A generalization fallacy occurs when a large population is generalized based on a small or undiverse sample group. It can also refer to a compositional error. To avoid this, a large and diverse sample group is needed. The fallacy can be attacked by claiming it has occurred.
A generalization fallacy is an error in which someone makes a generalization about a large population or group based on a sample from that group that is too small. This error can also occur when the sample group is large but lacks diversity, meaning it still does not correctly represent the total population or group. There are, however, situations where a small sample group may be appropriate. A generalization error can also refer to a compositional error, which occurs when one individual’s actions or thoughts are extended to a larger group.
Also called a hasty generalization error, a generalization error often occurs accidentally due to insufficient polling of sample groups. News broadcasts, for example, often use polls to indicate the attitudes or feelings of the general public within a particular country or region. These surveys may indeed be accurate and adequately represent how the overall population feels, but this requires large and diverse segments of the population to be polled. When results are published from a sample group that is small or undiverse, a generalization bias can occur and the results may not be accurate.
One of the best ways a person can avoid making a generalization error is to ensure that any sample group used to determine information about a large population is large and diverse enough. This can be difficult to achieve, however, as large populations not only increase the required sample group size, but can also affect the appropriate amount of diversity that should be represented. In formal logic, such samplings can often be chosen and supported through mathematical statistics, but this is not typically used in informal logic. Because of this, someone can often attack an argument that uses a sample group by claiming that a generalization error has occurred.
The term “generalization fallacy” can also be used to refer to another type of fallacy, more often referred to as a composition fallacy. In this fallacy, someone uses the actions or thoughts of a single person or object to establish the common actions or thoughts within a population or larger group. If a youth speaks rudely to someone, he may make this mistake by assuming that all youth are rude. This same type of generalization error can occur when someone buys a product from a company that ends up breaking quickly, and then assumes that all of that company’s products must be defective.
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