1 International Encyclopedia of Political Science Entry: Quantitative Methodologies Author: John S. Ahlquist Category: Qualitative/Quantitative Methods Class: CA Actual Word Count: 2811 words Quantitative Methodologies Quantitative analysis in political science is about assigning numbers to observed events in the political world and then using the rules of mathematics, probability, and statistics to make statements about the world we live in. Quantitative analysis enables not just precise identification of the relationships between events but also statements about our uncertainty surrounding these relationships. As must be apparent from the term “event,” this type of analysis relies on some level of abstraction. Quantitative analysis is based on the notion that we can consider unique events as being instances of more generic variables. For example, individual transactions can be lumped into “imports,” voters’ opinions can be compared based on their responses to survey questions, and violent conflict between two groups in two different places and times can be treated as two instances of “war.” With the rapid growth of computing power and development of large scale datasets over the last sixty years, quantitative analysis has migrated from being the domain of a few scholars working in specific areas such as voter behavior or public opinion to its current position at the heart of empirical political science in all major subfields. Quantitative analysis is distinct from formal modeling. Formal models are self- contained exercises designed to identify the consequences of a set of assumptions using the rules of mathematics and formal logic. Formal models and quantitative analysis frequently complement one another and coexist in specific scholarly works. Both use the language of mathematics but only quantitative analysis involves the creation and analysis of numerical data from the observable world.