Chapter 19. Qualitative comparative analysis in mixed methods research designs

One of the most cited problems in mixed methods research is weak articulation between the qualitative and quantitative components to capture the complexity of social phenomena. Combining qualitative and quantitative data using a unified and systematic analytic approach could solve this issue. Through the lens of set theory, this chapter examines the adaptation of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in mixed-method research as a set theoretic approach that allows researchers to combine and aggregate qualitative and quantitative data and assess them concurrently. Although QCA techniques have existed for over two decades in organisational studies, these techniques were not frequently adopted by mixed-method researchers. This chapter explains a step-by-step guide how to implement QCA in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies. The chapter then provides examples that demonstrate how QCA is used to generate configurational concepts extracted from qualitative and quantitative data sets.