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. 2024 May 16;10(10):e31457.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31457. eCollection 2024 May 30.

Beyond regression: Unpacking research of human complex systems with qualitative comparative analysis

Xinxin Xu  1 , Safdar Husain Tahir  2 , Khuda Bakhsh Khan  3 , Mushtaq A Sajid  4 , Muhammad Azhaf Safdar  5
Affiliations

Beyond regression: Unpacking research of human complex systems with qualitative comparative analysis

Xinxin Xu et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

This study underscores the effectiveness of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) when compared to conventional regression analysis (CRA) in the investigation of complex human systems. Utilizing historical secondary cross-national data from Lipset & Man (1960) spanning 18 countries, where CRA may be impractical, the research emphasizes the superior performance of QCA, specifically utilizing both crisp set QCA and fuzzy set QCA. The dataset includes variables such as democracy survival and its precursors, such as gross national product per capita, urbanization, literacy rate, and industrial labor force. In contrast to conventional regression results indicating an insignificant relationship between democracy survival and its antecedents, crisp set QCA identifies two distinct combinations of antecedents associated with high levels of democracy survival, albeit with limited solution coverage. Meanwhile, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) reveals five combinations of antecedents linked to robust democracy survival, providing adequate solution coverage and consistency. These findings suggest that fsQCA excels in capturing the intricacies of real-life scenarios in human complex systems, offering more robust empirical solutions compared to crisp set QCA and conventional regression. As a result, researchers may find value in integrating fsQCA into their new projects focused on human complex systems.

Keywords: Comparative study; Conventional regression analysis; Cross-national data; Democracy survival; Human complex systems; csQCA; fsQCA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Safdar Husain Tahir reports a relationship with Government College University Faisalabad that includes: employment. Xinxin Xu reports a relationship with Chengdu University Business School that includes: employment. Khuda Bakhsh Khan reports a relationship with Government College University Faisalabad that includes: employment. Mushtaq A Sajid reports a relationship with Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Risk Averse Investor subset of SFBs.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Democracy as subset of SFB.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Configuration model.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
XY-plot.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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