Development of the MOOC QCA
This innovation entails a new MOOC on Coursera on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) (www.coursera.org/learn/qualitative-comparative-analysis).
QCA is a comparative method that is mainly used in the social sciences for the assessment of cause-effect relations (i.e. causation). This method can be used for the analysis of cases on all levels: macro (e.g. countries), meso (e.g. organizations) and micro (e.g. individuals). It is mostly used for research of small- and medium-sized samples and populations (10-100 cases), but it can also be used for larger groups. Ideally, the number of cases is at least 10. QCA cannot be used if you are doing an in-depth study of one case.
The activities of the course include watching the videos, consulting supplementary material where necessary, and doing assignments. The activities should be done in that order: first watch the videos; then consult supplementary material (if desired) for more details and examples; then do the assignments.
After the course, the student will...
...understand the methodological foundations of QCA.
...know how to independently conduct a basic QCA study.
