively interpretable or redundancy-free explanations, and some designs apply an inductive/explorative mode of reasoning, while others integrate deductive elements. Based on extant literature, we discuss issues surrounding inference with QCA and the tools available under different approaches to address these issues. We specify trade-offs and the importance of doing justice to the nature and goals of QCA in a specific research context.
IS  - 2
A1  - Thomann, Eva
A1  - Maggetti, Martino
PB  - Sage
ID  - heidok28675
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124117729700
KW  - inference
KW  -  qualitative comparative analysis (QCA)
KW  -  research design
KW  -  set-theoretic methods
KW  -  validity
JF  - Sociological Methods & Research
N1  - Dieser Beitrag ist aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

This publication is freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
CY  - London ; Thousand Oaks
SN  - 0049-1241 (Druck-Ausg.); 1552-8294 (Online-Ausg.)
AV  - public
TI  - Designing Research With Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Approaches, Challenges, and Tools
Y1  - 2020///
ER  -