aes19 International Evaluation Conference

Brad Astbury (ARTD)

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a well-established family of research techniques from the applied social sciences. The QCA approach blends qualitative and quantitative sources to analyse causal patterns using a small to medium numbers of cases. Early QCA approaches emerged in the 1980s and have developed since then. While the potential of QCA for a range of evaluation applications has recently been recognised, there are few examples that demonstrate the steps involved to apply this technique in evaluation practice.

This presentation reports on the use, benefits and challenges of QCA in the context of a study that sought to identify different pathways of conditions leading to sustainability of demonstration projects. The session will provide advice on case selection, calibration of conditions and outcome(s), minimisation procedures, necessary and sufficient conditions, truth table analysis using fsQCA software, dealing with contradictory configurations and interpretation of results in the context of theoretical and case-specific knowledge.