Judith Glaesser
Biographic Data
| ID | 188999 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Judith Glaesser |
| GIVEN NAMES | Judith |
| FAMILY NAME | Glaesser |
| SIGNATURE | GLAESSER J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Durham University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6173-3596 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 94 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Career Transitions in Teacher Education: A Multigroup Analysis of STEM and Non-STEM Graduates
In Germany, there is a shortage of teachers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) area which poses a serious problem to society and economy. This shortage is, among other factors, caused by the insufficient number of new students, the high number of university dropouts as well as unfavorable working conditions which lead to early career exits. While motives for study choice and study dropout have already been widely rese…
Reproduktion im Spannungsfeld von Klima- und Bevölkerungspolitik. Eine Analyse medial-öffentlicher Meinungsäußerungen
Vor dem Hintergrund pro- und antinatalistischer Politiken staatlichen Handelns sowie sozialer Bewegungen untersucht unser Beitrag, wie die Position eines klimapolitischen Anti-Natalismus in öffentlichen Debatten aufgenommen wird. Grundlage ist eine rekonstruktive Analyse von Online-Kommentaren zu Artikeln der Zeitung DIE ZEIT. Im Fokus stehen diskursive Verknüpfungen zwischen Klimapolitik und bevölkerungspolitischem Denken. Die Bezugnahme auf Bev…
Case-to-Condition Ratios in Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Adding Cases Instead of Removing Conditions
In qualitative comparative analysis, as with all methods, there is a question about how many cases are needed to make an analysis robust. In deciding on the number of cases, a key consideration is the number of conditions to be analyzed. I suggest that adding cases is preferable to dropping conditions if there are too many conditions relative to the number of cases. I first consider the relationship of low n and limited diversity, followed by an …
Explaining Regularities or Individual Outcomes: Chance and the Limits of Social Science
Can we explain individual outcomes by referring to patterns observed in populations? Social scientists generally assume that we can, at least to a certain degree, and they study populations partly with that goal in mind. However, while patterns can be observed on the population level, which suggest that, on average, certain segments of the population are more likely to experience some outcome, it is impossible, on the individual level, to predict…
Comparing dropout intentions of math students on trainee teacher courses versus bachelor of science courses using intensive longitudinal data
In the past, high dropout rates of university math students have been recurrently observed, causing psychological and economic costs for individuals and society. In this article, we draw on prospective, intensive longitudinal data (ILD) collected at a large German university to examine the effects of stable inter-individual differences (e.g., general math competencies) and intra-individual changes (e.g., motivational states) on the intention to d…
Limited diversity and QCA solution types: Assumptions and their consequences
Limited diversity is a term employed in the context of Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), but it describes a phenomenon which is widespread in social contexts: cases are usually not distributed evenly across all the possible combinations of factors linked to some outcome. Instead, they are often clustered together. To deal with limited diversity, the three solution types parsimonious, intermediate, and complex (or conservative) solut…
Analysing causal asymmetry: A comparison of logistic regression and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
Causal asymmetry is a situation where the causal factors under study are more suitable for explaining the outcome than its absence (or vice versa); they do not explain both equally well. In such a situation, presence of a cause leads to presence of the effect, but absence of the cause may not lead to absence of the effect. A conceptual discussion is followed by the empirical example of gaining a degree (or not), comparing the methods logistic reg…
‘When most I wink, then’ – what? Assessing the comprehension of literary texts in university students of English as a second language
This article introduces a test for literary text comprehension in university students of English as a second language. Poetry is especially suited for our purpose since it frequently shows features that offer challenges to comprehension in a limited space. An example is Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43, on which our test is based: it is suited for assessing not only if a text has been understood but also the ability of respondents to reflect on their own …
Relative educational poverty: Conceptual and empirical issues
This paper’s goal is to discuss implications for the empirical study of low educational status arising from the use of the concept of educational poverty in research. It has two related conceptual foci: (1) the relationship of educational poverty with material poverty and to what extent useful parallels exist, and (2) the distinction of absolute and relative (educational) poverty and whether the notion of absolute (educational) poverty is a sensi…
Exploring the issue of asymmetry in analysing educational poverty using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
This article discusses the issue of conceptual asymmetry and associated analytical challenges, with the concept of educational poverty serving as an empirical example. The notion of educational poverty has been introduced by Allmendinger to describe, analogously to material poverty, a severe shortage or complete lack of educational qualifications. Poverty may be considered to be the opposite of wealth, but absence of poverty is not so obviously t…
Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Necessary Conditions, and Limited Diversity: Some Problematic Consequences of Schneider and Wagemann’s Enhanced Standard Analysis
We discuss a recent development in the set theoretic analysis of data sets characterized by limited diversity. Ragin, in developing his Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), developed a standard analysis that produces parsimonious, intermediate, and complex Boolean solutions of truth tables. Schneider and Wagemann argue this standard analysis procedure is problematic and develop an enhanced standard analysis (ESA). We show, by developing Schnei…
Young People’s Educational Careers in England and Germany: Integrating Survey and Interview Analysis Via Qualitative Comparative Analysis
In this comparative study of young people's educational careers in England and Germany, individual factors, social class, school and country characteristics are shown jointly to shape these careers th
Exploring the robustness of set theoretic findings from a large n fsQCA: An illustration from the sociology of education
Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is often used with small to medium samples where the researcher has good case knowledge. Employing it to analyse large survey datasets, without in-depth case knowledge, raises new challenges. We present ways of addressing these challenges. We first report a single QCA result from a configurational analysis of the British National Child Development Study dataset (highest educational qualification as a…
Using Rational Action Theory and Bourdieu's Habitus Theory Together to Account for Educational Decision-making in England and Germany
Both Rational Action Theory (RAT) and Bourdieu's habitus theory are employed to explain educational decision-making. RAT assumes that decision-making involves cost-benefit analysis, while habitus theory sees educational pathways as shaped by dispositions reflecting familial class of origin. These theories are often seen as conflicting, but we argue that they can fruitfully be used together. Proponents of these theories often employ different meth…
Exploring the consequences of a recalibration of causal conditions when assessing sufficiency with fuzzy set QCA
The use of Charles Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is increasing in the social sciences. However, some of its characteristics, especially those of its fuzzy set variant, are still not well understood by users. QCA, a set theoretic method, aims to describe, in a Boolean form, the configurations of conditions that are necessary and/or sufficient for some outcome. The calibration of set memberships is a central feature. We discuss how…
Challenging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide: Explorations in Case-focused Causal Analysis
This title offers an exploration of case-focused methods as a means of bridging the quantitative-qualitative divide and the key methodological issues. This book challenges the divide between qualitative and quantitative approaches that is now institutionalized within social science. Rather than suggesting the 'mixing' of methods, Challenging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide provides a thorough interrogation of the arguments and practices chara…
Educational achievement in selective and comprehensive local education authorities: A configurational analysis
Selective and comprehensive school systems vary in both the degree and timing of selection. To study the consequences of such variation, cross-national comparisons are usually undertaken. Given that cultural differences between countries affect pathways and outcomes, apportioning causal influence in such studies can be difficult. In 1970s Britain, selective and comprehensive systems coexisted. This enables us to compare the influences of organisa…
Paradoxes and Pitfalls in Using Fuzzy Set QCA: Illustrations from a Critical Review of a Study of Educational Inequality
Charles Ragin's crisp set and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA and fsQCA) are being used by increasing numbers of social scientists interested in combining analytic rigour with case-based approaches. As with all techniques that become available in easy-to-use software packages, there is a danger that QCA will come to be used in a routinised manner, with not enough attention being paid to its particular strengths and weaknesses. U…
Introduction to the Special Issue: Case-Based Approaches to the Analysis of Quantitative Data
Within the social sciences generally, the conventional approach to the analysis of survey data remains variable-based, employing some member of the regression family. Such methods address the effect of one or more supposedly “independent” variables on some outcome. Individual cases, the carriers of the variables, usually remain in the background, as do, often, underlying causal mechanisms and processes. It is variables that act, having their effe…
Selecting Cases for in-Depth Study from a Survey Dataset: An Application of Ragin's Configurational Methods
While ‘establishing the phenomena’, to use Merton's phrase, is an important part of the sociological enterprise, in then accounting for such empirical regularities, theoretical models are required to understand causal processes. Both regression analysis and configurational methods applied to large datasets can establish patterns of relationships. Following a realist view, we assume that causal mechanisms have generated such patterns, and sound th…
Selectivity and Flexibility in the German Secondary School System: A Configurational Analysis of Recent Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Debate continues in many European countries about both equality of opportunity and the continuing wastage of talent, and the ways in which differing systems of secondary schooling contribute to these. Drawing on Turner’s concepts of sponsored and contest mobility and on Allmendinger’s classification along the dimensions of stratification and selection, we describe the amount of flexibility currently in the German secondary school system which, de…
Using case‐based approaches to analyse large datasets: A comparison of Ragin’s fsQCA and fuzzy cluster analysis
The paper undertakes a comparison of Ragin's fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with cluster analysis. After describing key features of both methods, it uses a simple invented example to illustrate an important algorithmic difference in the way in which these methods classify cases. It then examines the consequences of this difference via analyses of data previously calibrated as fuzzy sets. The data, taken from the National Child Develop…
Students' approaches to open‐ended science investigation: The importance of substantive and procedural understanding
This paper investigates the respective roles of substantive and procedural understanding with regard to students' ability to carry out an open‐ended science investigation. The research is a case study centred on an intervention in which undergraduate initial teacher training students are taught the basic building blocks of procedural understanding. They are then put in the position of solving a practical open‐ended investigation. We report on the…
Contrasting Variable-Analytic and Case-Based Approaches to the Analysis of Survey Datasets: Exploring How Achievement Varies by Ability across Configurations of Social Class and Sex
The context for this paper is the ongoing debate concerning the relative merits, for the analysis of quantitative data, of, on the one hand, variable-analytic correlational methods, and, on the other, the case-based set theoretic methods developed by Charles Ragin. While correlational approaches, based in linear algebra, typically use regression to establish the net effects of several “independent” variables on an outcome, the set theoretic appro…
How has Educational Expansion Changed the Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Achieving Professional, Managerial and Technical Class Positions in Britain? A Configurational Analysis
This paper, whose purpose is both substantive and methodological, focuses on changes over a nine year period, drawing on data from two British birth cohorts (individuals born in 1958 and 1970), and, substantively, employs set theoretic methods to explore the extent to which an upward shift in qualifications achieved led to any reduction in the roles class and gender played in the achievement of professional, managerial and technical (PMT) social …
Exploring the robustness of set theoretic findings from a large n fsQCA: An illustration from the sociology of education
Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is often used with small to medium samples where the researcher has good case knowledge. Employing it to analyse large survey datasets, without in-depth case knowledge, raises new challenges. We present ways of addressing these challenges. We first report a single QCA result from a configurational analysis of the British National Child Development Study dataset (highest educational qualification as a…
Using case‐based approaches to analyse large datasets: A comparison of Ragin’s fsQCA and fuzzy cluster analysis
The paper undertakes a comparison of Ragin's fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with cluster analysis. After describing key features of both methods, it uses a simple invented example to illustrate an important algorithmic difference in the way in which these methods classify cases. It then examines the consequences of this difference via analyses of data previously calibrated as fuzzy sets. The data, taken from the National Child Develop…
Using Rational Action Theory and Bourdieu's Habitus Theory Together to Account for Educational Decision-making in England and Germany
Both Rational Action Theory (RAT) and Bourdieu's habitus theory are employed to explain educational decision-making. RAT assumes that decision-making involves cost-benefit analysis, while habitus theory sees educational pathways as shaped by dispositions reflecting familial class of origin. These theories are often seen as conflicting, but we argue that they can fruitfully be used together. Proponents of these theories often employ different meth…
Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Necessary Conditions, and Limited Diversity: Some Problematic Consequences of Schneider and Wagemann’s Enhanced Standard Analysis
We discuss a recent development in the set theoretic analysis of data sets characterized by limited diversity. Ragin, in developing his Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), developed a standard analysis that produces parsimonious, intermediate, and complex Boolean solutions of truth tables. Schneider and Wagemann argue this standard analysis procedure is problematic and develop an enhanced standard analysis (ESA). We show, by developing Schnei…
Selectivity and Flexibility in the German Secondary School System: A Configurational Analysis of Recent Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Debate continues in many European countries about both equality of opportunity and the continuing wastage of talent, and the ways in which differing systems of secondary schooling contribute to these. Drawing on Turner’s concepts of sponsored and contest mobility and on Allmendinger’s classification along the dimensions of stratification and selection, we describe the amount of flexibility currently in the German secondary school system which, de…
How has Educational Expansion Changed the Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Achieving Professional, Managerial and Technical Class Positions in Britain? A Configurational Analysis
This paper, whose purpose is both substantive and methodological, focuses on changes over a nine year period, drawing on data from two British birth cohorts (individuals born in 1958 and 1970), and, substantively, employs set theoretic methods to explore the extent to which an upward shift in qualifications achieved led to any reduction in the roles class and gender played in the achievement of professional, managerial and technical (PMT) social …
Exploring the consequences of a recalibration of causal conditions when assessing sufficiency with fuzzy set QCA
The use of Charles Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is increasing in the social sciences. However, some of its characteristics, especially those of its fuzzy set variant, are still not well understood by users. QCA, a set theoretic method, aims to describe, in a Boolean form, the configurations of conditions that are necessary and/or sufficient for some outcome. The calibration of set memberships is a central feature. We discuss how…
Analysing causal asymmetry: A comparison of logistic regression and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
Causal asymmetry is a situation where the causal factors under study are more suitable for explaining the outcome than its absence (or vice versa); they do not explain both equally well. In such a situation, presence of a cause leads to presence of the effect, but absence of the cause may not lead to absence of the effect. A conceptual discussion is followed by the empirical example of gaining a degree (or not), comparing the methods logistic reg…
Educational achievement in selective and comprehensive local education authorities: A configurational analysis
Selective and comprehensive school systems vary in both the degree and timing of selection. To study the consequences of such variation, cross-national comparisons are usually undertaken. Given that cultural differences between countries affect pathways and outcomes, apportioning causal influence in such studies can be difficult. In 1970s Britain, selective and comprehensive systems coexisted. This enables us to compare the influences of organisa…
Contrasting Variable-Analytic and Case-Based Approaches to the Analysis of Survey Datasets: Exploring How Achievement Varies by Ability across Configurations of Social Class and Sex
The context for this paper is the ongoing debate concerning the relative merits, for the analysis of quantitative data, of, on the one hand, variable-analytic correlational methods, and, on the other, the case-based set theoretic methods developed by Charles Ragin. While correlational approaches, based in linear algebra, typically use regression to establish the net effects of several “independent” variables on an outcome, the set theoretic appro…
Exploring the issue of asymmetry in analysing educational poverty using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
This article discusses the issue of conceptual asymmetry and associated analytical challenges, with the concept of educational poverty serving as an empirical example. The notion of educational poverty has been introduced by Allmendinger to describe, analogously to material poverty, a severe shortage or complete lack of educational qualifications. Poverty may be considered to be the opposite of wealth, but absence of poverty is not so obviously t…
Case-to-Condition Ratios in Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Adding Cases Instead of Removing Conditions
In qualitative comparative analysis, as with all methods, there is a question about how many cases are needed to make an analysis robust. In deciding on the number of cases, a key consideration is the number of conditions to be analyzed. I suggest that adding cases is preferable to dropping conditions if there are too many conditions relative to the number of cases. I first consider the relationship of low n and limited diversity, followed by an …
Explaining Regularities or Individual Outcomes: Chance and the Limits of Social Science
Can we explain individual outcomes by referring to patterns observed in populations? Social scientists generally assume that we can, at least to a certain degree, and they study populations partly with that goal in mind. However, while patterns can be observed on the population level, which suggest that, on average, certain segments of the population are more likely to experience some outcome, it is impossible, on the individual level, to predict…
Selecting Cases for in-Depth Study from a Survey Dataset: An Application of Ragin's Configurational Methods
While ‘establishing the phenomena’, to use Merton's phrase, is an important part of the sociological enterprise, in then accounting for such empirical regularities, theoretical models are required to understand causal processes. Both regression analysis and configurational methods applied to large datasets can establish patterns of relationships. Following a realist view, we assume that causal mechanisms have generated such patterns, and sound th…
Students' approaches to open‐ended science investigation: The importance of substantive and procedural understanding
This paper investigates the respective roles of substantive and procedural understanding with regard to students' ability to carry out an open‐ended science investigation. The research is a case study centred on an intervention in which undergraduate initial teacher training students are taught the basic building blocks of procedural understanding. They are then put in the position of solving a practical open‐ended investigation. We report on the…
How has Educational Expansion Changed the Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Achieving Professional, Managerial and Technical Class Positions in Britain? A Configurational Analysis
This paper, whose purpose is both substantive and methodological, focuses on changes over a nine year period, drawing on data from two British birth cohorts (individuals born in 1958 and 1970), and, substantively, employs set theoretic methods to explore the extent to which an upward shift in qualifications achieved led to any reduction in the roles class and gender played in the achievement of professional, managerial and technical (PMT) social …
Using case‐based approaches to analyse large datasets: A comparison of Ragin’s fsQCA and fuzzy cluster analysis
The paper undertakes a comparison of Ragin's fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with cluster analysis. After describing key features of both methods, it uses a simple invented example to illustrate an important algorithmic difference in the way in which these methods classify cases. It then examines the consequences of this difference via analyses of data previously calibrated as fuzzy sets. The data, taken from the National Child Develop…
Students' approaches to open‐ended science investigation: The importance of substantive and procedural understanding
This paper investigates the respective roles of substantive and procedural understanding with regard to students' ability to carry out an open‐ended science investigation. The research is a case study centred on an intervention in which undergraduate initial teacher training students are taught the basic building blocks of procedural understanding. They are then put in the position of solving a practical open‐ended investigation. We report on the…
Contrasting Variable-Analytic and Case-Based Approaches to the Analysis of Survey Datasets: Exploring How Achievement Varies by Ability across Configurations of Social Class and Sex
The context for this paper is the ongoing debate concerning the relative merits, for the analysis of quantitative data, of, on the one hand, variable-analytic correlational methods, and, on the other, the case-based set theoretic methods developed by Charles Ragin. While correlational approaches, based in linear algebra, typically use regression to establish the net effects of several “independent” variables on an outcome, the set theoretic appro…
Paradoxes and Pitfalls in Using Fuzzy Set QCA: Illustrations from a Critical Review of a Study of Educational Inequality
Charles Ragin's crisp set and fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA and fsQCA) are being used by increasing numbers of social scientists interested in combining analytic rigour with case-based approaches. As with all techniques that become available in easy-to-use software packages, there is a danger that QCA will come to be used in a routinised manner, with not enough attention being paid to its particular strengths and weaknesses. U…
Introduction to the Special Issue: Case-Based Approaches to the Analysis of Quantitative Data
Within the social sciences generally, the conventional approach to the analysis of survey data remains variable-based, employing some member of the regression family. Such methods address the effect of one or more supposedly “independent” variables on some outcome. Individual cases, the carriers of the variables, usually remain in the background, as do, often, underlying causal mechanisms and processes. It is variables that act, having their effe…
Selecting Cases for in-Depth Study from a Survey Dataset: An Application of Ragin's Configurational Methods
While ‘establishing the phenomena’, to use Merton's phrase, is an important part of the sociological enterprise, in then accounting for such empirical regularities, theoretical models are required to understand causal processes. Both regression analysis and configurational methods applied to large datasets can establish patterns of relationships. Following a realist view, we assume that causal mechanisms have generated such patterns, and sound th…
Selectivity and Flexibility in the German Secondary School System: A Configurational Analysis of Recent Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel
Debate continues in many European countries about both equality of opportunity and the continuing wastage of talent, and the ways in which differing systems of secondary schooling contribute to these. Drawing on Turner’s concepts of sponsored and contest mobility and on Allmendinger’s classification along the dimensions of stratification and selection, we describe the amount of flexibility currently in the German secondary school system which, de…
Challenging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide: Explorations in Case-focused Causal Analysis
This title offers an exploration of case-focused methods as a means of bridging the quantitative-qualitative divide and the key methodological issues. This book challenges the divide between qualitative and quantitative approaches that is now institutionalized within social science. Rather than suggesting the 'mixing' of methods, Challenging the Qualitative-Quantitative Divide provides a thorough interrogation of the arguments and practices chara…
Educational achievement in selective and comprehensive local education authorities: A configurational analysis
Selective and comprehensive school systems vary in both the degree and timing of selection. To study the consequences of such variation, cross-national comparisons are usually undertaken. Given that cultural differences between countries affect pathways and outcomes, apportioning causal influence in such studies can be difficult. In 1970s Britain, selective and comprehensive systems coexisted. This enables us to compare the influences of organisa…
Exploring the consequences of a recalibration of causal conditions when assessing sufficiency with fuzzy set QCA
The use of Charles Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is increasing in the social sciences. However, some of its characteristics, especially those of its fuzzy set variant, are still not well understood by users. QCA, a set theoretic method, aims to describe, in a Boolean form, the configurations of conditions that are necessary and/or sufficient for some outcome. The calibration of set memberships is a central feature. We discuss how…
Using Rational Action Theory and Bourdieu's Habitus Theory Together to Account for Educational Decision-making in England and Germany
Both Rational Action Theory (RAT) and Bourdieu's habitus theory are employed to explain educational decision-making. RAT assumes that decision-making involves cost-benefit analysis, while habitus theory sees educational pathways as shaped by dispositions reflecting familial class of origin. These theories are often seen as conflicting, but we argue that they can fruitfully be used together. Proponents of these theories often employ different meth…
Young People’s Educational Careers in England and Germany: Integrating Survey and Interview Analysis Via Qualitative Comparative Analysis
In this comparative study of young people's educational careers in England and Germany, individual factors, social class, school and country characteristics are shown jointly to shape these careers th
Exploring the robustness of set theoretic findings from a large n fsQCA: An illustration from the sociology of education
Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is often used with small to medium samples where the researcher has good case knowledge. Employing it to analyse large survey datasets, without in-depth case knowledge, raises new challenges. We present ways of addressing these challenges. We first report a single QCA result from a configurational analysis of the British National Child Development Study dataset (highest educational qualification as a…
Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Necessary Conditions, and Limited Diversity: Some Problematic Consequences of Schneider and Wagemann’s Enhanced Standard Analysis
We discuss a recent development in the set theoretic analysis of data sets characterized by limited diversity. Ragin, in developing his Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), developed a standard analysis that produces parsimonious, intermediate, and complex Boolean solutions of truth tables. Schneider and Wagemann argue this standard analysis procedure is problematic and develop an enhanced standard analysis (ESA). We show, by developing Schnei…
Exploring the issue of asymmetry in analysing educational poverty using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
This article discusses the issue of conceptual asymmetry and associated analytical challenges, with the concept of educational poverty serving as an empirical example. The notion of educational poverty has been introduced by Allmendinger to describe, analogously to material poverty, a severe shortage or complete lack of educational qualifications. Poverty may be considered to be the opposite of wealth, but absence of poverty is not so obviously t…
‘When most I wink, then’ – what? Assessing the comprehension of literary texts in university students of English as a second language
This article introduces a test for literary text comprehension in university students of English as a second language. Poetry is especially suited for our purpose since it frequently shows features that offer challenges to comprehension in a limited space. An example is Shakespeare’s Sonnet 43, on which our test is based: it is suited for assessing not only if a text has been understood but also the ability of respondents to reflect on their own …
Relative educational poverty: Conceptual and empirical issues
This paper’s goal is to discuss implications for the empirical study of low educational status arising from the use of the concept of educational poverty in research. It has two related conceptual foci: (1) the relationship of educational poverty with material poverty and to what extent useful parallels exist, and (2) the distinction of absolute and relative (educational) poverty and whether the notion of absolute (educational) poverty is a sensi…
Comparing dropout intentions of math students on trainee teacher courses versus bachelor of science courses using intensive longitudinal data
In the past, high dropout rates of university math students have been recurrently observed, causing psychological and economic costs for individuals and society. In this article, we draw on prospective, intensive longitudinal data (ILD) collected at a large German university to examine the effects of stable inter-individual differences (e.g., general math competencies) and intra-individual changes (e.g., motivational states) on the intention to d…
Limited diversity and QCA solution types: Assumptions and their consequences
Limited diversity is a term employed in the context of Ragin’s Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), but it describes a phenomenon which is widespread in social contexts: cases are usually not distributed evenly across all the possible combinations of factors linked to some outcome. Instead, they are often clustered together. To deal with limited diversity, the three solution types parsimonious, intermediate, and complex (or conservative) solut…
Analysing causal asymmetry: A comparison of logistic regression and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
Causal asymmetry is a situation where the causal factors under study are more suitable for explaining the outcome than its absence (or vice versa); they do not explain both equally well. In such a situation, presence of a cause leads to presence of the effect, but absence of the cause may not lead to absence of the effect. A conceptual discussion is followed by the empirical example of gaining a degree (or not), comparing the methods logistic reg…
Explaining Regularities or Individual Outcomes: Chance and the Limits of Social Science
Can we explain individual outcomes by referring to patterns observed in populations? Social scientists generally assume that we can, at least to a certain degree, and they study populations partly with that goal in mind. However, while patterns can be observed on the population level, which suggest that, on average, certain segments of the population are more likely to experience some outcome, it is impossible, on the individual level, to predict…
Case-to-Condition Ratios in Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Adding Cases Instead of Removing Conditions
In qualitative comparative analysis, as with all methods, there is a question about how many cases are needed to make an analysis robust. In deciding on the number of cases, a key consideration is the number of conditions to be analyzed. I suggest that adding cases is preferable to dropping conditions if there are too many conditions relative to the number of cases. I first consider the relationship of low n and limited diversity, followed by an …
Career Transitions in Teacher Education: A Multigroup Analysis of STEM and Non-STEM Graduates
In Germany, there is a shortage of teachers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) area which poses a serious problem to society and economy. This shortage is, among other factors, caused by the insufficient number of new students, the high number of university dropouts as well as unfavorable working conditions which lead to early career exits. While motives for study choice and study dropout have already been widely rese…
Reproduktion im Spannungsfeld von Klima- und Bevölkerungspolitik. Eine Analyse medial-öffentlicher Meinungsäußerungen
Vor dem Hintergrund pro- und antinatalistischer Politiken staatlichen Handelns sowie sozialer Bewegungen untersucht unser Beitrag, wie die Position eines klimapolitischen Anti-Natalismus in öffentlichen Debatten aufgenommen wird. Grundlage ist eine rekonstruktive Analyse von Online-Kommentaren zu Artikeln der Zeitung DIE ZEIT. Im Fokus stehen diskursive Verknüpfungen zwischen Klimapolitik und bevölkerungspolitischem Denken. Die Bezugnahme auf Bev…
Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research (18 works) · Computer Science (17 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Mathematics (11 works) · Qualitative comparative analysis (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Econometrics (8 works) · Economics (8 works) · Social science (8 works)