Benita
Williams, one of our partner evaluators in South Africa, recently sent us a
reminder about the appropriateness of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as
a method for tracing program impacts back to program components and other
conditions when there are a small set of cases. QCA uses the logic of Boolean
Algebra to determine which combination of conditions are necessary, sufficient
or both for an outcome to occur or not occur.
Although QCA was originally introduced more
than 30 years ago by sociologist Charles Ragin, QCA has gained traction in the
evaluation field over the past decade. We agree that QCA is a great option for
circumstances in which more conventional evaluation methods might be expensive,
difficult or impossible.
Say you find an improvement in learners’
reading scores in eight out of thirty schools that you evaluated. Does the
improved outcome link to participation in the training program? Does a good
teacher-to-learner ratio and the experience of school leadership have any
influence? Is there a link with increased teacher knowledge or with the
implementation of a specific teaching method?
Both COMPASSS and CECAN are hosting online courses
on QCA in the coming weeks and months of 2022:
- https://compasss.org/events/
- https://www.cecan.ac.uk/events/ukes-cecan-online-masterclass-qualitative-comparative-analysis-qca-5/
- https://www.cecan.ac.uk/events/ukes-cecan-online-masterclass-qualitative-comparative-analysis-qca-6/
Learn more about QCA:
- https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/evaluation-options/qualitative_comparative_analysis
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1098214017710502
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098214016673902