Publications

Over the last 10 years, we have been enormously successful in developing and applying configurational methods in highly interdisciplinary contexts. As a result, our work has found its way into many top-rated scientific periodicals. 

Please find our complete list of publications below. If you have no access via your institution or account, let us know, and we will provide you with a copy for private use. 

Books

1. Thiem, Alrik and Adrian Duşa. 2013. Qualitative Comparative Analysis with R: A User’s Guide. New York: Springer. Link

Book Chapters

1. Thiem, Alrik. 2022. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). In: R. Joseph Huddleston, Tom Jamieson, and Patrick James. eds. Handbook of Research Methods in International Relations. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 607-628. Link

Articles

36. Thiem, Alrik, Lusine Mkrtchyan & Zuzana Sebechlebská. forthcoming. Combinational Regularity Analysis (CORA): An Introduction for Psychologists. Psychological Methods.

35. Thiem, Alrik & Lusine Mkrtchyan. 2024. Fewer procedures, more reflection: A rejoinder to Duşa and Marx. Field Methods 36 (1): 74-79. Link

34. Thiem, Alrik & Lusine Mkrtchyan. 2024. Case-to-factor ratios and model specification in Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Field Methods 36(1): 52-68. Link

33. Sebechlebská, Zuzana, Lusine Mkrtchyan & Alrik Thiem. 2023. CORA and LOGIGRAM: A duo of Python packages for Combinational Regularity Analysis (CORA). JOSS: The Journal of Open Source Software 8 (85): 5019. Link

32. Thiem, Alrik, Zuzana Sebechlebská & Lusine Mkrtchyan. 2023. Logic diagrams: A visual tool with untapped potential. Nature Reviews Methods Primers 3 (1): 21. Link

31. Mkrtchyan, Lusine, Alrik Thiem & Zuzana Sebechlebská. 2023. Re-establishing a lost connection: Multi-value logic in causal data analysis in social science disciplines. IEEE Access 11: 10471-10482. Link

30. Thiem, Alrik, Lusine Mkrtchyan & Zuzana Sebechlebská. 2022. Combinational Regularity Analysis (CORA) – A new method for uncovering complex causation in medical and health research. BMC Medical Research Methodology 22 (1): 333. Link

29. Thiem, Alrik. 2022. Beyond the facts: Limited empirical diversity and causal inference in Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Sociological Methods & Research 51 (2): 527-540. Link

28. Thiem, Alrik. 2021. The logic and methodology of ’necessary but not sufficient causality‘: A comment on Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). Sociological Methods & Research 50 (2): 913-925. Link

27. Whitaker, Rebecca G., Nina Sperber, Michael Baumgartner, Alrik Thiem, Deborah Cragun, Laura Damschroder, Edward J. Miech, Alecia Slade & Sarah Birken. 2020. Coincidence Analysis: A new method for causal inference in implementation science. Implementation Science 15 (1): 108. Link

26. Lankoski, Jussi & Alrik Thiem. 2020. Linkages between agricultural policies, productivity and environmental sustainability. Ecological Economics 178: 106809. Link

25. Thiem, Alrik, Lusine Mkrtchyan, Tim Haesebrouck & David Sanchez. 2020. Algorithmic bias in social research: A meta-analysis. PLOS ONE 15 (6): e0233625. Link

24. Baumgartner, Michael & Alrik Thiem. 2020. Often trusted but never (properly) tested: Evaluating Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Sociological Methods & Research 49 (2): 279-311. Link

23. Thiem, Alrik. 2018. Improving the use of Qualitative Comparative Analysis for inferring complex causation in development and planning research. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 8 (4): 622-631. Link

22. Haesebrouck, Tim & Alrik Thiem. 2018. Burden sharing in CSDP military operations. Defence and Peace Economics 29 (7): 748-765. Link

21. Baumgartner, Michael & Alrik Thiem. 2017. Model ambiguities in configurational comparative research. Sociological Methods & Research 46 (4): 954-987. Link

20. Thiem, Alrik. 2017. Conducting configurational comparative research with Qualitative Comparative Analysis: A hands-on tutorial for applied evaluation scholars and practitioners. American Journal of Evaluation 38 (3): 420-433. Link

19. Thiem, Alrik. 2016. Standards of good practice and the methodology of necessary conditions in Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Political Analysis 24 (4): 478-484. Link

18. Thiem, Alrik & Michael Baumgartner. 2016. Modeling causal irrelevance in evaluations of Configurational Comparative Methods. Sociological Methodology 46 (1): 345-357. Link

17. Thiem, Alrik & Michael Baumgartner. 2016. Back to square one: A reply to Munck, Paine and Schneider. Comparative Political Studies 49 (6): 801-806. Link

16. Thiem, Alrik, Michael Baumgartner & Damien Bol. 2016. Still lost in translation! A correction of three misunderstandings between configurational comparativists and regressional analysts. Comparative Political Studies 49 (6): 742-774. Link

15. Thiem, Alrik, Reto Spöhel & Adrian Duşa. 2016. Enhancing sensitivity diagnostics for Qualitative Comparative Analysis: A combinatorial approach. Political Analysis 24 (1): 104-120. Link

14. Thiem, Alrik. 2016. Analyzing multilevel data with QCA: Yet another straightforward procedure. Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology 50 (1): 121-128. Link

13. Thiem, Alrik. 2015. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis for identifying causal chains in configurational data: A methodological commentary on Baumgartner and Epple (2014). Sociological Methods & Research 44 (4): 723-736. Link

12. Baumgartner, Michael & Alrik Thiem. 2015. Identifying complex causal dependencies in configurational data with Coincidence Analysis. The R Journal 7 (1): 176-184. Link

11. Duşa, Adrian & Alrik Thiem. 2015. Enhancing the minimization of Boolean and multivalue output functions with eQMC. Journal of Mathematical Sociology 39 (2): 92-108. Link

10. Thiem, Alrik. 2015. Parameters of fit and intermediate solutions in multi-value Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology 49 (2): 657-674. Link

9. Thiem, Alrik. 2014. Mill’s methods, induction and case sensitivity in Qualitative Comparative Analysis: A comment on Hug (2013) Qualitative & Multi-Method Research 12 (2): 19-24. Link

8. Thiem, Alrik. 2014. Navigating the complexities of Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Case numbers, necessity relations and model ambiguities. Evaluation Review: A Journal of Applied Social Research 38 (6): 487-513. Link

7. Thiem, Alrik. 2014. Membership function sensitivity of descriptive statistics in fuzzy-set relations. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 17 (6): 625-642. Link

6. Thiem, Alrik. 2014. Unifying Configurational Comparative Methods: Generalized-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Sociological Methods & Research 43 (2): 313-337. Link

5. Thiem, Alrik & Adrian Duşa. 2013. Boolean minimization in social science research: A review of current software for Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Social Science Computer Review 31 (4): 505-521. Link

4. Thiem, Alrik & Adrian Duşa. 2013. QCA: A package for Qualitative Comparative Analysis. The R Journal 5 (1): 87-97. Link

3. Thiem, Alrik. 2013. Clearly crisp, and not fuzzy: A reassessment of the (putative) pitfalls of multi-value QCA. Field Methods 25 (2): 197-207. Link

2. Thiem, Alrik & Adrian Duşa. 2012. Introducing the QCA package: A market analysis and software review. Qualitative & Multi-Method Research 10 (2): 45-49. Link

1. Thiem, Alrik. 2011. Conditions of intergovernmental armaments cooperation in Western Europe, 1996-2006. European Political Science Review 3 (1): 1-33. Link

Reviews

In addition to producing our own publications, we have reviewed many dozens of submissions from other researchers over the years for numerous scientific journals from various disciplines, including

  • American Journal of Evaluation
  • American Journal of Political Science
  • American Political Science Review
  • Comparative Political Studies
  • European Journal of Political Research
  • European Political Science
  • European Political Science Review
  • European Union Politics
  • Evaluation: The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice
  • Field Methods
  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • Group & Organization Management
  • Heliyon
  • International Interactions
  • International Journal of Comparative Sociology
  • International Journal of Social Research Methodology
  • International Studies Quarterly
  • Journal of Business Economics
  • Journal of Causal Inference
  • Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties
  • Journal of Innovation & Knowledge
  • Journal of Management in Engineering
  • Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity
  • Journal of Public Policy
  • Journal of Statistical Software
  • Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie
  • Nations and Nationalism
  • Party Politics
  • PeerJ
  • Philosophy of the Social Sciences
  • Policy & Internet
  • Political Analysis
  • Political Research Quarterly
  • Political Studies
  • PS: Political Science & Politics
  • Quality & Quantity
  • Social Forces
  • Social Science & Medicine
  • Sociological Methods & Research
  • Swiss Political Science Review
  • The R Journal
  • Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
  • Transportation Research Part A
  • World Development