In the last 20 to 25 years there has been a growing trend of using quantitative methods and designs in ethnobiological research. The quantitative revolution in ethnobiology has helped to boost its appeal among students and budding researchers as well as its status within the greater scientific community. The benefits of a quantitative approach include: greater methodological rigour; explicit attention to sampling; more reliable data sets; enhanced analytical capabilities; and higher confidence in the research results and conclusions. Moreover, this development has played a big role in expanding the investigative scope of ethnobiological research. In the past, most field studies in ethnobiology had a descriptive focus; they were occupied with compiling lists of locally known or used plants and animals, making collections of specimens and recording their cultural names, classifications, uses and manipulations. By contrast, recent research has had a more analytical orientation, characterized by the careful measurement of selected bio-cultural variables, the statistical representation and analysis of data, the testing of hypotheses about relationships between variables, and occasionally the formulation of models depicting current states or trends of ethnobiological knowledge/behaviour and their causes or conditioning factors. This approach to research has not only advanced our understanding of the specific relationships and importance of the biological world for different cultural groups but also given us a better grasp of how these relationships are patterned or otherwise affected by the larger social and natural environments in which they are situated.