Qualitative Comparative Analysis as a Tool for Concept Clarification, Typology Building, and Contextualized Comparisons in Gender and Feminist Research

Abstract

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a method for the systematic analysis of cases. A holistic view of cases and an approach to causality emphasizing complexity are some of its core features. Over the last decades, QCA has found application in many fields of the social sciences. In spite of this, its use in feminist research has been slower, and only recently QCA has been applied to topics related to social care, the political representation of women, and reproductive politics. In spite of the comparative turn in feminist studies, researchers still privilege qualitative methods, in particular case studies, and are often skeptical of quantitative techniques (Spierings 2012). These studies show that the meaning and measurement of many gender concepts differ across countries and that the factors leading to feminist success and failure are context specific. However, case study analyses struggle to systematically account for the ways in which these forces operate in different locations.

Payments and Penalties for Democracy: Gendered Electoral Financing in Action Worldwide

“…Qualitative comparative analysis, therefore, based on premises of configurational causality—outcomes are a product of a combination of conditions—and of equifinality—multiple combinations of conditions or paths to the same outcome—is a useful analytical tool to understand the interplay of GEF with other conditions 4 . Scholars in gender and politics often opt for QCA over statistical analysis in larger- n studies due to the highly complex nature of gendered dynamics at play (e.g., Ciccia 2016; McBride and Mazur 2010). Krook (2010) and Lilliefeldt (2012) specifically assert in their studies of gender and representation that QCA is a more appropriate methodological approach than correlational analysis.…”

The Relationship between Familizing and Individualizing Policies and Mental Health in Parents in Europe

“…A state's family policy measures may embody different, sometimes even contradictory, objectives, including economic support for families, enhancing children's well-being and development, boosting fertility, activating women on the labor market, granting families the right to care, or enhancing gender equality (Ciccia 2016). Welfare states differ in which of these objectives they prioritize and in what way they achieve them.…”

Handling missing data in numeric analyses

“…Another influential approach is qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), which is often described as a middle way between quantitative and qualitative comparative methodology. Compared to statistical comparative analysis, the deductive imperative and the search for causality are downplayed, albeit still central, and complexity is emphasised (Ciccia, 2016;Ragin, 1987;Wagemann & Schneider, 2010). There is also an ongoing discussion on how qualitative studies and case studies can, and in fact often do, aim for explanation, even when this aim is not explicitly stated (Goertz & Mahoney, 2012;Lichterman & Ariail Reed, 2015, cf.…”