Importance Of Inductive Reasoning

Logic is the study of the methods and principles used to distinguish correct from incorrect reasoning. When we reason about any matter, we produce arguments to support our conclusions. Logic studies if the conclusion follows from the premises used or assumed, and if the premises provide good enough reason for accepting the conclusions drawn. Using the methods and techniques of logic—one can distinguish reliably between sound and faulty reasoning.

In reasoning we construct and evaluate arguments; arguments are built with propositions. A preposition is a declarative statement; that asserts something is the case or that something is not. Therefore, every proposition is either true or false. With propositions as building blocks, we construct arguments.

Inductive reasoning, by its very nature, is more open-ended and exploratory, especially at the beginning. Deductive reasoning is narrower in nature and is concerned with testing or confirming hypotheses. Even though a particular study may look like it's purely deductive (e.g., an experiment designed to test the hypothesized effects of some treatment on some outcome), most social research involves both inductive and deductive reasoning processes at some time in the project.

Francis Bacon was 16th Century logician, who discovered and popularized the scientific method, whereby the laws of science are discovered by gathering and analyzing data from experiments and observations, rather than relying upon intuition. The Baconian method marked the beginning of the end for the 2,000-year-old natural philosophy of Aristotle, unleashing a wave of new scientific discoveries, particularly in the hands of devotees such as Robert Boyle.

Bacon believed it was time to move beyond the ancient philosophies which had come from Mediterranean countries, and with fresh minds and new methods set out on an up-to-date exploration of the laws of Nature. Bacon’s objective was to replace Aristotle and Plato’s works, which were based on logical and philosophical arguments, with a new body of scientific knowledge secured by experiments and