REASONING

Reasoning is the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way.

Logic – is a branch of Philosophy that is concerned with the study of reason i.e. how
humans should reason; not how they actually reason.

 Reasoning is making a claim and giving justifications for the claim.

 It is a mental process by which the mind makes an inference from certain

given deductions.

 We can say that, in the process of reasoning, the claims that given in the

process of justification of the other claims are called premise(s).

 The claim whose justification depends on other premises is called conclusion.

 Claims are propositions (statements) or sentences that are either true or false.

 Truth value is the quality of a claim to be either true or false.

ARGUMENT
Reasoning is technically referred to as an argument.
An argument is a set of propositions in which it is claimed that the truth of one of the
propositions is established or inferred from the truth of the other prepositions is either
necessarily (deductively) or by some probability (inductively). The main aim of an
argument is to justify the truth of its conclusion & consequently to have it accepted.
The proposition whose truth is claimed to be inferred from the truth of the other
proposition is called conclusion while the other prepositions from whose truth the
conclusion is called premises e.g.
1. Most of Pakistanis are corrupt. (Premise)
2. Naeem is a Pakistani. (Premise)
3. Therefore, Naeem is corrupt. (Conclusion)
In an argument there are 2 forms of reasoning;
 Claims
 Conclusion

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What is Deductive Argument?
The argument in which the truth of the conclusion is claimed to be inferred
necessarily from the premises is called a deductive argument.
Deductive reasoning (top-down logic) contrasts with inductive reasoning (bottom-up
logic), and generally starts with one or more general statements or premises to reach a
logical conclusion. If the premises are true, the conclusion must be valid. Deductive
reasoning is used by scientists and mathematicians to prove their hypotheses.

Deductive reasoning examples

 All humans are mortals.
 I am a human being.
 Therefore, I am mortal.
 From general to particular
 Two premises (general statements) and a conclusion
 Three terms appearing twice: human, I, mortal

Deductive Argument is judged on the basis of Validity & Soundness

A. Validity
Validity is an attribute of deductive statement. Validity or invalidity refers to the
structure/form (nature of relationship between premises & conclusion) of a
deductive argument.
However, a deductive argument is said to be invalid when the relationship between its
premises & conclusion is such that the truth of its premises, if granted, does not imply
the truth of its conclusion.
In such an argument, one can accept the truth of the premises but deny the truth of its
conclusion without any contradiction i.e. in that kind of an argument the premises one
that the conclusion asserts e.g. Human beings breathe.
A cat breathes. Therefore, cats are human beings.
B. Soundness
Soundness is an exclusive attribute of a deductive argument comprising both the form
and the content of a deductive argument. A deductive argument is therefore either

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sound or unsound.
An argument is sound when it is valid and all its premises are actually true.
*truth –proposition/statement
An argument being a set of claims can never be said to be true or false. It is only a
statement or proposition that can be true.
The meaning of the premises must imply the meaning of the conclusion in a sound
argument, i.e. the premises must be true.
However, an argument is unsound when it is either invalid or if it has a premise which
is actually false.
A good deductive argument is one that is sound, i.e. which is valid & all its premises
are true. But a deductive argument which is unsound is a bad argument.

What is Inductive Argument?

The other type of argument in which it is claimed that the truth of the premises only
offers a probable support to the truth of the conclusion is called an inductive
argument. Inductive reasoning, or induction, is reasoning from a specific case or
cases and deriving a general rule. This is against the scientific method. It makes
generalizations by observing patterns and drawing inferences that may well be
incorrect.

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Inductive Argument is judged on the basis of Strength
Strength is an exclusive attribute of an inductive argument. Strength describes a form
of an inductive argument.
An inductive argument is strong when the relationship between the premises and the
conclusion is such that, IF the premises were true, then there is greater probability of
its conclusion being true. But an inductive argument is said to be weak when the
relationship between its premises and conclusion is such that, IF the premises were
true, then there is lower probability of its conclusion being true.
(Strong arguments are ones where if the premise is true then the conclusion is very
likely to be true.
Conversely, weak inductive arguments are such that they may be false even if the
premises they are based upon are true.)

An inductive argument can also be described as cogent or uncogent.

Cogency takes into consideration the form & content of an inductive argument.
An inductive argument is cogent if it is strong and all its premises are actually true!
But it is uncogent when it is weak or some of is premises are actually false.
(If the argument is strong and the premises it is based upon are true, then it is said to
be a cogent argument. If the argument is weak or the premises it flows from are false
or unproven, then the argument is said to be uncogent.)

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i. There are 25 cups of ice cream in the freezer.
ii. 22 of them are vanilla flavored.
iii. Therefore, all cups of ice cream are vanilla.
If in the previous argument premise # ii was that 3 of the cups are vanilla, then the
conclusion that all cups are vanilla would be based upon a weak argument. In either
case, all premises are true and the conclusion may be incorrect, but the strength of
the argument varies.

Errors/Mistakes in Argument
There are two types of errors/mistakes that can be committed in an argument but
which should be avoided:
I. Logical mistake (fallacy);
-conclusion is inconsistently inferred from the premises
-it is a defect of an argument, i.e. when the given premises either do not justify the
conclusion (deductive argument) or least supports the conclusion (inductive argument)
Therefore, an invalid or a weak argument commits a logical mistake.
II. Factual mistake;
-This is a mistake of fact.
-It occurs whenever there is an actually false premise in an argument.
These 2 mistakes should be avoided in an argument because any argument that
commits either of them fails to establish/justify the truth of its conclusion yet the main
aim of an argument is to justify the truth of its conclusion & consequently to have it
accepted.

Deductive Approach:
Deductive approach requires the researcher to work from general to specific. The
study of the specific phenomenon is done in relation to the general established laws
and theories. In this approach the researcher or group of researchers start the work
with deciding theory for fulfilling the research objectives. Then the theory is
narrowed down to more specific hypothesis for testing. To test the hypothesis

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observation is made which is done after collecting and analyzing data and
relevant information. Testing the hypothesis helps the researcher to draw conclusion
and make confirmation whether to accept or to reject the hypothesis. This justifies
the existing theory and its validity. As this approach begins with broad and general
idea and brings the researcher to narrow and more specific conclusion, this approach
is also known as ‘top-down’ approach’.

Fig: Deductive Approach in Research

For example, if a researcher seeks to enquire about the role of education in poverty
in a region, he would first look for the existing theories related to poverty. Then he
will narrow down his research interest to hypothesis as low level of education results
in high level of poverty. Then the researcher makes field observation and collects
data for analysis. After analyzing the information the researcher tests the hypothesis,
whether it is true or false to the ground.

The main characteristics of deductive approach are as follows:

1. Deductive approach is aimed at testing the existing theories.
2. This is a continuous process from which the theories based on social, cultural
changes need to be re-examined.
3. This method is simple but much more confined to predetermined theory.
4. This approach is believed to be scientific and well managed.
5. Conclusion follows logically from the available facts and can be generalized.

INDUCTIVE APPROACH
Inductive approach is just opposite of the deductive one. When particular
examples are used to reach a general conclusion about something the approach is
considered to be inductive. In this approach empirical observation plays a vital role
and the study begins with the scientific observation of the specific phenomenon. The

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researcher or group of researchers collects individual scattered facts, condition or
process through filed study. Then similarities and patterns are analyzed among the
individual phenomenon to prove the tentative hypothesis scientifically in order or
sequence. The phenomena are tested regarding to their reality and factualness based
on the direct observed and experienced events. This leads the researcher to general
conclusion and the theory is developed. This approach is called ‘bottom-up
approach’ as the research is done from specific to general information.

Fig: Inductive Approach in Research

For example, in inductive approach the researcher first would observe the study area.
He will collect information related to poverty and education in the field survey. He
will assemble the individual information to find out the pattern of similarities.
Analyzing the data, a tentative hypothesis would try to find how level of education is
related to the level of poverty. Suppose the study finds most of the poor populations
have low education, then this will lead to the conclusion making general theory that
low level of education results high level of poverty.
The main characteristics of inductive approach are as follows:
1. Inductive approach is concerned with the generation of new theory emerging from
the data.
2. This approach is more scientific based on empirical observation.
3. This approach is meant to explore the nature and helps to build theory based on
ground reality.
4. The process form particular to general prioritizes the study of events as these are
happened and possible to happen in general/public life.
5. This approach clearly shows the cause effect relationship.

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Comparison between Inductive and Deductive Approach:
1. Inductive approach moves from specific to general (top-down). Unlike, deductive
approach moves from general to particular (bottom-up).
2. Inductive approach is concerned with the generation of new theory emerging from
the data, while deductive approach is aimed and testing theory.
3. Inductive approach will usually use research questions to narrow the scope of the
study, whilst deductive approach usually begins with a hypothesis.
4. The basis of inductive approach is behavior or pattern. Conversely, deductive
approach depends on facts and rules.
5. In inductive reasoning, the argument supporting the conclusion, may or may not
be strong. On the contrary, in deductive reasoning, the argument can be proved valid
or invalid.

BASIS FOR DEDUCTIVE

INDUCTIVE REASONING
COMPARISON REASONING

Approach Bottom-up approach Top-down approach

Based on Patterns or trend Facts, truths and rules

Process Observation > Pattern > Theory > Hypothesis >

Tentative Hypothesis > Observation > Confirmation
Theory

Argument May or may not be strong. May or may not be valid.

Structure Goes from specific to general Goes from general to specific

Draws inferences with Probability Certainty

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