Quantitative history

Quantitative history is an approach to historical research that makes use of quantitative, statistical and computer tools. It is considered a branch of social science history and has favorite journals, such as Historical Methods, Social Science History, and the Journal of Interdisciplinary History. The field grew out of quantitative work in demography, political science, sociology and economic history, and flourished in the 1960s and 1970s. Today it occupies a small upstairs room in the historiography mansion.

Data bases: social and political

Quantitative historians start with data bases. Large quantities of economic and demographic data are available in print format. The quantifiers held move these into computerized data bases. The largest repository is the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan, which provides access to an extensive collection of downloadable political and social data for the U.S. and the world.

Data bases: economic

The economic historians have access to major data sets, especially those collected by governments since the 1920s. Historians of slavery have used census data, sales receipts and price information to reconstruct the economic history of slavery.

Content analysis is a technique borrowed from journalism research whereby newspapers, magazines or similar sources are numerically coded according to a standardized list of topics.

Political history

Quantifiers study topics like voting behavior of groups in elections, the roll call behavior of legislators, public opinion distribution, and the occurrence rate of wars and legislation. 'Collective biography uses standardized information on a large group to deduce patterns of thought and behavior.

New social history

The "new social historians" (new in the 1960s) use Census data and other data sets to study entire populations. Topics include demographic issues such as population growth rates, rates of birth, death, marriage and disease, occupational and education distributions, and migrations and population changes.

An especially challenging technique is linking names ("nominal record linkage") of the same person whose information appears in multiple source such as censuses, city directories, employment files and voting registration lists.