-- 12 -- Inductive Reasoning; Marking

TFY C11 Inductive Reasoning,

CRCB C 10 Marking

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TFY Chapter Eleven Inductive Reasoning

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TFY Chapter 11
Analogical Reasoning	Analogical reasoning draws conclusions on the basis of observed correspondences.
Cause	A perceived source or consequence of an event.
Conclusion of an inductive study	To make a generalization about empirical findings that may or may not confirm the hypothesis tested. It also may not be totally certain.
Either-or Fallacy	This fallacy is an argument that oversimplifies a situation, asserting that there are only two choices when actually there are many.
Extrapolation	This is an inference based on an estimated projection of known information.
False Analogy	This fallacy compares two things that may have some similarities but also significant differences that are ignored for the sake of the argument.
Hasty Generalization	This fallacy is a conclusion based on insufficient evidence.
Hypothesis	Hypothesis is a trial idea, tentative explanation, or theory that can be tested and used to further an investigation.
Inconsistencies and Contradictions	This fallacy makes claims that are contradictory or offers evidence that contradicts the conclusion.
Induction	To reason about all members of a class on the basis of an examination of some members of a class.
Infer	To use imagination and reasoning to fill in missing facts. To connect the dots.
Loaded Question	This fallacy uses a biased question that seeks to obtain a predetermined answer.
Opinion	Opinion is a word used to include an unsupported belief, a supported argument, an expert’s judgment, prevailing public sentiment, and a formal statement by a court.
Pattern	A perceived design or form.
Principal claim and reasons	These are the two parts of an argument. The principal claim is the thesis or conclusion. The reasons support this claim through evidence or other claims. A claim is an assertion about something.
Questionable Statistic	This fallacy backs up an argument with statistics that are either unknowable or unsound.
Reasoning through enumeration	This is reasoning through counting. Reasoning draws conclusions or inferences from facts or premises.
Reasoning through Statistics and Probability	This occurs in inductive reasoning. Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, and interpreting numerical data. Probability in statistics estimates the ratio of the number of actual occurrences of a specific event to the total number of possible occurrences.
Reasoning with hypotheses	To conceive a trial idea and use it to implement an investigation.
Slippery Slope	This fallacy is an unwarranted claim that permitting one event to occur will lead to an inevitable and uncontrollable chain reaction.
The empirical or scientific method	The empirical or scientific method is based on observation and experiment.
Thinking	Purposeful mental activity such as reasoning, deciding, judging, believing, supposing, expecting, intending, recalling, remembering, visualizing, imagining, devising, inventing, concentrating, conceiving, considering.

Inductive reasoning is a method used to discover new information or supply missing information. When we reason inductively, we observe, test, and investigate in a systematic manner known as the empirical or scientific method. Exercises and discussion in this chapter show you how induction uses sensory observation, enumeration, analogical reasoning, pattern discovery, causal reasoning, reasoning from hypotheses and through statistics and probability. A short writing application asks you to research some facts and form hypotheses about them. The second half of this chapter treats eight inductive fallacies. Here you will learn how to identify each in turn by studying their definitions, reading examples and achieving an understanding of why they are fallacious.

Overview:

Inductive reasoning, also known as induction or inductive logic, is a type of reasoning that involves moving from a set of specific facts to a general conclusion. It uses premises from objects that have been examined to establish a conclusion about an object that has not been examined

It can also be seen as a form of theory-building, in which specific facts are used to create a theory that explains relationships between the facts and allows prediction of future knowledge. The premises of an inductive logical argument indicate some degree of support (inductive probability) for the conclusion but do not entail it; i.e. they do not ensure its truth.

Induction is used to ascribe properties or relations to types based on an observation instance (i.e., on a number of observations or experiences); or to formulate laws based on limited observations of recurring phenomenal patterns.

Induction is employed, for example, in using specific propositions such as:

This ice is cold. (Or: All ice I have ever touched has been cold.)

This billiard ball moves when struck with a cue. (Or: Of one hundred billiard balls struck with a cue, all of them moved.)

...to infer general propositions such as:
All ice is cold.
All billiard balls move when struck with a cue.

Another example would be:
3+5=8 and eight is an even number. Therefore, an odd number added to another odd number will result in an even number.
Note that mathematical induction is not a form of inductive reasoning. While mathematical induction may be inspired by the non-base cases, the formulation of a base case firmly establishes it as a form of deductive reasoning.

Many philosophers[who?] believe that the ability to use inductive reasoning is essential for understanding and that it accumulates from observation and ideas which are the fabric of insight. Many philosophical[says who?] topics such as morality and faith are explained using inductive reasoning.

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