方法对比

	Typological Theory	Qualitative Comparative Analysis
领域	Political Science	Political Science
方法族	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
起源年份	2005	1987
提出者	Alexander L. George & Andrew Bennett; Colin Elman	Charles C. Ragin
类型	Configurational theory-building method for case studies	Set-theoretic, configurational comparative method
开创性文献	George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262572224	Ragin, C. C. (1987). The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN: 9780520058347
别名	Typological theorizing, Explanatory typologies, Typological theory building, Configurational typologies	QCA, csQCA, fsQCA, Configurational comparative method
相关	4	3
摘要	Typological theory is a configurational approach to theory building in which the researcher specifies types — distinct combinations of the values of explanatory variables — and develops contingent generalizations about the outcomes associated with each combination. Codified by Alexander George and Andrew Bennett and refined by Colin Elman's explanatory typologies, it organizes cases into the cells of a property space defined by the interaction of variables, using case studies to populate and refine the types. It embraces causal complexity by treating combinations, not isolated variables, as the units of explanation.	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.