The Reasoning Process & Inductive Reasoning

Melissa Seeborg

Reasoning is the process of drawing inferences or conclusions from established knowledge

Reasoning uses the audience’s existing knowledge or beliefs to connect support to the claim

The speaker does not always need to explain this reasoning step, the audience will supply the link

Example:If you are trying to make the claim, “You should use a sunscreen to reduce the risk of skin cancer”, it is not necessary to say “Since you should want to protect yourself from unnecessary risks to your health…”

Five Types of Reasoning

1. Inductive Reasoning2. Deductive Reasoning3. Sign 4. Causal Reasoning5. Analogy

Inductive Reasoning Draws conclusions by:

1. Examining specific instances or examples2. Developing either a general rule or a specific

rule presenting all the facts and evidence before

tying them into a conclusionuseful if you want to develop claims that

predict future events based on past occurrences

Valuable because it allows us to form ideas about general groups of things in real life

Process of Inductive Reasoning“Bottom Up” approach – not beginning with a

theory

Observation: collect facts, without bias.Analysis: classify the facts, identifying

patterns o of regularity.Inference: From the patterns, infer

generalizations about the relations between the facts.

Confirmation: Testing the inference through further observation.

Example of Inductive ReasoningExcerpt from a 1996 speech to the Economic Club of Detroit by Sheila Wellington, the president of Catalyst

“Many of you may know that women now earn more than half the BA degrees in this country. Virtually half of new business, law, and doctoral degrees decorate the office walls of women. More and more engineering degrees are going to women: In 1994, women earned 17% of BS degrees, 16% of Masters, and 11% of doctorates in engineering. This is a bounty of brains to harvest.”

More Examples of Inductive Reasoning3+5=8 and eight is an even number.

Therefore, an odd number added to another odd number will result in an even number.

You know that a woman named Daffodil lives somewhere your building. Daffodil has a shrill voice. You hear a woman in the apartment next door yelling with a shrill voice. It is likely that the woman fighting in the apartment is Daffodil.

More Examples… "Every time I've seen a red-tinted sunset, the

next day's weather has been beautiful. Today had a red-tinted sunset, so tomorrow will be beautiful.”

“All turtles have shells. The animal I have captured is a turtle. I conclude that the animal in my bag has a shell.”

Tips on Using Inductive Reasoning in an argument Derive a general rule in an accepted area and

then apply the rule in the area where you want the person to behave.

Give the reader lots of detail and evidence, then explain what it all means.

Make sure the observations are accurate and comprehensive

Create a strong link between the observations and the general rule

Questions 1. True/False: The speak must always explain

the Reasoning step to their audience. 2. What are the two of the five different types

of Reasoning?3. Why is Inductive Reasoning often referred

to as a “Bottom Up” approach?

Answers False, the audience usually provides the link

to this step themselves Inductive Reasoning, Deductive

Reasoning, Sign Causal Reasoning, Analogy Going from specific facts and evidence to a

general conclusion – does not start with a theory