IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/somere/v52y2023i4p1737-1764.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relevant, Irrelevant, or Ambiguous? Toward a New Interpretation of QCA’s Solution Types

Author

Listed:
  • Tim Haesebrouck

Abstract

The field of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is witnessing a heated debate on which one of the QCA’s main solution types should be at the center of substantive interpretation. This article argues that the different QCA solutions have complementary strengths. Therefore, researchers should interpret the three solution types in an integrated way, in order to get as much information as possible on the causal structure behind the phenomenon under investigation. The parsimonious solution is capable of identifying causally relevant conditions, the conservative solution of identifying contextually irrelevant conditions. In addition to conditions for which the data provide evidence that they are causally relevant or contextually irrelevant, there will be conditions for which the data neither suggest that they are relevant nor contextually irrelevant. In line with the procedure for crafting the intermediate solution, it is possible to make clear for which of these ambiguous conditions it is not plausible that they are relevant in the context of the research.

Suggested Citation

  • Tim Haesebrouck, 2023. "Relevant, Irrelevant, or Ambiguous? Toward a New Interpretation of QCA’s Solution Types," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 52(4), pages 1737-1764, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:4:p:1737-1764
    DOI: 10.1177/00491241211036153
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00491241211036153
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00491241211036153?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eva Thomann & Martino Maggetti, 2020. "Designing Research With Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Approaches, Challenges, and Tools," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 49(2), pages 356-386, May.
    2. Michael Baumgartner & Alrik Thiem, 2020. "Often Trusted but Never (Properly) Tested: Evaluating Qualitative Comparative Analysis," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 49(2), pages 279-311, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Olga Rataj & Serdar Türkeli, 2024. "Success Factors for Scaling Up and Raising Investment by Circular Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1021-1046, June.
    2. Tim Haesebrouck & Eva Thomann, 2022. "Introduction: Causation, inferences, and solution types in configurational comparative methods," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1867-1888, August.
    3. Martyna Daria Swiatczak, 2022. "Different algorithms, different models," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1913-1937, August.
    4. James Mahoney & Laura Acosta, 2022. "A regularity theory of causality for the social sciences," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1889-1911, August.
    5. Michael Baumgartner, 2022. "Qualitative Comparative Analysis and robust sufficiency," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1939-1963, August.
    6. Judith Glaesser, 2023. "Limited diversity and QCA solution types: assumptions and their consequences," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 3485-3497, August.
    7. Vera Hedwig Schmidt, Corinna & Rössig, Sarah-Alena & Ruth, Martin & Christina Flatten, Tessa, 2025. "The bright side of a dark personality – How dark triad traits influence entrepreneurial passion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    8. Fernando Castelló-Sirvent & Marta Peris-Ortiz & Malar Llopis-Amorós & Pablo Pinazo-Dallenbach, 2024. "How does the COVID-19 economic crisis impact resilience? A configurational analysis of the spinoffs," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 1823-1848, September.
    9. Borozan, Dj, 2022. "Detecting a structure in the European energy transition policy instrument mix: What mix successfully drives the energy transition?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    10. Federica Rotondo & Francesca Abastante & Giancarlo Cotella & Isabella Maria Lami, 2020. "Questioning Low-Carbon Transition Governance: A Comparative Analysis of European Case Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.
    11. Yangjie Huang & Sihui Li & Xiyuan Xiang & Leilei Huang, 2024. "Analyzing the configuration of the National Innovation System for Innovation Capability: evidence from Global Innovation Index reports," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Zhiqiang Zhang & Yifan Bai, 2024. "Research on Whether Quality Policies Can Promote the High-Quality Development of China’s Manufacturing Industry and Its Configuration Paths in the Context of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-31, November.
    13. Haake, Claus-Jochen & Schneider, Martin R., 2024. "Playing games with QCA: The Banzhaf index as a context-sensitive measure of explanatory power in international management," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(2).
    14. Priscilla Álamos-Concha & Valérie Pattyn & Benoît Rihoux & Benjamin Schalembier & Derek Beach & Bart Cambré, 2022. "Conservative solutions for progress: on solution types when combining QCA with in-depth Process-Tracing," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1965-1997, August.
    15. Martin Ferry, 2021. "Pulling things together: regional policy coordination approaches and drivers in Europe [‘PiS wchodzi w buty marszałków. Cel? Miliony z funduszy europejskich’]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 40(1), pages 37-57.
    16. Shuigen Hu & Yilin Cang & Yulong Jie & Xianbo Wang & Lie’en Weng, 2024. "How Business–Government Relationships Drive Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A Study of 292 Cities in China Using NCA and TDQCA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-24, August.
    17. Waldkirch, Matthias & Kammerlander, Nadine & Wiedeler, Conrad, 2021. "Configurations for corporate venture innovation: Investigating the role of the dominant coalition," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    18. Akter, Shahriar & Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Sajib, Shahriar & Biswas, Kumar & Bandara, Ruwan J. & Michael, Katina, 2022. "Algorithmic bias in machine learning-based marketing models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 201-216.
    19. Grazia Pacillo & Nam Nguyen & Ekaterina Paustyan & Romina Cavatassi & Margarita Astralaga & Peter Läderach, 2024. "What drives the success and failure of climate change adaptation projects? A qualitative comparative analysis," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 29(8), pages 1-27, December.
    20. Filippopoulos, Nikolaos & Fotopoulos, Georgios, 2022. "Innovation in economically developed and lagging European regions: A configurational analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:52:y:2023:i:4:p:1737-1764. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.