beurteilung

Beurteilung is a German noun that denotes evaluation, appraisal, or judgment. It refers to the act or result of forming an assessment about a person, object, fact, or situation based on evidence, criteria, or standards. The term is widely used across different contexts to describe an evaluative process and its outcome.

In education, Beurteilung often means feedback on a student's performance, sometimes accompanying a grade. It can include qualitative comments about strengths and weaknesses in addition to or instead of numerical marks. In the workplace, Beurteilung is used for performance reviews and competence assessments, with Beurteilungsbogen or Beurteilungsskalen serving as tools to document evaluations.

In medicine, psychology, and social work, Beurteilung refers to clinical or professional appraisal of a patient’s condition, risk factors, or prognosis. In legal or administrative settings, it can denote an expert appraisal of facts or a decision-maker’s assessment of evidence. Beurteilung also appears in research and quality control, where it describes the appraisal of data, processes, or products against established criteria.

Quality and reliability are central to Beurteilung. Well-founded Beurteilung relies on explicit criteria, standardized procedures, and, when possible, multiple raters to reduce subjectivity and bias. Consequently, Beurteilung is closely linked to concepts such as Bewertung (evaluation) and Einschätzung (estimation); it is distinct from a formal Urteil (verdict), which is a binding legal decision.