QuickPLS What the method does
An fsQCA report should let a reader reconstruct how the raw observations became sets and how those sets produced the reported solution. It needs calibration anchors, case decisions, truth-table thresholds, solution assumptions and case interpretation. A solution formula by itself is not a complete account of the analysis.
Data and analysis in QuickPLS
Use completed results, the source data definitions and written reasons for calibration and case choices. Select the baseline and any robustness analyses to include.
QuickPLS provides report-building and export tools for fsQCA results. Review the selected tables and case information before saving the report.
Follow a worked example
The following example shows the data, settings and decisions for one analysis. Use the linked practice files to follow it. For your own study, keep the procedure and choose the variables, model and settings that fit your research question.
Download memberships.csv to begin. It contains 10 rows and 5 columns. The example below identifies the variables to use, their roles and any rows to exclude; not every column is an analysis variable.
Give readers the reasoning behind the solution table
A reader needs to know what your sets mean, how the memberships were obtained, which cases were included and why you chose the analysis settings. Save those explanations with the study, then select them when preparing the report. They help readers judge the meaning of the calculated values.
First decide which saved result and output you want to report. An enhanced fsQCA report uses a complete solution alternative; core/peripheral labels also need a compatible solution pair. A compound-necessity report needs a selected expression, meaning a combination tested as a requirement for the outcome. A panel report needs its chosen targets, such as the comparisons across groups or periods. Use the selection appropriate to the method you actually ran.
Choose a completed analysis and its reporting selection
Open a completed calculation and identify its solution alternative, expression or method-specific targets. For the explanation, return to the saved study and fill in Research question, Set definition fields and Decision notes. Then select the relevant saved revision through Report-time study notes in the report builder.
Prepare, save, export and read the report
Select the calculation and expression
In the appropriate report builder, choose Primary saved result and Report study. Load the primary choices and select the exact solution alternative, expression or targets to report.
Select your saved research explanation
Complete the study's Research question and Set definitions and research decisions fields first, then save the revision. In the builder, choose it under Report-time study notes. These notes provide the actual reasons for calibration, thresholds and case choices.
Add a relevant supported comparison
Where offered, choose the compatible Core / peripheral pairing or Robustness appendix. Check that the plan and primary result belong together and that all scenario outcomes remain visible.
Prepare and save the report
Choose Prepare report, inspect it and use Save research report. Reopen it from Saved research report to verify the chosen result and explanation.
Export and check the saved file
Choose an offered Report export format and Export saved report. Formats include report JSON, specification JSON, XLSX, HTML, CSV and PDF. Open the exported file and compare the expression, counts and table values with the original result.
Keep calculated facts separate from the reasons you wrote
QuickPLS can record the source data, membership settings, thresholds and calculated results. The reason a particular crossover makes sense must come from your study and subject knowledge. If an explanation is missing, add the actual reason to the saved study notes. Selecting Report-time study notes captures that revision when the report is prepared; it does not make those notes an earlier record written before the calculation.
A robustness appendix should keep every planned scenario and its actual status, including empty or unsuccessful attempts. Reopen the saved report and compare the selected analysis and several numerical values with the original result. The saved report keeps its original selected evidence when later calculations or notes change.
Think of a saved report as an account of one selected analysis and the explanations captured with it. If you need to report a later calculation or revised explanation, prepare a new report from the intended selections. A changed title alone does not change which calculation the report describes.
On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Output | How to read it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Selected calculation and solution | Check the saved calculation, outcome presence or absence, solution family and alternative. | The report presents the saved calculation; it does not calculate a new result. |
| Core/peripheral pairing | Use these labels only for a compatible intermediate/parsimonious pair. | Some specialist methods do not provide this comparison. Similar-looking expressions are insufficient. |
| Reasons for analysis choices | Explain the set definitions, calibration, cutoffs and which cases you included or excluded. | These reasons must come from your study and subject knowledge. |
| Robustness appendix and export | Keep the compatible plan, every scenario outcome and the exported report together. | Report JSON, specification JSON, XLSX, HTML, CSV and PDF are supported. SVG and PNG reports are not offered. |
Report one identifiable delivery analysis
A useful report lets a colleague understand the study without opening every app screen. Connect the question to the data, case decisions, settings, selected expression and supporting observations. A table of fit values alone does not explain what was analysed or why.
Open fsqca_guided_study.qpls and choose Existing memberships: explicit crossover and missing-case decisions. Select the membership result, not the raw-score logistic result in the same project. A means capacity, B reach, C coordination and Y delivery for this exercise. These are synthetic teaching cases, so the example paragraphs are not findings about actual organisations.
Collect the facts and the reasons before opening the builder
Identify the original ten-case file. The baseline excludes m09, where A = 0.5, and m10, where B is missing, leaving m01 to m08. It uses existing memberships, frequency 1, consistency 0.80 and PRI 0.50, with no contradiction band. Save those decisions and their reasons with the study so readers can see which observations and rules produced the expression.
Choose the actual solution family and complete alternative you intend to discuss. Keep alternatives separate instead of joining their preferred pathways. If you add notes after reading the result, describe them as explanations written at that stage. Do not make a report-time note sound like a decision documented before analysis.
Build and verify the delivery report
Before choosing Prepare report, confirm that Primary saved result identifies the membership calculation, Primary solution identifies the complete expression and Report-time study notes selects the revision containing your explanation. A report prepared without that note selection cannot contain the reasons you intended to include.
Select the membership calculation
Select the completed existing-membership result in fsqca_guided_study.qpls and choose Build research report. Confirm its A/B/C conditions, Y outcome, eight included cases and baseline thresholds. In the builder select it as Primary saved result and select its Report study.
What you should see: The selected calculation is the intended membership baseline.
How to read it: A report inherits that result’s settings.
Choose the exact solution
Choose Load primary solution choices and select the intended complete alternative under Primary solution. Check its family and A*B + A*C expression against the membership result before preparing the report. Read its pathways and cases in the result or in Investigate solutions.
What you should see: The chosen family and solution identify one complete alternative.
How to read it: Avoid mixing its rows with another solution.
Save and select the explanation
Under the study's Research question and Set definitions and research decisions, explain the set meanings, existing memberships, exclusions and thresholds. Save the revision, return to the builder and select it under Report-time study notes. Separate original choices from later observations.
What you should see: The saved explanation refers to that alternative and its cases.
How to read it: Review the wording before including it.
Prepare and save the report
Choose Prepare report. If you include a supported Robustness appendix, select the compatible saved plan and retain every planned status. Check the prepared content, then choose Save research report.
What you should see: The report selection includes the intended settings, tables and case explanation.
How to read it: Check the saved definition.
Export the format you need
Use Export saved report with HTML, XLSX, CSV or PDF, or retain report JSON and specification JSON for structured records. If the export cannot replace an existing file, choose a clear new destination name.
What you should see: The export format matches the intended use.
How to read it: Keep an editable report as well as the final sharing format where needed.
Read the saved output
Reopen the report and an exported file. Check the selected expression, case counts, decimal precision and readable tables. Confirm that the explanation makes sense without relying on what you remember from the session.
What you should see: The saved output opens and contains the selected material.
How to read it: Check labels, complete tables and outcome direction before sharing.
Check overlap before rounding the coverage values
The eight included binary cases produce A*B + A*C. Each pathway covers two of the three successful cases and has one successful case that the other pathway does not cover. Raw coverage is 2/3 and unique coverage is 1/3 for each pathway. The union, or combined expression, has consistency 1 and coverage 1. These counts can be checked by hand and agree with the existing saved membership result.
At three decimal places, use 0.667 and 0.333. Rounded values may not reproduce every exact arithmetic relationship, so keep the fractions or sufficient precision available. The larger issue is overlap: m08 belongs to both pathways. Adding 0.667 and 0.667 counts that case twice and does not give solution coverage. Explain the shared case beside the table.
Use the cases to explain the expression
Case m06 belongs only to A*C, m07 only to A*B and m08 to both pathways. Case m05 has capacity but lacks reach and coordination and is unsuccessful. It shows why capacity alone is broader than the selected solution. These few case observations explain the expression more clearly than repeating every table cell in prose.
Verify the lesson’s numbers against memberships.csv and the matching saved membership result. The report and any result image must identify that example. A counterfactual builder or a different eight-case dataset cannot verify the delivery report’s selected calculation.
Use the reporting details required by the actual method
Different fsQCA workflows need different explanations. A counterfactual report needs the assumptions used to simplify unobserved combinations and the selected solution families. A necessity report needs the expression tested as a requirement and its necessity fit. Panel diagnostics need the chosen group or period targets and subgroup information. Core/peripheral labels need the supported intermediate/parsimonious pair; do not add them to a method that does not provide that comparison.
A multiple-outcome plan contains separate outcome calculations. Prepare reports from those individual completed results rather than inventing one combined result for the queue. Expanded fsQCA has its own reporting scope too. It does not acquire an ordinary robustness appendix merely because its research question sounds similar.
Fix the selection or export issue before sharing
If a report looks wrong, first check the selected calculation, expression and saved note revision. Then inspect precision, overlapping pathways and the chosen export. The actions below keep the explanation connected to the right evidence without changing the original numbers to fit the page.
On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Problem | What to inspect | Action |
|---|---|---|
| The report shows an old result | The selected saved calculation and alternative | Prepare a new report from the intended calculation; changing the title is insufficient. |
| A PDF cannot render a character | The reported font or glyph problem | Use a supported alternative such as HTML while preserving the original analysis text and values. |
| Saving to an existing filename fails | Whether the export can replace an existing file | Choose a clear new filename and reopen that saved output. |
| Pathway coverage appears inconsistent | Overlap and rounding precision | Explain shared cases and compare unrounded values before concluding that the output disagrees. |
| A requested appendix is unavailable | Whether the method and plan support that appendix | Report the specialist evidence in its supported form rather than attaching an unrelated plan. |
Give readers a compact record they can check
Use the Methods example to describe the included cases and analysis settings. Pair it with a small Results table that names the expression, shows pathway and combined fit separately, identifies the shared case and states where the numbers came from.
| Report item | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Dataset and included cases | memberships.csv; m01 to m08 included |
| Selected expression | A* |
| Pathway fit | Each: consistency 1, raw coverage 0.667, unique coverage 0.333 |
| Combined fit | Consistency 1; coverage 1 |
| Shared case | m08 |
| Numerical origin | Hand counts and the existing saved membership result |
Example Methods paragraph
We analysed eight included cases from a ten-case synthetic dataset after explicit crossover and incomplete-case exclusions. A, B and C were used as existing memberships, with Y as the outcome. The saved baseline used frequency 1, consistency 0.80 and PRI 0.50. We inspected the selected complete solution and its uniquely and jointly covered cases.
Read the finished report as someone new to the study
A Results paragraph could read: Capacity combined with reach or coordination covered all three successful teaching cases. Each pathway had consistency 1, raw coverage 0.667 and unique coverage 0.333. Both covered m08. The complete solution had consistency and coverage of 1 among the included synthetic cases. This describes the observed relationship without claiming that it proves causation or will generalise to other settings.
After saving, check whether a colleague can identify the data, understand the exclusions, locate the selected complete expression and repeat the simple coverage counts. If an explanation depends on remembering what happened during your session, add it to the saved study notes and prepare the report with that revision.
- Check the title, selected result and actual saved destination.
- Keep the CSV and saved project with the report.
- Explain shared cases and the displayed rounding.
- State where the numerical example came from.
- Reopen an exported file and check that its tables are readable.
Use the export and report type that fit the analysis
Write the research rationale from your own study. These table-based reports offer the listed document and data formats; they do not offer SVG or PNG report exports. For a plan with multiple outcomes, prepare a report from each individual completed result.
Prepare a report from the supplied teaching result
Open a copy of the Outcomes and robustness project and choose a saved result. Practise explaining its case choices and settings. The outputs were created with the 1.03.07 sample programme and are synthetic teaching examples, not a new Store calculation or a journal-data replication. Keep the original project so you can return to the starting result.