Ragin, C. Reflections on casing and case-oriented research. In D. Byrne & C. Ragin (Eds.), Handbook of case-based methods (pp. 522–534). London: Sage.

Ragin reflects on the key issues raised in this handbook, noting the frequently observed link between a case orientation and a realist orientation, the complexity of cases acting in social systems, the need to recognise the heterogeneity of cases in a population by considering typologies of cases and ‘negative cases’ – and indeed, the importance of including negative cases within a study. In the process he briefly introduces and explains the rationale for qualitative comparative analysis – a case-based, hybrid mixed methods approach to comparative and causal analysis that he initiated, now widely used.