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This paper first provides a brief overview of the history and current usage of the concept of competence in academic research, and then undertakes a critical discussion of how the term is currently used in educational policy. The running example used throughout the paper is competence in foreign language learning. The PISA study is discussed to demonstrate how the concept of competence has come to prominence in the international discourse on education in recent years. Following this, particular attention is given to the situation in Germany where there has been a shift towards competence as an aim of teaching in recent years, coupled with an increased focus on standards and accountability. The relationship between competence and standards is examined critically, since some authors appear to use the two interchangeably whether or not this is justified. Finally, the Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) and a German curriculum document are examined critically with regard to their use of the concept of competence.

Can we explain individual outcomes by referring to patterns observed in populations? Social scientists generally assume that we can, at least to a certain degree, and they study populations partly with that goal in mind. However, while patterns can be observed on the population level, which suggest that, on average, certain segments of the population are more likely to experience some outcome, it is impossible, on the individual level, to predict who will actually experience the outcome, even if the individual's relevant characteristics are known. Thus, an interesting tension emerges: on the one hand, individual action and experience produces population-level patterns, while on the other hand, individual experience appears to be 'inherently underdetermined' and partly or largely due to luck or chance. Accordingly, this article considers the relationship between regularities and individual outcomes and to what extent it is desirable to construct models which can explain all the variance in outcomes, and the roles of true chance and what one might call 'as-if' chance in this. An empirical demonstration based on ALLBUS data explores these issues further. It uses the example of the graduate premium to discuss that, while there is a pattern where, on average, graduates earn more than non-graduates, there is a certain degree of individual-level deviation from this pattern (even after taking account of other relevant factors) which is partly due to chance. Patterns identified in data can provide the upper and lower bounds within which chance plays its part. The article closes with a discussion of implications for research and policy, and for the understanding of research findings by the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Causal asymmetry is a situation where the causal factors under study are more suitable for explaining the outcome than its absence (or vice versa); they do not explain both equally well. In such a situation, presence of a cause leads to presence of the effect, but absence of the cause may not lead to absence of the effect. A conceptual discussion is followed by the empirical example of gaining a degree (or not), comparing the methods logistic regression and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). While logistic regression, being based on correlational analysis and thus assuming symmetric relationships between variables, does not lend itself automatically to detecting causal asymmetry, it can be used to bring out asymmetry nevertheless. QCA, on the other hand, uncovers asymmetry, if present, by default. The closing recommendation is for researchers to be more aware of the possibility of asymmetry existing, regardless of the particular method employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss a recent development in the set theoretic analysis of data sets characterized by limited diversity. Ragin, in developing his Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), developed a standard analysis that produces parsimonious, intermediate, and complex Boolean solutions of truth tables. Schneider and Wagemann argue this standard analysis procedure is problematic and develop an enhanced standard analysis (ESA). We show, by developing Schneider and Wagemann's discussion of Stokke's work on fisheries conservation and by discussing a second illustrative truth table, that ESA has problematic features. We consider how scholars might proceed in the face of these problems, considering the relations between limited diversity and the different methods of reducing truth tables instantiated in Ragin's QCA and Baumgartner's Coincidence Analysis.

Ragin's Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is often used with small to medium samples where the researcher has good case knowledge. Employing it to analyse large survey datasets, without in-depth case knowledge, raises new challenges. We present ways of addressing these challenges. We first report a single QCA result from a configurational analysis of the British National Child Development Study dataset (highest educational qualification as a set theoretic function of social class, sex and ability). We then address the robustness of our analysis by employing Dusa and Thiem's R QCA package to explore the consequences of (i) changing fuzzy set theoretic calibrations of ability, (ii) simulating errors in measuring ability and (iii) changing thresholds for assessing the quasi-sufficiency of causal configurations for educational achievement. We also consider how the analysis behaves under simulated re-sampling, using bootstrapping. The paper offers suggested methods to others wishing to use QCA with large n data.

We investigate the relations between gender, parental education, ability, and educational achievement in Britain, focusing on the way in which gender and parental education interact with ability to contribute to a pupil's obtaining secondary school qualifications. This allows us to provide evidence relevant to claims concerning the effects of differences in the way in which working- and middle-class familial cultures interact with gender-specific behaviour in school. Given the configurational nature of the processes likely to be involved, we employ Ragin's Qualitative Comparative Analysis as our method. We find that, in both academically selective and non-selective schools, high ability is a quasi-sufficient condition for obtaining certain levels of qualification, but that at lower levels of ability, either being female or having highly educated parents (or both) have to be present, too. Boys without highly educated parents perform less well than girls from a similar background. (Contains 2 figures, 4 tables and 19 notes.)

Selective and comprehensive school systems vary in both the degree and timing of selection. To study the consequences of such variation, cross-national comparisons are usually undertaken. Given that cultural differences between countries affect pathways and outcomes, apportioning causal influence in such studies can be difficult. In 1970s Britain, selective and comprehensive systems coexisted. This enables us to compare the influences of organisational arrangements without the complication of national cultural differences. We analyse, for children of various abilities, while taking account of gender and class, the effect on achievement of experiencing comprehensive or selective schooling. Assuming that contextual and individual factors work conjuncturally in producing outcomes, we employ Ragin's configurational Qualitative Comparative Analysis. By treating cases in the National Child Development Study as configurations of factors, we are able to analyse the sufficient and necessary conditions for achievement. We find that system differences affect only some high-ability children's educational outcomes. (Contains 9 notes, 3 figures and 11 tables.)

This paper investigates the respective roles of substantive and procedural understanding with regard to students' ability to carry out an open-ended science investigation. The research is a case study centred on an intervention in which undergraduate initial teacher training students are taught the basic building blocks of procedural understanding. They are then put in the position of solving a practical open-ended investigation. We report on the detail of their approaches and draw on recent papers in which the data are subjected to analysis using Qualitative Comparative Analysis techniques. We conclude that having been taught about evidence has contributed to the successful performance of the investigation; that students' greatest improvement was in their understanding of ideas associated with datasets; and that students were able to apply the ideas to work more iteratively in response to data in the investigation. We consider the possible curriculum implications of this exploratory work. (Contains 5 tables, 4 figures and 3 notes.)

We examine the respective roles of substantive understanding (i.e., understanding of factual knowledge, concepts, laws and theories) and procedural understanding (an understanding of ideas about evidence; concepts such as reliability and validity, measurement and calibration, data collection, measurement error, the ability to interpret evidence and the like) required to carry out an open-ended science investigation. Our chosen method of analysis is Charles Ragin's Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis which we introduce in the paper. Comparing the performance of undergraduate students on two investigation tasks which differ with regard to the amount of substantive content, we demonstrate that both substantive understanding and an understanding of ideas about evidence are jointly involved in carrying out such tasks competently. It might be expected that substantive knowledge is less important when carrying out an investigation with little substantive demand. However, we find that the contribution of substantive understanding and an understanding of ideas about evidence is remarkably similar for both tasks. We discuss possible reasons for our findings.

Both substantive (i.e. factual knowledge, concepts, laws and theories) and procedural knowledge (understanding and applying concepts such as reliability and validity, measurement and calibration, data collection, measurement error, the ability to interpret evidence and the like) are involved in carrying out an open-ended science investigation. There is some debate as to whether procedural understanding is of little importance compared to substantive understanding or whether--and this is the view we take--procedural ideas can and should be taught explicitly. We present here findings from a study of undergraduate students who took a module which specifically taught procedural ideas. We employ an innovative method, Charles Ragin's Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), which involves the analysis of necessary and sufficient conditions and conjunctions of causes. Findings from a comparison of the students' performance before and after the teaching and from QCA imply that procedural understanding was indeed a necessary condition for carrying out an open-ended investigation. It was also sufficient when combined with either substantive understanding, prior attainment or both. (Contains 9 tables, 3 figures, and 9 notes.)

School systems may be usefully characterized according to Turner's proposed ideal types of sponsored and contest mobility. Germany is a critical case with respect to this typology because its secondary school system is stratified and selective, and yet it offers the opportunity for upward and downward mobility. Drawing on an analysis of a German longitudinal dataset, this paper addresses the question of flexibility or rigidity of the school system, exploring the ways in which factors other than pupils' ability influence selection processes within that system. Both academic ability and ascriptive factors act together to facilitate or hinder changes of academic routes within the school system. The methodological focus of the paper is on the introduction to an innovative method, Charles Ragin's Qualitative Comparative Analysis, a method based on set theory. It involves the identification of necessary and sufficient conditions for a given outcome, taking conjunctions of causal conditions into account. (Contains 2 figures, 12 tables, and 11 notes.)

In the labour market, formal qualifications--both school and vocational or university degrees--are of increasing importance. This may be especially true in Germany, where formal qualifications are highly valued. Dropping out of vocational or university training is therefore regarded as a risk for young people in the process of entering the labour market. In the present paper, two questions are being addressed: (1) Who are the young adults who are at risk of dropping out? (2) What happens to them, i.e. do they get a chance to resume their education and if so, who is more likely to do so? Using a longitudinal perspective, both individual factors such as scholastic achievement, intelligence or motivation and structural factors pertaining to the education system are taken into account. Both kinds of influencing factors are shown to contribute to the likelihood of dropping out and starting again.

Abstract Background Severe traumatic stressors such as war, rape, or life-threatening accidents can result in a debilitating psychopathological development conceptualised as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Pathological memory formation during an alarm response may set the precondition for PTSD to occur. If true, a lack of memory formation by extended unconsciousness in the course of the traumatic experience should preclude PTSD. Methods 46 patients from a neurological rehabilitation clinic were examined by means of questionnaires and structured clinical interviews. All patients had suffered a TBI due to an accident, but varied with respect to falling unconscious during the traumatic event. Results 27% of the sub-sample who were not unconscious for an extended period but only 3% (1 of 31 patients) who were unconscious for more than 12 hours as a result of the accident were diagnosed as having current PTSD (P < .02). Furthermore, intrusive memories proved to be far more frequent in patients who had not been unconscious. This was also the case for other re-experiencing symptoms and for psychological distress and physiological reactivity to reminders of the traumatic event. Conclusion TBI and PTSD are not mutually exclusive. However, victims of accidents are unlikely to develop a PTSD if the impact to the head had resulted in an extended period of unconsciousness.