inductive reasoning
Specifics yield generalities
Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to general conclusions.
You notice that every swan you've seen is white, so you conclude all swans are white.
The conclusion is probable rather than certain—a single black swan disproves it.
This contrasts with deductive reasoning, which moves from general premises to specific, logically necessary conclusions.
Through inductive reasoning, scientists develop hypotheses from observed patterns.
Guess from limited facts
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- theoryExplanatory set of principles
- postulateAssumed starting point
- propositionStatement expressing a judgment
thesis · supposition · presumption · assumption · tentative · provisional · educated guess · prediction
Deriving principles from examples
- premiseFoundation for logical argument
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- bottom-upStarting from fundamentals
probabilistic · analogical · syllogism · argumentation · rationale · abstraction · heuristic · cognition
Based on observation, not theory
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- data collectionSystematic accumulation of facts
- samplingExtracting subset for study
fieldwork · naturalistic · case study · taxonomy · classification · replication · falsification · hypothesis testing
Attentive watching or remark
- dataFacts for analysis
- examplesParticular illustrative instances
- instancesIndividual cases or examples
- casesContainers or instances
samples · particulars · specifics · empirical · phenomena · facts · documentation · corroboration
Deriving principles from examples
- trendsPrevailing directions of change
- correlationStatistical relationship measure
- regularitiesRecurring predictable patterns
- similaritiesShared characteristics between things
analogies · recurrence · frequency · commonalities · traits · characteristics · indicators · signals
conjecture
Guess from limited facts
- speculationUnproven theorizing or risky investment
- theoryExplanatory set of principles
- postulateAssumed starting point
proposition · thesis · supposition · presumption · assumption · tentative · provisional · educated guess · prediction · anticipation
generalization
Deriving principles from examples
- premiseFoundation for logical argument
- conclusionEnd or deduction
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
bottom-up · probabilistic · analogical · syllogism · argumentation · rationale · abstraction · heuristic · cognition · enumeration
empirical
Based on observation, not theory
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
- observationAttentive watching or remark
- data collectionSystematic accumulation of facts
sampling · fieldwork · naturalistic · case study · taxonomy · classification · replication · falsification · hypothesis testing · controlled study
observation
Attentive watching or remark
- dataFacts for analysis
- examplesParticular illustrative instances
- instancesIndividual cases or examples
cases · samples · particulars · specifics · empirical · phenomena · facts · documentation · corroboration · support
generalization
Deriving principles from examples
- trendsPrevailing directions of change
- correlationStatistical relationship measure
- regularitiesRecurring predictable patterns
similarities · analogies · recurrence · frequency · commonalities · traits · characteristics · indicators · signals · markers
- cognitionthinking, thought, cognition, remembering, memory retrieval
- thinking skillslogic, logical thinking, critical thinking, analytical thinking, analysis
- logicpremise, premises, conclusion, conclusions, inference
- argument termsad hominem, evidence, straw man, proof, appeal to emotion
- fieldworkfieldwork, field work, field journal, field guide, field study
- inferenceinference, logical inference, entailment, syllogism, implication
inductive reasoningrationalism
Reason as knowledge source
a priori knowledge · dogmatism · intuition · divine revelation
reason, reasoning, deduction, induce, induction, abductive reasoning, abduction, deductive, inducted