This library implements the comparative methodology as described in Ragin (1987) and Ragin (2000).
The analysis is the bridge between the qualitative and quantitative worlds, making use of the
qualitative procedures in a systematic, algorithmic way (therefore increasing the "confidence"
in the results, as understood by quantitative researchers).
For the moment, only the ''exact'' Quine-McCluskey algorithm for crisp sets is implemented.
However it is widely known that, for large number of conditions (over 15), the algorithm is
memory hungry therefore very slow.
Starting with version 0.4-5 the package has a new function called "eqmcc" (from "E"nhanced
Quine-McCluskey) that finds exact solutions with a substantially lower memory consumption,
therefore much faster. The next versions will have more functions to address multi-valued
and fuzzy-set QCA. The package doesn't currently handle missing values in the data.
As of version 0.1-3 there is also a graphical user interface in the package QCAGUI.
Arguments
Details
ll{
Package: QCA
Type: Package
Version: 0.5-1
Date: 2008-12-28
License: GPL version 2 or newer
}
References
Ragin, Charles C. 1987 The Comparative Method. Moving beyond qualitative and
quantitative strategies, Berkeley:University of California Press
Dusa, Adrian 2007 A mathematical solution to the boolean minimization problem,
http://www.compasss.org/WPShort.htm
Dusa, Adrian 2007 Enhancing Quine-McCluskey, http://www.compasss.org/WPShort.htm