Exploring the use of data science and causal empiricism in transitions research: a systematic literature review

Other conference contribution, 2025

In recent decades, the rise of computational social science (CSS) and causal empiricism (CE) have triggered revolutions in methodology and research design in the social sciences. Literature reviews of, and perspectives on methods in, transitions research, on the other hand, reveal a research field that is dominated by qualitative methods. We do a systematic literature review to look deeper at how quantitative empirical methods, including not only CSS and CE, but also traditional statistics, have been used in transitions research, examining 106 quantitative articles. Our initial results show (1) a difference in the ways CSS is used compared to more traditional statistics and (2) that CE approaches exist but are rare. Considering this, we add to the discussion about methodology and explanation in the field, highlighting examples of innovative uses of data and methods.