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Yep, consistency is the key to good testing. Ballistic gel is valuable in eliminating variables. As said, the path of a bullet in a defensive shooting crosses multiple interfaces of cloth, skin, fat, muscle, and often bone. It is probably fair to say that no two bullets ever take the exact same path. Ballistic gel standardizes the bullet's path and resistance, so it makes for valid comparisons.
Quantifying stopping power itself would seem to be impossible because of the multiplicity of variables. Ballistic gel shows the potential for penetration and expansion of a round under ideal conditions. It is one factor for consideration, but not the only thing to think about. Real world results are also worth consideration, too, as long as part of your consideration is the realization that variables in the path, pain, psychological effects, vasculature, and so on are not controlled in such retrospective data.
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