Introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Learn the basics of qualitative comparative analysis and how to apply it in your research project.

Need to know

Prior knowledge of social science methodology would be helpful for this course. You are encouraged to come to the course with your own research questions that could potentially be answered with QCA. This will allow you to apply the knowledge and skills gained in the course to a relevant and meaningful research project.

Learning commitment

As a participant in this course, you will engage in a variety of learning activities designed to deepen your understanding and mastery of the subject matter. While the cornerstone of your learning experience will be the daily live teaching sessions, which total three hours each day across the five days of the course, your learning commitment extends beyond these sessions.

Upon payment and registration for the course, you will gain access to our Learning Management System (LMS) approximately two weeks before the course start date. Here, you will have access to course materials such as pre-course readings. The time commitment required to familiarise yourself with the content and complete any pre-course tasks is estimated to be approximately 20 hours per week leading up to the start date.

During the course week, you are expected to dedicate approximately two-three hours per day to prepare and work on assignments.

Each course offers the opportunity to be awarded three ECTS credits. Should you wish to earn a 4th credit, you will need to complete a post-course assignment, which will involve approximately 25 hours of work.

This comprehensive approach ensures that you not only attend the live sessions but also engage deeply with the course material, participate actively, and complete assessments to solidify your learning.

In depth

Day 1: Deciding if QCA will work for your research
Learn about QCA as an approach to conduct research. Identify the research questions from your field that could be answered by the approach.

Day 2: Designing your research
Learn the basic steps of designing QCA, with a special focus on measurement and calibration. Specify your analysis and define outcome, conditions, and the data you want to analyse.

Day 3: Analysing your data
Discuss the crucial steps of the QCA as analytical technique: analysis of necessity and sufficiency. You'll learn the standards of proper analysis and main challenges you will encounter in the real-world study.

Day 4: Using the software
Learn about the landscape of available software. Discuss pros and cons of working with GUI software and R packages. The analysis using fs/QCA Software will be showcased and resources for analysis in R will be provided.

Day 5: Wrapping-up the research
Learn how to interpret and communicate the results of the analysis. You will discuss the main critical messages you may encounter while communicating your research to academic and non-academic audience and how to address them.

How the course will work online
You should get access to the learning platform at least 2 weeks in advance to prepare for the courses with pre-readings and pre-recordings. You are expected to spend around 20 hours per week of preparation for two weeks which adds up to 40 hours.

You will be expected to actively participate in the class, read recommended literature, and design simple research with the use of qualitative comparative analysis.

The course combines pre-class readings and pre-recorded videos with three hour daily live Zoom sessions. The objective of the sessions will be to discuss the reading and videos and help you in designing your research.

The instructor will also conduct live Q&A sessions and offer designated office hours for one-to-one consultations.

Course leader

Seweryn Krupnik is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology of Economy, Education and Methods of Social Research, Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.

Target group

The course is specifically designed for masters level students and above.

Course aim

Upon completion of this course, you will have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of qualitative comparative analysis and how to apply it to a research project within your area of study. This knowledge and practical experience will equip you with valuable skills for conducting in-depth research and analysis in your field.

If you're interested in this course, registration opens on 01/10/24 and you can register here: https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PanelDetails/15612