เปรียบเทียบวิธี

	Qualitative Comparative Analysis	Most Similar Systems Design
สาขาวิชา	Political Science	Political Science
ตระกูล	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
ปีกำเนิด	1987	1970
ผู้ริเริ่ม	Charles C. Ragin	John Stuart Mill (method of difference); Przeworski & Teune (systems framing)
ประเภท	Set-theoretic, configurational comparative method	Small-N comparative case-selection design
แหล่งต้นตำรับ	Ragin, C. C. (1987). The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN: 9780520058347	Przeworski, A., & Teune, H. (1970). The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. New York: Wiley-Interscience. ISBN: 9780471701422
ชื่อเรียกอื่น	QCA, csQCA, fsQCA, Configurational comparative method	MSSD, Most similar cases design, Mill's method of difference, Comparable cases strategy
ที่เกี่ยวข้อง	3	3
สรุป	Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a set-theoretic, configurational method that identifies which combinations of conditions are necessary or sufficient for an outcome across a set of cases. Developed by Charles Ragin, it treats each case as a configuration of set memberships, builds a truth table of all logically possible combinations, and uses Boolean algebra to minimize them into the simplest expressions that account for the outcome. It bridges qualitative case knowledge and cross-case generalization, embracing causal complexity through conjunctural causation, equifinality, and asymmetry.	The most similar systems design (MSSD) is a small-N comparative strategy that selects cases as alike as possible on many background characteristics but differing on the outcome of interest. By matching cases so that most potential confounders are held roughly constant, the design isolates the few factors that vary alongside the outcome as the candidate causes. Rooted in John Stuart Mill's method of difference and named by Przeworski and Teune, it is a cornerstone of comparative politics for drawing causal inferences from a handful of countries or cases.