Inductive Reasoning

Question

1.) Using an example, explain why inductive reasoning can lead to an incorrect conclusion.

Answer 1

Inductive reasoning doesn't necessary lead to an incorrect conclusion. It only does so when not engaged carefully.

 

The primary issue is that induction generally assumes that qualities which hold true for small or singular samples will hold true for larger or universal ones, but this is rarely the case.

 

For example, suppose we measure the weights of ten people and discover that their average weight is 150lbs. One might inductively assume that the average weight of larger samples may also be 150lbs, but that might not be the case (for any number of reasons).

 

There are other issues, but this is one of the main ones -- assuming that what is true for the sample will be true for others (or even for individuals in the sample).