Gauging the Import and Essentiality of Single Conditions in Standard Configurational Solutions

Abstract

Standard Qualitative Comparative Analysis is especially suited to explain diversity but is often diagnosed with weak findings. Its protocol either can dismiss necessary conditions as irrelevant and make solutions that are untrue to observations, or add irrelevant conditions as causal and make incorrect solutions. Additionally, the algorithm may not recognize the functional dependencies among the conditions. These claims call for different gauges to assess the single conditions that are retrieved by Standard minimizations. This article develops “import” and “essentiality” to establish whether a condition has explanatory merit alone and within the wider model. When applied in exemplary studies, these gauges indicate that Standard solutions are more sound than often conceded.