NEST Tool

Instruction

Use results of the NCA and QCA analyses as input to the tool. The tool produces the NEST table. An internet connection is required for downloading as PNG or PDF. The tool may not work on all platforms (contact us if you encounter a problem). The backgrounds of the NEST tool are described in Section 11.5 “NCA with QCA” in Dul, J. (2026), Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA): Principles and Application. Chapman & Hall / CRC Press.

Outcome

Outcome name (in title)

Direction

Table title

Conditions & necessity

	capitals only
#	Name	Necessary (NCA)?	Necessity level

Configurations (intermediate solution)

Use * ("and") between conditions, ¬X or ~X for absence.

#	Core	Contributory

Configuration fit

Comma-separated, one value per S1, S2, …

Consistency

Raw coverage

Unique coverage

Solution fit

Solution consistency

Solution coverage

Demo data from: Emmenegger, P. (2011). Job security regulations in Western democracies: A fuzzy set analysis. European Journal of Political Research, 50(3), 336–364.

▼ How to produce a publication-quality table

For a publication-quality table, click Download .R and run the script in an R Markdown (.Rmd) document in RStudio. This produces a LaTeX table with vector text and correct formatting. Required packages: knitr and kableExtra. A LaTeX installation is needed (e.g. TinyTeX: tinytex::install_tinytex()). Paste the script as a code chunk with options echo = FALSE, results = 'asis'. The PNG and PDF download buttons produce raster previews only, suitable for presentations but not for journal submission.