[H-GG03] ⾃然資源・環境に関する地球科学と社会科学の対話

[HGG03-P04] Causal complexity in Tanzanian smallholder decision-making: Cases in Human Geography

*上田 元¹、イブラヒム ザキア・イッディ² (1.一橋大学・大学院社会学研究科、2.ダルエスサラーム大学)

キーワード：質的比較分析、意思決定、小農、タンザニア

In social sciences, a set-theoretic approach called Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) has been employed to illuminate “causal complexity” defined in terms of conjunctural causation, equifinality, and causal asymmetry (Rihoux and Ragin 2009: 8; Schneider and Wagemann 2012: 8): “cases are seen as configurations that entail various combinations of conditions (conjunctural causation)”, “outcomes can be reached through multiple, different pathways (equifinality)”, and “outcome and nonoutcome may require different explanations (causal asymmetry)” (Mello 2021: xv, 1-2). QCA can analyse both qualitative and quantitative data: for the latter, it calibrates them into fuzzy set membership scores. QCA prompts us to shift attention from a single understanding of social reality towards potential plural paths of causality: it is therefore different from multiple regression analysis, or more generally, Generalized Linear Models (GLM) and Structural Equation Models (SEM). An example shown in this presentation is the case of smallholders’ trial of improved wheat cultivation in Makete District, Njombe Region, Tanzania, as one of the alternative livelihood elements for tree-growing farmers in changing circumstances after the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian War. The study hopefully encourages mutual understanding between Earth and Social Sciences on the issue of causality and its explanation.


References

Mello, Patrick A. 2021. Qualitative Comparative Analysis: An Introduction to Research Design and Application. Georgetown University Press.

Rihoux B. and Charles C. Ragin (ed). 2009. Configurational Comparative Methods: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques. SAGE publication.

Schneider, Carsten Q. and Wagemann, Claudius. 2007. Set-Theoretic Methods for the Social Sciences: A Guide to Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Cambridge University Press.