ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a range of important scope conditions that delineate the scope of the empirical analysis. It presents the resulting pool of rampage shootings and provides some descriptive information. The chapter overviews the methodological approach. It includes a short introduction to the terminology, epistemology and technique of (fuzzy set) Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The chapter also presents arguments on why the method is considered useful for the analysis of politicization, but not equally helpful for the evaluation of the theoretical expectations on policy change. The scope conditions pertain to the characteristics of the unit of analysis as well as the geographical and temporal focus of the study. The chapter presents only the rampage shootings which occurred in Western Europe. However, in order to arrive at a good understanding of the political reactions of rampage shootings in the US, it would be necessary to investigate cross-level interactions within the same country.
