Introduction to Quantitative Approaches for Triangulation in International Relations: A Basic Guide

Abstract

In today’s digital era, information flows through multiple channels and a large amount of data becomes available on a daily basis. Government sources, social media, international organisations, and even business corporations use numerical data to communicate with the general public. The recent devastating global pandemic that affected every part of the world is a typical example of this reality. During the pandemic, each government chose a course of decisions and actions that were made based on statistics. International Relations, an interdisciplinary field of study that combines economics, history, and political science to investigate issues such as global poverty, economic growth rates, globalisation, security, and climate change, also employs mathematical formulae and statistical models to produce specific results. Therefore, quantitative methods for research are a key tool available to scholars, researchers, practitioners, and university students of IR. Under this prism, this article focuses on the importance of quantitative methods for triangulation in IR. Quantitative approaches, such as Game Theory and Statistical Analysis, are vital not just as independent research methodologies, but also as important components of qualitative research in IR. The main argument of this paper is that the choice between qualitative-quantitative research remains vivid among IR scholars. Nonetheless, this appears to be a case of synergy rather than antagonism between the two. Under this scope, this work shall highlight the relevance of quantitative approaches for triangulation in IR qualitative research, providing examples of certain research cases.