Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Spatial Planning Research - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Faculty of Spatial Sciences Department of Spatial Planning & Environment

12-07-2018

s.verweij@rug.nl & e.m.trell@rug.nl www.stefanverweij.eu @Stefan_Verweij stefanverweij

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Spatial Planning Research

Aesop Annual Congress, Gothenburg, Sweden, July 10-14, 2018 Track 4.1: Methods

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Spatial Planning Research

› Providing input for policy change and institutional-spatial design in order to guide spatial and social developments › In some way or another, this involves comparison

• Either between cases…
• Or with a framework ultimately built on

known examples and previously researched cases › Booth: “the desire to make comparisons [has] been fundamental to research activity in the field of spatial planning”

Source: Alexander (2016); Booth (2015)

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Spatial Planning Research

› However, comparison and transfer of knowledge (from case-to-case or from theory- to-case) is challenging:

• Spatial planning practices and conditions

are very context-specific

• So how and to what extent do lessons

learned transfer to other cases? › Booth: “the conditions that make a policy or practice work in one place are unlikely to

• btain in another”

› This is where QCA comes in

Source: Booth (2015); Janssen-Jansen et al. (2008)

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[C*I*M] + [~C*I*M] à O … can be minimized into [I*M] à O

Qualitative Comparative Analysis

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Source: Verweij et al. (2013)

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Valuable Method

› QCA is a valuable method for spatial planning research

• Systematic approach to comparison and

lesson transfer

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Introducing QCA

› QCA is potentially valuable, but yet little used; also errors

• ccurring

› Therefore, introducing QCA to the Spatial Sciences › How?

• Systematic literature

review of QCA in SPARD (‘Spatial Planning and Related Disciplines’)

Book: Gerrits & Verweij (2018)

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Research Questions

• 1. When, where, and how is QCA used in

SPARD?

• Descriptive analysis of QCA-studies in

SPARD

• 2. What are the ways forward for QCA in spatial

planning research?

• Analysis of ‘good practices’ in the QCA-

studies in SPARD (Schneider & Wagemann, 2010)

• Analysis of stated usefulness of QCA

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Method and Data

Selecting articles

• 1. Subject fields in Scopus of ‘Geography,

Planning and Development’, ‘Transportation’ and ‘Urban Studies’ (427,255 documents)

• 2. Limiting: articles, in English, years 1987-2017

(282,267 articles)

• 3. Limiting: QCA-keywords (349 articles)
• 4. Selecting and coding empirical QCA-articles

that are actually are in SPARD

à 33 articles

Keywords based on: Seny Kan et al. (2016); Gerrits & Verweij (2016; 2018)

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RQ1: Variants of QCA

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RQ1: Disciplines and UoA

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RQ1: Data Sources

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RQ1: Cases and Conditions

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Many Qualitative Research Comparative Aspects of Cases Research Quantitative Research Few Few Number of Cases Many

Source: Ragin (1994)

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RQ1: Visualization

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Sources: Busscher et al. (2018) Verweij et al. (2017)

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RQ2: Good Practices

› Often unclear which analytical choices have been made à instigating good practices

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RQ2: Stated Usefulness

› QCA is sensitive to context (N=10) › QCA enables small-n comparison and bridging qualitative-quantitative gap (N=14) › QCA enables studying complex wholes (N=21): conjunctural causation, asymmetry, complexity theory

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Conclusions

› However… › Getting it right: ensuring good QCA-practices › Addressing time and dynamics with QCA › More applications of QCA in spatial planning research

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References

› Alexander, E.R. (2016). There is no planning – Only planning practices: Notes for spatial planning

• theories. Planning Theory, 15(1), 91–103.

› Booth, P. (2015). What can we learn from France? Some reflections on the methodologies of cross- national research. In E.A. Silva, P. Healey, N. Harris, & P. Van den Broeck (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Planning Research Methods (84–96). Abingdon: Routledge. › Busscher, T., Van den Brink, M. & Verweij, S. (2018). Strategies for integrating water management and spatial planning: Organizing for spatial quality in the Dutch ‘Room for the River’ program. Journal of Flood Risk Management. › Gerrits, L.M., & Verweij, S. (2016). Qualitative comparative analysis as a method for evaluating complex cases: An overview of literature and a stepwise guide with empirical application. Zeitschrift für Evaluation, 15(1), 7–22. › Gerrits, L.M., & Verweij, S. (2018). The Evaluation of Complex Infrastructure Projects: A Guide to Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. › Janssen-Jansen, L., Spaans, M., & Van der Veen, M. (2008). New Instruments in Spatial Planning: An International Perspective on Non-Financial Compensation. Amsterdam: IOS Press. › Ragin, C.C. (1994). Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method. Sage: New York. › Schneider, C.Q., & Wagemann, C. (2010). Standards of good practice in qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and fuzzy-sets. Comparative Sociology, 9(3), 397–418. › Seny Kan, A.K., Adegbite, E., El Omari, S., & Abdellatif, M. (2016). On the use of qualitative comparative analysis in management. Journal of Business Research, 69(4), 1458–1463. › Verweij, S., Klijn, E.H., Edelenbos, J. & Van Buuren, A. (2013). What makes governance networks work? A fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis of 14 Dutch spatial planning projects. Public Administration, 91(4), 1035-1055. › Verweij, S., Teisman, G.R. & Gerrits, L.M. (2017). Implementing public-private partnerships: How management responses to events produce (un)satisfactory outcomes. Public Works Management & Policy, 22(2), 119–139.

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