QCA metoda u političkoj znanosti: ključne karakteristike, doprinosi i ograničenja
QCA method in political science: key characteristics, achievements and limitations

Summary/Abstract: This article discusses the application of the QCA method in the social sciences, especially as it relates to the field of comparative politics. In its first part, the article presents a critical overview of the key methodological literature on the QCA method (e.g. Ragin et al., 2003, Rihoux, 2003). The main advantage of this method is in its ability to bridge the gap between qualitative and quantitative studies by including an intermediary number of cases in the analysis, increasing the variance of both the exploratory factors and the observed outcome, and thus improving the validity of conclusions and their scope for generalisation. Since the QCA method requires a formalisation of explanatory conditions and the outcome, the analysis is easily replicable, which brings it closer to accepted standards of the scientific method. Three characteristics of the QCA method are of particular importance: complex causality, equifinality, and its asymmetric character. The article presents the key elements of Boolean algebra, which is applied in computing the results. We pay special attention to the problem of limited diversity, and to the specificities of the fuzzy set variant of the QCA method. Finally, the author introduces several critical points regarding ways in which the QCA is being implemented. Although the QCA method has been developed in order to bridge the gap between qualitative and quantitative methods, when it is implemented without adherence to its key principles, it exhibits the same weaknesses as standard statistical techniques. Its successful implementation depends on sound contextual knowledge of the analysed country cases.

• Details
• Contents