Inschatting

Inschatting is a Dutch noun that refers to a rough judgment or calculation of the size, value, probability, or severity of something, based on available information and experience. It is the result of forming an opinion about uncertain quantities, rather than a precise measurement. The related verb inschatten means to estimate, assess, or evaluate.

In practice, inschatting is used in planning, budgeting, risk assessment, and decision-making. For example, people make een inschatting van de kosten (an estimate of the costs) or een inschatting van de reistijd (an estimate of travel time). The phrase een ruwe inschatting wordt vaak gebruikt when the estimate is approximate. In professional contexts, a more formal term might be schatting or raming, depending on the domain.

Nuances exist between inschatting and schatting. Both refer to estimates, but inschatting emphasizes the evaluative process behind forming a judgment, whereas schatting often denotes the resulting figure. Inschatting can be subjective, influenced by experience and bias, and is therefore associated with uncertainty. When precision is needed, methods such as data analysis, probabilistic modeling, or statistical estimation are preferred, and the term inschatting may be supplemented by explicit confidence levels or ranges.

Etymologically, inschatten derives from in + schatten, meaning to place a value on something. Related terms include inschatting, schatting, and raming.