Stefan Verweij

Understanding And Researching Complexity With Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Evaluating Transportation Infrastructure Projects

This article proposes a complexity-informed framework for evaluating transportation infrastructure projects. The article does this through four steps. First, the properties of infrastructure development projects are discussed. This leads to the conclusion that the specific locality or contextualization of a given project is important for explaining the outcome. Hence, there is a need for an ontology and epistemology that addresses the importance of this contextualization. The second step concerns the development of the prerequisites for a methodological framework that follows from this epistemology and ontology. The third step is the assessment of common infrastructure evaluation methods against these prerequisites. This leads to the conclusion that a comparative case-based approach is the most suitable way to study the relationship between context and outcomes in projects. A framework based on Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is presented in the fourth step. The article concludes with a discussion of the further development of QCA.

How Satisfaction Is Achieved In The Implementation Phase Of Large Transportation Infrastructure Projects: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Into The A2 Tunnel Project

In the implementation phase of transportation infrastructure projects, unplanned events will inevitably occur. Although this is increasingly acknowledged, little systematic research has been conducted into what management strategies are best for dealing with these unplanned events. This article investigates how managers respond to unplanned events that occur in the context of a project during implementation, and which management responses produce satisfactory outcomes. To evaluate what strategies work in what contexts, we introduce multi-value Qualitative Comparative Analysis (mvQCA) and apply it to the Dutch A2 Maastricht transportation infrastructure project (the Netherlands). We produced systematic evidence that (a) internally oriented private management is associated with low satisfaction; (b) externally oriented management is associated with high satisfaction in responding to social, local unplanned events; and (c) that internally oriented management is associated with high satisfaction, depending in particular on the nature of the cooperation between principal and contractor in the project.

Taking stock of complexity in evaluation: A discussion of three recent publications

Arguably, the current interest in the complexity sciences has its roots in the natural sciences, often in interplay with, and enhanced by, developments in mathematics and informatics. An oft-cited reason for this interest has been the increased ability of current computing systems to deal with complex mathematics and algorithms. As complexity gains more traction in the natural sciences, so it does in the social sciences (see e.g. Castellani, 2009). Naturally, complexity has also invaded the evaluation literature since the 1990s, where it is increasingly discussed and applied (cf. Walton, 2014). For instance, the journal Evaluation has recently published a steady number of complexity-related pieces. A search within the journal on the terms ‘complexity theory’, ‘complex system’ or ‘complexity science’ yielded forty-nine articles as part of an increasing trend. Inquiries with Scopus into complexity and evaluation yielded similar results. In this article, we take stock of recent progress and discuss what complexity holds for evaluation by discussing three recent books.

Set-theoretic methods for the social sciences: a guide to qualitative comparative analysis

Book Review of: Set-theoretic methods for the social sciences: a guide to qualitative comparative analysis, by C. Q. Schneider and C. Wagemann, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012, 367 pp., £60.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-107-01352-0, £23.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-107-60113-0. Since its launch in 1987 by Ragin as a methodology intended to bridge the gap between quantitative variable-based and qualitative case-based research approaches, social science researchers have increasingly turned to Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) for conducting comparative empirical social science research. Throughout the years, QCA has become an umbrella term for a set-theoretic configurational research approach encompassing a number of variants and techniques for systematically comparing cases (Rihoux & Ragin, 2009). This textbook by Schneider and Wagemann is ‘dedicated to explaining QCA’ (p. 9), where the ‘focus will be more on the technical aspects’ (p. 11). They concentrate on the most popular variants: crisp sets (csQCA) and fuzzy sets (fsQCA). The book is aimed ‘to cater to both beginners and very advanced readers’ (p. 19).

Implementing multiple intervention strategies in Dutch public health-related policy networks

Improving public health requires multiple intervention strategies. Implementing such an intervention mix is supposed to require a multisectoral policy network. As evidence to support this assumption is scarce, we examined under which conditions public health-related policy networks were able to implement an intervention mix. Data were collected (2009-14) from 29 Dutch public health policy networks. Surveys were used to identify the number of policy sectors, participation of actors, level of trust, networking by the project leader, and intervention strategies implemented. Conditions sufficient for an intervention mix (≥3 of 4 non-educational strategies present) were determined in a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. A multisectoral policy network (≥7 of 14 sectors present) was neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition. In multisectoral networks, additionally required was either the active participation of network actors (≥50% actively involved) or active networking by the project leader (≥monthly contacts with network actors). In policy networks that included few sectors, a high level of trust (positive perceptions of each others intentions) was needed-in the absence though of any of the other conditions. If the network actors were also actively involved, an extra requirement was active networking by the project leader. We conclude that the multisectoral composition of policy networks can contribute to the implementation of a variety of intervention strategies, but not without additional efforts. However, policy networks that include only few sectors are also able to implement an intervention mix. Here, trust seems to be the most important condition.