Purpose

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a promising, powerful method that is increasingly used for IS research. However, the Information Systems (IS) discipline still lacks a shared understanding of how to conduct and report QCA. This paper introduces the fundamental concepts of QCA, summarizes the status quo, and derives recommendations for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive literature review in major IS outlets summarizes how and why QCA has been used in the IS discipline, critically evaluates the status quo, and derives recommendations for future QCA studies.

Findings

The literature review reveals 32 empirical research articles in major IS journals that have used the QCA method. Articles applied QCA to a broad range of research topics at the individual and organizational levels, mainly as a standalone analysis for theory development, elaboration and testing. The authors also provide evidence that most published IS research articles do not take full advantage of the potential QCA, such as analyzing necessary causal conditions or testing the robustness of QCA results. The authors provide seven actionable recommendations for future IS research using QCA.

Originality/value

The literature review assesses the status quo of QCA’s application in the IS discipline and provides specific recommendations on how IS researchers can leverage the full potential of QCA.

中文翻译：

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信息系统学科的定性比较分析：文献综述和方法论建议

目的

定性比较分析 (QCA) 是一种有前途、功能强大的方法，越来越多地用于 IS 研究。然而，信息系统 (IS) 学科仍然缺乏对如何进行和报告 QCA 的共同理解。本文介绍了 QCA 的基本概念，总结了现状，并为未来的研究提出了建议。

设计/方法/方法

主要 IS 媒体的描述性文献综述总结了 QCA 在 IS 学科中的使用方式和原因，批判性地评估现状，并为未来的 QCA 研究提出建议。

发现

文献综述揭示了主要 IS 期刊中使用 QCA 方法的 32 篇实证研究文章。文章将 QCA 应用于个人和组织层面的广泛研究主题，主要作为理论发展、阐述和测试的独立分析。作者还提供证据表明，大多数已发表的 IS 研究文章没有充分利用潜在的 QCA，例如分析必要的因果条件或测试 QCA 结果的稳健性。作者为使用 QCA 的未来 IS 研究提供了七项可操作的建议。

原创性/价值

文献综述评估了 QCA 在 IS 学科中的应用现状，并就 IS 研究人员如何充分利用 QCA 的潜力提供了具体建议。