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Why did behavioralists use statistics and quantitative data?

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Rubbing of Chinese philosopher Confucius in traditional robes with a long beard, based on a design attributed to Wu Tao-hsuan, with Chinese characters above and beside the figure. — political science Stone rubbing (19th century?) of Confucius from a design attributed to Wu Daoxuan (flourished 700–760 CE).

Behavioralists in political science utilized statistics and quantitative data to transform the discipline into a more rigorous, scientific field of study. Their primary objective was to limit the subject matter of political science to phenomena that are independently observable and quantifiable, thereby discarding intuition in favor of empirical observation.1

By applying methodologies from the social sciences—primarily psychology—behavioralists sought to establish statistical relationships between independent variables (presumed causes) and dependent variables (presumed effects). This approach allowed them to move beyond the "traditionalist" reliance on anecdotes, historical analogies, and philosophy, aiming instead to discover general laws of human behavior.12

Key applications of this quantitative focus included:
* Election Studies: Analyzing public opinion and voting patterns to understand party identification and the social bases of politics.1
* Comparative Analysis: Using cross-national data to examine the interaction between social divisions—such as class, religion, and region—and political systems.1
* Institutional Research: Quantifying factors like corruption or the relationship between a country's affluence and its political structure.1

Ultimately, behavioralists believed that only through such quantified studies could political science achieve the precision and verifiability characteristic of the natural sciences.12