The social organization of QCA scholarship: publication practices and educational integration

This research note examines the social organization of the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) community by analyzing how methodological knowledge is produced through publication and reproduced through teaching. Drawing on publication data from the COMPASSS network (1981–2020) and an original survey of international QCA instructors, the study explores patterns of authorship, scholarly visibility, and pedagogical authority. Findings indicate that while mixed-gender collaboration is common in journal publishing, important gender asymmetries persist, particularly in book authorship, where male scholars remain disproportionately represented. The teaching of QCA is also concentrated among a relatively small group of internationally active instructors, suggesting that methodological expertise is disseminated through specialized professional networks. Variation in the gender composition of assigned readings further highlights uneven patterns of scholarly visibility. The study contributes to the sociology of knowledge by providing an exploratory mapping of the institutional and social structures that shape methodological communities.