Mathematics
Qualitative Comparative Analysis for Small-N Cross-National Studies
Quick fact
QCA allows a systematic comparison of a handful of cases by reducing each country to a set of yes/no or partial memberships, then using Boolean logic to identify which configurations of conditions consistently produce an outcome, revealing multiple pathways that a linear regression would overlook.
Why this is interesting
What if you could compare only a dozen countries and still uncover which combination of conditions leads to peace or conflict? Traditional statistics would throw up its hands, but Qualitative Comparative Analysis thrives in exactly this situation.