2026

Version 4.2 of the R Manual for QCA adds expanded sections on visualizing results, with templates for creating, customizing and combining X–Y plots, along with new sections on cluster analysis and robustness tests following the protocol of Oana and Schneider. The manual now runs to 45 pages, with an accompanying R script and sample data. Continue reading →

For the eighth time, I taught “Exploring Causal Complexity with Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)” at the Summer School in Social Sciences Methods in Lugano, ten years after the first edition of the course. The intensive one-week course combines lectures with hands-on exercises in R, participant presentations and individual consultations. Continue reading →

Hilde van Meegdenburg and I presented our co-authored book manuscript “Uncovering Causal Symptoms: Case Study Research, Process Tracing, and Qualitative Comparative Analysis” at the AQMMR workshop of the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research at Syracuse University, where it was discussed by James Mahoney and Ingo Rohlfing. Continue reading →

“Can the Public Sector Break the Mold?” is out in Public Policy and Administration, co-authored with Alessia Caputo, Lorenzo Taddeucci and Milena Vainieri. Using fuzzy-set QCA and data from 26 Tuscan health districts, we examine the conditions under which public organizations develop sensing capabilities and organizational adaptability. Continue reading →

An invited lecture at the Foreign Policy Lab of the University of Innsbruck on “Pacifism, Isolationism or Anti-Americanism? Explaining Public Opposition to Supporting Ukraine against Russia’s War of Aggression”, based on a paper co-authored with Wolfgang Wagner. Continue reading →

An online methods masterclass for the Evaluation and Statistics cadres of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on “Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) for Foreign Policy Analysis”, combining an introduction to the approach with the applied study of the unintended consequences of UN sanctions, co-authored with Katharina Meissner. Continue reading →

I gave the keynote at the 5th Annual QCA Conference of the Americas at the University of Cincinnati, on “Uncovering Causal Symptoms: QCA in Multi-Method Research”. The talk explored how QCA can be combined with case study research and process tracing as part of a multi-method research strategy. Continue reading →

My chapter “Explaining European Military Engagement in the Fight Against Daesh” appears in The Changing Fights and Fighters of Contemporary War, edited by Marie Robin, Amelie Theussen and Kerstin Bree Carlson. An earlier version was presented at the Center for War Studies conference of the University of Southern Denmark. Continue reading →

The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has acquired funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a four-year research project, led by Meeta Prasad Kerlin (PI), to better understand the complex interplay between contextual and intervention features in care delivery for patients that undergo invasive mechanical ventilation (total budget: USD 2,816,250; budget in 2026: USD… Continue reading →

The program for the 30th Summer School in Social Sciences Methods at the Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland has been announced: I’m offering Exploring Causal Complexity with Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) during the week of August 17-21, 2026. For impressions from previous years, see here. This course provides a complete introduction to QCA, including R software packages (see… Continue reading →