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What Is Deductive Reasoning

Deductive reasoning is a logical approach that progresses from general premises or ideas to specific conclusions. It involves forming an argument with premises and using logical steps to infer a conclusion. An argument is valid if the premises logically relate to and support the conclusion, though the premises may not be true. For an argument to be sound, it must be valid and have true premises so the conclusion is also true. Deductive reasoning is commonly used in scientific research through developing hypotheses and collecting data to test them. It contrasts with inductive reasoning, which involves drawing general conclusions from specific observations.

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157 views

What Is Deductive Reasoning

Deductive reasoning is a logical approach that progresses from general premises or ideas to specific conclusions. It involves forming an argument with premises and using logical steps to infer a conclusion. An argument is valid if the premises logically relate to and support the conclusion, though the premises may not be true. For an argument to be sound, it must be valid and have true premises so the conclusion is also true. Deductive reasoning is commonly used in scientific research through developing hypotheses and collecting data to test them. It contrasts with inductive reasoning, which involves drawing general conclusions from specific observations.

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Chau Anh
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What Is Deductive Reasoning?

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Explanation & Examples
Published on January 20, 2022 by Pritha Bhandari.

Deductive reasoning is a logical approach where you progress from general ideas to specific
conclusions. It’s often contrasted with inductive reasoning, where you start with specific
observations and form general conclusions.

Deductive reasoning is also called deductive logic or top-down reasoning.

Note: Deductive reasoning is often confused with inductive reasoning. However, in inductive


reasoning, you draw conclusions by going from the specific to the general.

What is deductive reasoning?


In deductive reasoning, you’ll often make an argument for a certain idea. You make an
inference, or come to a conclusion, by applying different premises.

A premise is a generally accepted idea, fact, or rule, and it’s a statement that lays the
groundwork for a theory or general idea. Conclusions are statements supported by
premises.

Deductive logic arguments


In a simple deductive logic argument, you’ll often begin with a premise, and add another
premise. Then, you form a conclusion based on these two premises. This format is
called “premise-premise-conclusion.”

Examples: Deductive logic arguments


Premise All insects have exactly six legs.

Premise Spiders have eight legs.

Conclusion Therefore, spiders are not insects.

Premise Blue litmus paper turns red in the presence of acid.

Premise The blue litmus paper turned red after I dropped some liquid on it.

Conclusion Therefore, the liquid is acidic.


Validity and soundness
Validity and soundness are two criteria for assessing deductive reasoning arguments.

Validity
In this context, validity is about the way the premises relate to each other and the
conclusion. This is a different concept from research validity.

An argument is valid if the premises logically support and relate to the conclusion. But
the premises don’t need to be true for an argument to be valid.

Examples: Valid (but untrue) deductive arguments

Example 1

1. If there’s a rainbow, flights get canceled.


2. There is a rainbow now.
3. Therefore, flights are canceled.

Example 2

1. All chili peppers are spicy.


2. Tomatoes are a chili pepper.
3. Therefore, tomatoes are spicy.

Both of these arguments are valid. Even though the premises are completely made up, they relate
to each other in a way where you can justifiably infer the conclusion.
In an invalid argument, your premises can be true but that doesn’t guarantee a true
conclusion. Your conclusion may inadvertently be true, but your argument can still be
invalid because your conclusion doesn’t logically follow from the relationship between
the statements.

Examples: Invalid deductive arguments

Example 1

1. All leopards have spots.


2. My pet gecko has spots.
3. Therefore, my pet gecko is a leopard.

Example 2

1. All US presidents live in the White House.


2. Barack Obama lived in the White House.
3. Therefore, Barack Obama was a US president.

Both of these are invalid because the truth of the premises doesn’t necessarily lead you to a true
conclusion. You end up with a correct conclusion in the second example, but both arguments
take the same invalid format.

Soundness
An argument is sound only if it’s valid and the premises are true. All invalid arguments
are unsound.

If you begin with true premises and a valid argument, you’re bound to come to a true
conclusion.

Examples: Sound deductive reasoning

Example 1

1. Flights get canceled when there are extreme weather conditions.


2. There are extreme weather conditions right now.
3. Therefore, flights are canceled.

Example 2

1. All fruits are grown from flowers and contain seeds.


2. Tomatoes are grown from flowers and contain seeds.
3. Therefore, tomatoes are fruits.

Deductive reasoning in research


Deductive reasoning is commonly used in scientific research, and it’s especially
associated with quantitative research.

In research, you might have come across something called the hypothetico-deductive


method. It’s the scientific method of testing hypotheses to check whether your
predictions are substantiated by real-world data.

This method is used for academic as well as non-academic research.

Example: Deductive research problem

You work as an organizational researcher at a large insurance organization. Currently, the organization is
dealing with increasing levels of employee burnout, and you’re tasked with finding a solution to this
problem.

Here are the general steps for deductive research:


1. Select a research problem and create a problem statement.
2. Develop falsifiable hypotheses.
3. Collect your data with appropriate measures.
4. Analyze and test your data.
5. Decide whether to reject your null hypothesis.

Importantly, your hypotheses should be falsifiable. If they aren’t, you won’t be able to
determine whether your results support them or not.

Example: Deductive research approachYou predict that going from a five-day work week to a four-day
work week (without any reduction in pay) will help reduce or prevent burnout by improving employee
well-being.

You formulate your main hypothesis: Switching to a four-day work week will improve employee
well-being. Your null hypothesis states that there’ll be no difference in employee well-being
before and after the change.

You collect data on employee well-being through quantitative surveys on a monthly basis before


and after the change. When analyzing the data, you note a 25% increase in employee well-being
after the change in work week.

Using a statistical test, you find that your results show statistical significance. You reject your
null hypothesis and conclude that your results support your main hypothesis.

Deductive vs. inductive reasoning


Deductive reasoning is a top-down approach, while inductive reasoning is a bottom-up
approach.

In deductive reasoning, you start with general ideas and work toward specific
conclusions through inferences. Based on theories, you form a hypothesis. Using
empirical observations, you test that hypothesis using inferential statistics and form a
conclusion.

Inductive reasoning is also called a hypothesis-generating approach, because you start


with specific observations and build toward a theory. It’s an exploratory method that’s
often applied before deductive research.

In practice, most research projects involve both inductive and deductive methods.

https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/deductive-reasoning/#:~:text=Deductive%20reasoning%20is
%20a%20logical,logic%20or%20top%2Ddown%20reasoning.

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