Yamasaki                 package:QCA                 R Documentation

_T_h_e _p_r_o_b_l_e_m _o_f _c_o_n_t_r_a_d_i_c_t_o_r_y _s_i_m_p_l_i_f_y_i_n_g _a_s_s_u_m_p_t_i_o_n_s

_D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n:

     The *Yamasaki* data frame has 6 rows and 6 columns.

     In Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) of social data, the
     generation of parsimonious  explanatory equations is enhanced by
     the inclusion of ''logical configurations''. Even if this 
     procedure proves to be very useful, it also raises various
     methodological issues. Among them, the tricky problem of
     ''contradictory simplifying assumptions'' has remained largely
     unexplored. Yet the careful control of this obstacle is crucial
     for any QCA to be successful, not only because contradictory
     assumptions are inducing wrong conclusions, but also because their
     resolution can generate most interesting results. Hence, our
     contribution aims at enlightening this difficulty, as well as
     designing an efficient way to overcome it. In this perspective, we
     start from data collected for a comparative research on ''the
     political feasibility of an unconditional basic income'' in six
     OECD countries (1980-2002). After having briefly stated the core
     elements of the research question, six operational variables are
     defined (section 1). On this basis, we conduct a Boolean analysis
     and comment the various 'feasibility scenarios' generated by the
     QCA 3.0 software (section 2). Starting from these first results,
     we identify contradictory simplifying assumptions used by the
     software, and discuss possible solutions to this problem. New
     results are then generated (section 3). In the conclusion, we
     shortly discuss the general implications of this methodological
     problem

_U_s_a_g_e:

     data(Yamasaki)

_F_o_r_m_a_t:

     The dataset contains the following columns:

       NONGHENT  the absence of a Ghent system is coded ''1'' and ''0'' when the Ghent system
                 exists in the country
       MOVEMENT  in the presence of a social movement advocating Basic Income, the variable
                 will be coded ''1''
       POSTMAT   the level of postmodern values in a society takes the value ''1'' in the Dutch
                 and Finnish cases, and ''0'' in the others
       UNITARY   based on the Lijphart index (1.0 to 5.0, from unitary to federal and
                 decentralised states), the variable is coded ''0'' for cases in the three
                 following categories: semi-federal states (3.0), federal and centralized
                 states (4.0), and federal and decentralized states (5.0), and ''1'' otherwise.
       SOCIAL    based on Esping-Andersen's categorisation of welfare regimes, the variable
                 is coded ''1'' for non-liberal countries and ''0'' otherwise
       AGENDA    the outcome variable, coded ''1'' when Basic Income has been considered as a
                 serious alternative at the governmental level

_S_o_u_r_c_e:

     <URL: http://www.compasss.org>

_R_e_f_e_r_e_n_c_e_s:

     Vanderborght, Yannick and Yamasaki, Sakura 2003 _The Problem of
     Contradictory Simplifying Assumptions in Qualitative Comparative
     Analysis (QCA)_, Paper presented at the ECPR General onference,
     18-21 Sept., Marburg, Germany

     Vanderborght, Yannick and Yamasaki, Sakura 2004 _Des cas
     logiques...contradictoires? Un piege de  l'AQQC dejoue a travers
     l'etude de la faisabilite politique de l'Allocation Universelle_,
     Revue  Internationale de Politique Comparee, Vol.11, pp.51-66

