Quantitative revolution

A mid-20th-century movement in geography that promoted mathematical models and statistical methods to explain spatial patterns and processes.

Spatial analysis: The study of geographic patterns and relationships through the locations and attributes of phenomena. It names the broader analytical practice the movement made central to geography.
Regional geography: The study of distinctive regions through their physical and human characteristics. Its idiographic emphasis was a central foil for the movement’s search for general spatial laws.
William Garrison: An American geographer who helped establish quantitative spatial analysis at the University of Washington. His research group trained scholars who spread quantitative methods across the discipline.
Quantitative geography: A branch of geography that uses mathematical and statistical methods to analyze spatial phenomena. It is the methodological practice most directly associated with the movement.
Spatial science: The scientific study of spatial structures and processes using formal theories and analytical methods. The movement helped establish spatial science as a lasting identity for geography.
Spatial interaction: The movement of people, goods, or information between locations. Interaction models explained flows between places using distance and other measurable factors.
Hartshorne–Schaefer debate: A dispute over whether geography should describe unique regions or seek general spatial laws. The debate articulated a disciplinary divide that preceded the quantitative turn.
Brian Berry: An American geographer known for quantitative studies of cities, central places, and spatial structure. His work made statistical analysis and urban modeling influential examples of the movement.
Humanistic geography: An approach to geography emphasizing lived experience, meaning, and human attachment to place. It challenged models that treated places and people as abstract variables.
Location theory: The study of how economic activities choose locations and organize across space. Formal location models became a major research program after the quantitative turn.

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