UWA Handbook 2025

Major Overview

Description

Note: this major is only available to re-enrolling students.

Quantitative methods are used in a variety of subject areas such as science, economics, marketing, engineering, medicine, public health, psychology, education and sport. An increasing number of industries use quantitative reasoning for improving product and service quality, increasing efficiency in the workplace, and assessing their growth strategies. This major has a full, structured curriculum that provides you with practical, interdisciplinary research skills based on sound disciplinary foundations. The units are designed to empower you by ensuring you develop a broad range of skills and abilities that you will find useful and relevant to your own interests.

Outcomes

Students are able to:

1. appreciate different possible approaches and tools for quantitative problem solving
2. acquire a broad range of basic quantitative and computational techniques in the context of real applications
3. understand the meaning and interpretation of basic quantitative methods
4. suggest a method of solution when presented with an quantitative problem
5. select the most appropriate technique when presented with two alternative techniques for solving a quantitative problem
6. recognise which technique is being applied when presented with a step-by-step description of a quantitative technique
7. select and apply basic quantitative and computational techniques, in practice, on a broad range of real data
8. write succinct interpretations of the results, identify correct and incorrect interpretations, and identify the most appropriate statistical graphic supporting the conclusion when presented with the results of a quantitative technique
9. extract key information relevant to a quantitative problem from various kinds of material (written documents, video recordings, role-playing interactions); (10) express specified quantitative information in language appropriate to a specified audience; (11) explain in lay terms the meaning of a computer output or statistical calculation; (12) identify obvious flaws in the presentation of quantitative information in newspaper and TV reports; and (13) recognise basic features and key results of quantitative analysis presented in scientific literature.

Broadening guidelines

All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and interests. Many of you will be able to undertake more than this minimum amount of broadening study and we encourage you to do so if this suits your aspirations. Over the next few months you will find here some broadening suggestions related to your degree-specific major. While we know that many students value guidance of this sort, these are only suggestions and students should not lose sight of the opportunity to explore that is afforded by your Broadening Choices. Advice can also be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.

Courses

Quantitative Methods can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:

• BP004 Bachelor of Science
• BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)

Units