What are quantitative skills?

Quantitative skills are techniques and strategies utilized to manipulate numbers. These skills help to make sense of numerical, ordinal, or categorical data and scientific concepts.

Economics, statistics, algebra, finance, and business all utilize quantitative skills. These skills can often be used in almost every discipline.

Quantitative skills are objective, they are grounded in numbers, and they are measurable, as opposed to qualitative skills, which are more subjective, and though they can be measured, they are not backed up by hard data. Quantitative skill sets are also more easily developed than qualitative skill sets.

Here are some descriptions of quantitative skills:

• Math skills

Math skills involve non-verbal and verbal elements. These skills are particularly useful in professions in the industries of finance and accounting.

Some common math skills include number sense, measurement estimation, spatial sense, representation, approximation, analysis and pattern recognition, applied mathematics, critical thinking and problem-solving, and computational skills.

More advanced math skills also include quick calculation abilities, information organization, and mathematical inductive and deductive reasoning.

• Scientific skills

Scientific skills have to do with the understanding of the natural world and the changes made by human developments and other activities. Scientific skills are utilized to identify questions and seek to provide answers to them. Here you can make decisions and postulate conclusions based on logical facts.

Some common scientific skills include observation, measurement, communication, and prediction. Science-related roles involve the practical application of these skills in things like controlling variables, outlining and defining operations, generating hypotheses, evaluating data, conducting experiments, and creating models.

• Survey skills

Survey skills can be employed when gathering qualitative information for analysis. This is a research technique for accumulating data learning for different functions by posing the same question to a large group of individuals. These people might be related in some form, such as common professions or blood type, or may not be related in any unique way.

Some survey skills include developing questionnaires or surveys, making sample forms, and developing other procedures for standard surveying processes.

The ultimate goal of surveying is to gather unbiased data from people. Other common survey skills include critical thinking, active listening, reading comprehension skills, problem-solving, decision-making and judgment, system analyzing, evaluation, collaborative skills, coordination, instruction, persuasion, negotiation, and social observation.

Research skills pertain to finding answers to relevant questions in a field or on a specific topic. To do this, you must search out valuable and accurate information sources, collect information or data relevant to a topic, and ultimately evaluate it.

Good organization is key to research skills, as well as a clear definition of your objective and gaining your information through credited sources.

Common research skills include taking notes, attention to detail, writing reports or papers, critical thinking, planning and scheduling, data collection and analysis, data organization, communication and collaborative skills, and problem-solving.

• Analytical skills

Analytical skills have to do with analyzing information, data, or situations. You take in new information and make an informed conclusion to better understand an issue or problem. Good use of analytical skills allows a person to look for the relationships and structures between different kinds of information and from that make conclusions on specific connections or trends.

Common analytical skills include evaluation and decision-making, critical thinking, constructing theories, diagnosing problems or issues, organizing information, searching for information, and making predictions.