Quantitative approaches: Towards comparative and trans-regional approaches in historical international relations

There has been a recent increase in International Relations (IR) research that takes a historical dimension, and quantitative approaches have been a part of that development. In this chapter, we explore the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches, as well as the opportunities, and we examine some of the differences and similarities with other more qualitative methods. We begin by discussing how the topic has been treated to date, and outlining the challenges inherent in quantitative research. We then develop what we see as a space wherein quantitative work can make an important contribution: namely, the move towards a more comparative and trans-regional focus in Historical IR.