Deductive reasoning is a basic form of valid reasoning.

Deductive reasoning, or deduction, starts out with a general statement, or hypothesis, and examines the possibilities to reach a specific, logical conclusion. The scientific method uses deduction to test hypotheses and theories. In deductive reasoning, if something is true of a class of things in general, it is also true for all members of that class. For example, "All men are mortal. Harold is a man. Therefore, Harold is mortal." For deductive reasoning to be sound, the hypothesis must be correct. It is assumed that the premises, "All men are mortal" and "Harold is a man" are true. Therefore, the conclusion is logical and true. It's possible to come to a logical conclusion even if the generalization is not true. If the generalization is wrong, the conclusion may be logical, but it may also be untrue. For example, the argument, "All bald men are grandfathers. Harold is bald. Therefore, Harold is a grandfather," is valid logically but it is untrue because the original statement is false. Inductive reasoning Inductive reasoning is the opposite of deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning makes broad generalizations from specific observations. Even if all of the premises are true in a statement, inductive reasoning allows for the conclusion to be false. Heres an example: "Harold is a grandfather. Harold is bald. Therefore, all grandfathers are bald." The conclusion does not follow logically from the statements. Inductive reasoning has its place in the scientific method. Scientists use it to formhypotheses and theories. Deductive reasoning allows them to apply the theories to specific situations. Syllogism A common form of deductive reasoning is the syllogism, in which two statements a major premise and a minor premise reach a logical conclusion. For example, the premise "Every A is B" could be followed by another premise, "This C is A." Those statements would lead to the conclusion "This C is B." Syllogisms are considered a good way to test deductive reasoning to make sure the argument is valid. Abductive reasoning Another form of reasoning is abductive reasoning. It is based on making and testing hypotheses using the best information available. It often entails making an educated guess after observing a phenomenon for which there is no clear explanation. Abductive reasoning is useful for forming hypotheses to be tested. Abductive reasoning is often used by doctors who make a diagnosis based on test results and by jurors who make decisions based on the evidence presented to them. Editors note: This article was updated April 10, 2013, to correct errors in describing the types of reasoning. In science, there are two ways of arriving at a conclusion: deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. Deductive Reasoning Deductive reasoning happens when a researcher works from the more general information to the more specific. Sometimes this is called the top-down approach because the researcher starts at the top

with a very broad spectrum of information and they work their way down to a specific conclusion. For instance, a researcher might begin with a theory about his or her topic of interest. From there, he or she would narrow that down into more specific hypotheses that can be tested. The hypotheses are then narrowed down even further when observations are collected to test the hypotheses. This ultimately leads the researcher to be able to test the hypotheses with specific data, leading to a confirmation (or not) of the original theory and arriving at a conclusion. An example of deductive reasoning can be seen in this set of statements: Every day, I leave for work in my car at eight oclock. Every day, the drive to work takes 45 minutes I arrive to work on time. Therefore, if I leave for work at eight oclock today, I will be on time. The deductive statement above is a perfect logical statement, but it does rely on the initial premise being correct. Perhaps today there is construction on the way to work and you will end up being late. This is why any hypothesis can never be completely proved, because there is always the possibility for the initial premise to be wrong. Inductive Reasoning Inductive reasoning works the opposite way, moving from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. This is sometimes called a bottom up approach. The researcher begins with specific observations and measures, begins to then detect patterns and regularities, formulate some tentative hypotheses to explore, and finally ends up developing some general conclusions or theories. An example of inductive reasoning can be seen in this set of statements: Today, I left for work at eight oclock and I arrived on time. Therefore, every day that I leave the house at eight oclock, I will arrive to work on time. While inductive reasoning is commonly used in science, it is not always logically valid because it is not always accurate to assume that a general principle is correct. In the example above, perhaps today is a weekend with less traffic, so if you left the house at eight oclock on a Monday, it would take longer and you would be late for work. It is illogical to assume an entire premise just because one specific data set seems to suggest it. Actual Practice By nature, inductive reasoning is more open-ended and exploratory, especially during the early stages. Deductive reasoning is more narrow and is generally used to test or confirm hypotheses. Most social research, however, involves both inductive and deductive reasoning throughout the research process. The scientific norm of logical reasoning provides a two-way bridge between theory and research. In practice, this typically involves alternating between deduction and induction. A good example of this is the classic work of Emile Durkheim on suicide. When Durkheim pored over tables of official statistics on suicide rates in different areas, he noticed that Protestant countries consistently had higher suicide rates than Catholic ones. His initial observations led him to inductively

create a theory of religion, social integration, anomie, and suicide. His theoretical interpretations in turn led him to deductively create more hypotheses and collect more observations.

There are two approaches to constructing a theory: deductive theory construction andinductive theory construction. Deductive theory construction takes place during deductive reasoning in the hypothesistesting phase of research. The process of developing a deductive theory is not always as simple and straightforward as the following; however, the process generally involves the following steps:

Specify the topic. Specify the range of phenomena your theory addresses. Will it apply to all of human social life, only U.S. citizens, only middle-class Hispanics, or what? Identify and specify your major concepts and variables. Find out what is known about the relationships among those variables. Reason logically from those relationships to the specific topic you are studying.

The first step in constructing a deductive theory is picking a topic that interests you. It can be very broad or very specific, but should be something that you are trying to understand or explain. Then, identify what the range of phenomena is that you are examining. Are you looking at human social life across the globe, only women in the United States, only poor, sick children in Haiti, etc? The next step is to take inventory of what is already known about that topic, or what is thought about it. This includes learning what other scholars have said about it as well as writing down your own observations and ideas. This is the point in the research process where you will likely spend a great deal of time in the library reading scholarly literature on the topic and devising a literature review. During this process, you will likely notice patterns discovered by prior scholars. For example, if you are looking at views on abortion, religious and political factors will stand out as important predictors in many of the previous studies you come across. After youve examined the previous research conducted on your topic, you are ready to constr uct your own theory. What is it that you believe you will find during your research? Once you develop your theories and hypotheses, it is time to test them in the data collection and analysis phase of your research.