Qualitative comparative analysis: A useful tool for research into forest policy and forestry conflicts

Abstract

The internationalization of the forestry debate and forest policy brings about a growing need to develop, apply, and discuss comparative methodologies in forestry research. This paper illustrates and discusses the use of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), a new comparative tool in forest policy research. The advantages and disadvantages of the method are demonstrated by reanalyzing previous research on public environmental criticism of forestry in Finland, Sweden, Norway, West Germany, France, and the United States between 1950 and 1983. In particular, the reanalysis illustrates the potential benefits of systematic techniques of comparison as supplementary tools to traditional 'common sense' interpretations of qualitative data. In addition to arguing on behalf of the technical applicability of the method to comparative forest policy research, a need is expressed to expand the use of the method from causal to noncausal applications.