QCA-package: A Package for Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Description
The QCA package implements the method of Qualitative Comparative Analysis
(QCA) as developed by Ragin (1987), and extended by Ragin (2000, 2008), Cronqvist
and Berg-Schlosser (2009). QCA is a family of configurational comparative
techniques that use Boolean algebra and its generalizations by fusing concepts
from set theory and propositional logic.
Three variants can currently be processed: crisp-set QCA (csQCA),
multi-value QCA (mvQCA) and fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA). A subvariant of
csQCA called temporal QCA (tQCA) is also available (Caren and Panofsky 2005;
Ragin and Strand 2008). Furthermore, the QCA package extends these basic
variants in different directions by implementing complementary functionality.
As of version 0.4-5, QCA has got a new function called eqmcc
(enhanced Quine-McCluskey; QMC) that finds exact solutions much faster and
with substantially lower memory consumption than QMC (Dusa 2007, 2010). Since
version 1.0-4, the compilation of major parts of the code in the C language has
increased the speed of some core functions such as superSubset
considerably. Since version 1.1-0, eqmcc has also been made more
flexible: row dominance and minimal disjunctivity can be imposed as
solution constraints (Thiem and Dusa 2013a), QCA path models can be
identified (equivalent of causal chains in Coincidence Analysis
(Baumgartner 2009a, b)), multiple outcomes even from multivalent variables are
allowed, and truth tables for csQCA and mvQCA can now be coded on the basis of
inference-statistical tests (currently only exact binomial). For more details,
see the package's change log file.
Several data sets from various areas of science are integrated in QCA so
as to facilitate users' familiarization with the package's functionality. Areas
currently covered are business, management & organization (d.CZH),
education (d.SS), environmental sciences (d.Bas),
evaluation (d.SA), legal studies (d.AS), political
science (d.Emm, d.HK, d.Kro),public
health (d.BWB), urban affairs (d.Kil), and sociology
(d.CS, d.HMN). For more details, see the data sets'
documentation files.
The official reference for the QCA package is the software citation provided
by the command citation("QCA"). How to make the most of the package's capabilities
is demonstrated in detail by Thiem and Dusa (2013c) with examples from political science
(note that data sets have been renamed), and users are also encouraged to check the
article published in the R Journal. Later versions of the package than those used in
Thiem and Dusa (2013b) and Thiem and Dusa (2013c) may feature slightly different functions,
arguments, values and default settings but backward compatibility is generally ensured.Details
ll{
Package: QCA
Type: Package
Version: 1.1-3
Date: 2014-06-12
License: GPL (>= 2)
}References
Baumgartner, Michael. 2009a. Uncovering Deterministic Causal Structures: A
Boolean Approach.
Synthese 170 (1):71-96.
Baumgartner, Michael. 2009b. Inferring Causal Complexity.
Sociological Methods & Research 38 (1):71-101.
Caren, Neal, and Aaron Panofsky. 2005. TQCA: A Technique for Adding Temporality
to Qualitative Comparative Analysis.
Sociological Methods & Research 34 (2):147-72.
Cronqvist, Lasse, and Dirk Berg-Schlosser. 2009. Multi-Value QCA (mvQCA). In
Configurational Comparative Methods: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
and Related Techniques, eds. B. Rihoux and C. C. Ragin. London: Sage Publications,
pp. 69-86.
Dusa, Adrian. 2007. Enhancing Quine-McCluskey. COMPASSS: WP 2007-49.
Available from: http://www.compasss.org/wpseries/Dusa2007b.pdf.
Dusa, Adrian. 2010. A Mathematical Approach to the Boolean Minimization Problem.
Quality & Quantity 44 (1):99-113.
Ragin, Charles C. 1987. The Comparative Method: Moving beyond Qualitative and
Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ragin, Charles C. 2000. Fuzzy-Set Social Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ragin, Charles C. 2008. Redesigning Social Inquiry: Fuzzy Sets and Beyond.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ragin, Charles C., and Sarah Ilene Strand. 2008. Using Qualitative Comparative
Analysis to Study Causal Order: Comment on Caren and Panofsky (2005).
Sociological Methods & Research 36 (4):431-41.
Thiem, Alrik, and Adrian Dusa. 2013a. Boolean Minimization in Social Science Research:
A Review of Current Software for Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).
Social Science Computer Review 31 (4):505-21.
Thiem, Alrik, and Adrian Dusa. 2013b. QCA: A Package for Qualitative Comparative
Analysis.
The R Journal 5 (1):87-97.
Thiem, Alrik, and Adrian Dusa. 2013c. Qualitative Comparative Analysis with R:
A User's Guide. New York: Springer.