The deductive method starts with a general case and draws a conclusion about something specific, while inductive reasoning starts with specific cases and draws a general conclusion. The deductive method is often used in crime fiction and real-life crime solving situations, as well as in everyday life and research in various fields. Syllogism is a common form of the deductive method.
The deductive method is an approach to reasoning that is based on deduction, i.e. starting from a general case and, from that general case, drawing a conclusion about something more specific. An argument based on this method can be formulated as follows: “All men lie. Dave is a man, so Dave lies.” Of course, the correctness or incorrectness of the specific conclusion depends entirely on the correctness of the general statement; if the general statement is wrong, the specific conclusions deduced from it are also wrong, or at least erroneously deduced. Unlike deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning involves starting from specific cases and drawing a general conclusion from them.
The reasoning used in the deductive method can be presented, formally or informally, in a variety of different ways. One of the most common forms of the deductive method is syllogism, in which two conditional statements are given and a conclusion is drawn from them. For example, a syllogism might take the form: “If Dave is late for work again, his boss will be angry. If Dave’s boss is angry, Dave won’t get a raise. So if Dave is late for work again, Dave won’t get a raise.” The conclusion that Dave won’t get a raise if he’s late for work is drawn from the previous two conditional statements.
Much of crime fiction, especially the Sherlock Holmes stories, is based on the deductive method. In such contexts, this method is a process for solving crimes based on the application of deductive reasoning to criminal cases. A detective may apply some general knowledge of criminal psychology or crime scene investigation to the specifics of the case at hand in order to draw conclusions about the identity and methods of the criminal. The deductive method is actually used in many real-life crime solving situations as well, as many investigation methods rely on the application of general knowledge applied to specific cases.
Reasoning in everyday life, both professionally and personally, is often based on the deductive method. Medical examination, investigation and treatment, for example, all rely on the application of general medical knowledge to specific individual patients. Much research in fields as diverse as economics, physics, and biology make use of both deductive and inductive reasoning. Researchers make hypotheses and explain some results based on general rules, but they often need to create new general theories to explain specific results that do not fit into the existing theoretical framework.
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