Abstract
Introduction: Through data analysis of the literature we aim to answer the central question that fills a gap in the literature: Do the methods used to interpret political behaviour in Southern Europe lead to homogeneous results for the political attitudes? Methods: For this systematic review, we searched PubMed, Scopus, Heal-link, Register PROSPERO, and forward and backward citations for studies published between databases inceptions and May 30, 2024. We included studies reporting on political science and quantitative methods, without date or country restriction. We planned to extract results on studies' reporting on the impact of quantitative methods on political behavior. We used the open-source software KNIME. We ranked the studies according to their characteristics. Main findings: We classified the variables for voting behavior, quantitative analysis and we performed cluster analysis and sorted the variables for the different methods of quantitative analysis. We performed a cluster analysis and classified the studies into 3 categories. The studies using Quantitative Analysis in the interpretation of political behavior positively correlate the use of quantitative methods by using correlation with p-value (p = 0.985, < 0.015) and negative Methodology variables of quantitative analysis with the extent of using quantitative methods (p=-0.962,<0.038) and the reporting of political behaviour in the findings using quantitative method in which a p-value correlation is used (p=-0.908, < 0.092). The studies show that the application of quantitative research is usually done using correlation analysis, but the application this recedes in studies of general quantitative behaviour. Discussion: Clustering of the studies showed that studies were classified into three categories. The heterogeneity in the studies is due to the variation in their targeting. Future growth of studies in the region will lead to a reassessment of the situation. Conclusions: A heterogeneity in methodology was found among the included studies. Although the studies used the quantitative methods in a similar way, variations in the independent variables lead the studies to different conclusions. The survey question was answered in negatively: studies using quantitative analysis to explain political behaviour are not homogeneous. The social impact and the contribution of research to political decision-making is important.