Applying qualitative comparative analysis in large-N studies: a scoping review of good practices before, during, and after the analytic moment

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was originally developed to address configural research questions with a small to medium number of cases (i.e., N < 50), allowing researchers to preserve the iterative nature of the data collection and interpretation that stems from a deep knowledge of cases. Recently, researchers have increasingly applied QCA within large-N applications involving anywhere from 50 to several thousand cases. Although the increasing popularity of using QCA in large-N research is promising, critical questions persist regarding QCA application. We conducted a scoping review of large-N QCA studies published in peer-reviewed journals over a 15-year period. Although the review showed some adherence to good practices for conducting QCA, it also revealed substantial gaps in large-N studies reporting analytic decision making, analysis, and results. We offer several recommendations for improving the reporting of large-N QCA studies.