Patrick A. Mello

International Politics, Security, and Methods

Category: Guest Course

  • QCA-Workshop am Max-Weber-Institut für Soziologie, Universität Heidelberg

    Am 12. und 13. Januar 2022 habe ich am Max-Weber-Institut der Universität Heidelberg einen virtuellen Workshop zu Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) gehalten. Neben einer allgemeinen Einführung in die Methodik von QCA illustrierte der Workshop empirische Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und die konkrete Durchführung von QCA-Analysen mit R und den zugehörigen R Packages. Als Grundlage diente das Lehrbuch Qualitative Comparative Analysis: An Introduction to Research Design and Application (Georgetown University Press, 2021).

    Herzlichen Dank an Prof. Matthias Koenig (Lehrstuhl Empirische Makrosoziologie) für die Einladung und an alle Teilnehmer*innen für den konstruktiven Workshop!

  • QCA-Workshop, Universität Jena

    Am 30. September und 1. Oktober 2021 habe ich am Fachbereich Interkulturelle Wirtschaftskommunikation (IWK) der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena einen virtuellen Workshop zu Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) gehalten. Der Workshop diente der allgemeinen Einführung in die QCA-Methodik sowie der konkreten Anwendung von QCA im Rahmen laufender Forschungsprojekte des IWK.

    Herzlichen Dank an das ganze IWK-Team für den konstruktiven Workshop und den anregenden Austausch zu sozialwissenschaftlichen Methoden!

  • QCA-Workshop, Universität Halle

    Am 21. und 22. Juli 2021 habe ich an der Medizinischen Fakultät der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg einen Workshop zu Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) gehalten. Der Workshop richtete sich gezielt auf die Anwendung von QCA im Rahmen eines laufenden Forschungsprojekts am Institut für Gesundheits- und Pflegewissenschaft der Uni Halle. Herzlichen Dank an das ganze Forschungsteam für die Einladung nach Halle und für den konstruktiven und anregenden Präsenz-Workshop!

  • QCA Faculty Workshop, University of Pennsylvania

    Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Research Design and Application

    On April 29-30, I taught a virtual workshop for 13 faculty members of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who are working on health-related applications of Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The intensive course followed the structure of my QCA textbook, which will be published with Georgetown University Press later this year (information about the book can be found here). Dating its foundation to 1740 with Benjamin Franklin as its first president, the University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Perelman School of Medicine is frequently ranked among the leading medical schools in the world. Thanks to everyone involved for turning this into a highly constructive two-day workshop experience!

  • QCA Workshop, University of Lausanne

    Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

    On January 14-15, I jointly co-taught a workshop on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) at the University of Lausanne, together with Benoît Rihoux of UC Louvain. Course participants were PhD students of the CUSO network of Western Switzerland (Universities of Lausanne, Fribourg, Genève, and Neuchâtel). Many thanks to the people at CUSO for the invitation and organization of the event and to the participants for a constructive workshop!

  • QCA Workshop, Universität Göttingen

    Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

    Am 24. Januar 2020 habe ich am Institut für Soziologie der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen einen eintägigen Workshop zu Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) gehalten.  Der Workshop für Master-Studierende fand im Rahmen der Veranstaltung “Methoden des Vergleichs” von Prof. Dr. Matthias Koenig statt.

    Neben einer Erörterung der Grundlagen der Methode und der Anforderungen komparativer Forschungsdesigns beinhaltete der Workshop eine kompakte Einführung in die Software-Anwendung mit fsQCA und R.

    Vielen Dank an Prof. Koenig für die Einladung nach Göttingen und an die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer für den konstruktiven Workshop!

  • Guest Course at Charles University, Prague

    On November 6-8, 2019 I teach a Guest Course on “The Politics of Multinational Military Operations” at the Department of International Relations at Charles University Prague (Syllabus here). Thanks to Head of Department Jan Karlas and Deputy Michal Parízek for the kind invitation! The three-day course introduces participants to current topics surrounding the politics of international security, and specifically political debates about countries’ participation in multinational military operations, taking a comparative perspective. It draws on work from a Special Forum in Contemporary Security Policy, which I co-edited together with Steve Saideman, as well as articles that appeared in in the European Journal of International Security, and West European Politics, the British Journal of Politics and International Relations (a Special Issue co-edited with Dirk Peters and an article co-authored with Philippe Lagassé), among others. The content is split into six sessions, starting with (1) a general introduction to gain an overview over recent political and academic debates surrounding these topics. Individual sessions will focus on (2) party politics and security policy, (3) parliamentary involvement in decision-making on the use of military force, (4) the British parliament and war involvement, (5) coalition and alliance dynamics, including coalition formation, burden-sharing, and coalition withdrawal, and (6) national restrictions in multinational military operations.

  • Swiss Summer School 2019

    Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Lugano

    Methods Course at the 23rd Swiss Summer School in Social Science Methods

    From August 19-23, 2019 I will be offering a one-week intensive course on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), organized by FORS, the Swiss Foundation for Social Science Research and the Università della Svizzera Italiana in beautiful Lugano, Switzerland. The course will draw on my textbook Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Research Design and Application, under contract with Georgetown University Press. From the course description: “The course provides participants with a thorough introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), both as a research approach and as a data analysis technique. In recent years, this set-theoretic method has gained recognition among social scientists as a methodological approach that holds specific benefits for comparative studies. The course begins by familiarizing participants with the foundations of set theory and the basic concepts of the methodological approach of QCA, including necessary and sufficient conditions, Boolean algebra, and fuzzy logic. The next step is devoted to the calibration of empirical data into crisp and fuzzy sets. Once these essentials are in place, the course moves on to the construction and analysis of truth tables as the core of the QCA procedure. Here, we will also spend time to discuss typical challenges that arise during a truth table analysis, and techniques to overcome such problems. Finally, the course will introduce consistency and coverage as parameters of fit, as well as additional measures to assess the robustness of QCA results.”

    Besides the technical introduction of QCA and its variants, the course will provide opportunities to discuss general aspects of comparative research design, including criteria for concept building and case selection, and data-related issues. Participants will be given the opportunity to present their own work and to receive individual feedback on their projects. Throughout the course, participants will conduct set-theoretic analyses within the R software environment (packages “QCA” and “SetMethods“). The software will be introduced on the first day and used for exercises and examples throughout the course, so that participants gain a level of proficiency that enables them to conduct their own QCA analyses upon the completion of the course. Participants are encouraged to bring their own qualitative and/or quantitative data for course exercises (if available, preliminary data is fine). In addition, datasets from published studies will be made available and used for in-course exercises.” Please note that the course is limited to 10-12 participants and will fill on a first come, first served basis. More information & the course registration can be found here. Do not hesitate to contact me, should you have any questions about the course!

  • ECPR Summer School in Methods and Techniques 2017

    Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Fuzzy Sets

    Patrick A. Mello (Week 1), Carsten Q. Schneider (Week 2), and Nena Oana (Teaching Assistant)

    Methods Course taught for the European Consortium for Political Research at Central European University, Budapest, 27 July – 7 August 2017

    Course Outline: “This course introduces participants to set-theoretic methods and their application in the social sciences with a focus on Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The introductory course is complemented by an advanced course that is taught at the ECPR Winter School in Bamberg. The course starts out by familiarizing students with the basic concepts of the underlying methodological perspective, among them the central notions of necessity and sufficiency, formal logic and Boolean algebra. From there, we move to the logic and analysis of truth tables and discuss the most important problems that emerge when this analytical tool is used for exploring social science data. Right from the beginning, students will be exposed to performing set-theoretic analyses with the relevant R software packages. When discussing set-theoretic methods, in-class debates will engage on broad, general comparative social research issues, such as case selection principles, concept formation, questions of data aggregation and the treatment of causally relevant notions of time. Examples are drawn from published applications in the social sciences. Participants are encouraged to bring their own raw data for in-class exercises and assignments, if available“ [Read Further]

  • Swiss Social Science Summer School 2016

    Qualitative Comparative Analysis (Patrick A. Mello)

    Methods Course at the 20th Swiss Social Science Summer School

    Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, 22-26 August 2016

    The workshop provides participants with a thorough introduction to Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), both as a research approach and as a data analysis technique. In recent years, this set-theoretic method has gained recognition among social scientists as a methodological approach that holds specific benefits for comparative studies. The course begins by familiarizing participants with the foundations of set theory and the basic concepts of the methodological approach of QCA, including necessary and sufficient conditions, Boolean algebra, and fuzzy logic. The next step is devoted to the calibration of empirical data into crisp and fuzzy sets. Once these essentials are in place, the course moves on to the construction and analysis of truth tables as the core of the QCA procedure. Here, we will also spend time to discuss typical challenges that arise during a truth table analysis and techniques to overcome such problems. Finally, the course will introduce consistency and coverage as parameters of fit as well as additional measures to assess the robustness of QCA results [Read Further]

Archives