Pragmatic Comparative Research
Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Science for Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12912293 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Pablo Garcés-Velástegui (0000-0002-2058-8193, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 12 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology Compass (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1751-9020 • E-ISSN: 1751-9020 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/soc4.70021 |
| OpenAlex | W4405144243 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 76 |
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a set‐theoretic approach that enables accounting for causal complexity, incorporating features of qualitative and quantitative methods. Pioneered in sociology, it is increasingly used in comparative research to explain social phenomena in various disciplines. Despite its growing adoption, and because of its eclectic nature, some methodological themes have proven elusive. Its philosophy of science is one such issue. Philosophical pragmatism, which focuses on action, rather than the mind as rationalism or things as empiricism, is proposed to fill this void. Moving beyond the positivist‐interpretivist dichotomy, this paper argues that pragmatism's philosophical wagers support QCA's assumptions and practice. Moreover, pragmatism's implications in terms of practical consequences, provisionality of insights, plurality of method, and public participation provide fertile soil on which QCA‐based inquiry can sow, producing pragmatic comparative research
Epistemology · Philosophy of science · Pragmatism · Qualitative comparative analysis · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Philosophy · Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
Fuzzy-Set Social Science
Creative Intelligence
Innovative Comparative Methods for Policy Analysis
Redesigning Social Inquiry
What Pragmatism Is
Symbolic Interactionism
The bell curve
The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations
The Pragmatism Reader
Intersectional Inequality
Philosophical pragmatism, pragmatic agency, and the treatment of evidence in social work
The “qualitative” in qualitative comparative analysis (QCA)
Critical Realism as a Meta-Framework for Understanding the Relationships between Complexity and Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as an Approach
Mixed Methods in Comparative Politics
Qualitative Comparative Analysis Using R
Ways of Knowing
Beyond Realism and Antirealism
The Comparative Method
Configurational Comparative Methods
Set-Theoretic Methods for the Social Sciences
QCA in International Relations
Paradoxes and Pitfalls in Using Fuzzy Set QCA
Qualitative Comparative Analysis
From action to transaction
Form follows function in evidence-based public policy
Explaining Foreigners’ Political Rights in the Context of Direct Democracy
All roads lead to Rome? Analysing the electoral performance of populist radical left parties in Europe (2008-2018)
Qualitative comparative analysis and applied public policy analysis
Qualitative Comparative Analysis and the Study of Policy Processes
Using the Capability Approach and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Development Policy Evaluation
QCA as competing or complementary method? A qualitative comparative analysis approach to protest event data
Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis to understand complex policy problems
Democratic transition and transparency reform
Three Lenses of Evidence‐Based Policy
Deweyan Pragmatism and Post-Positivist Social Science in IR
A Realist Theory of Science
Women's Representation in Parliament
When Multiplication Doesn't Equal Quick Addition
On Acting and Knowing
Educational Federalism in Germany
Reducing complexity in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
Of ends and means
Women’s representation in Asian parliaments
Combining QCA and Process Tracing in Set-Theoretic Multi-Method Research
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Fuzzy-Sets
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |