Core Tenets Of Science

One of the core tenets of science is the ability to use methods of reason to arrive at a discovery or answer to life’s questions. Two ways to do this are inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. In the following paragraphs, inductive and deductive reasoning will be compared and contrasted, as well as analyzing which would be best to use to establish cause and effect. First, how are inductive and deductive reasoning the same? In both inductive and deductive reasoning, a form of logic is used. This format follows a similar pattern in the fact that both use observation, curiosity, generalization, data, and conclusions. Both share the end goal of determining a scientific theory or making conclusions about an area of study, but the methods to reach it are different and result in different types of conclusions (Avissar et. al., 2013, 10).

When using inductive reasoning, observations are made, and data is gathered. This eventually results in a conclusion after enough data and observations are acquired. For example, a biologist could be working in a lab and observing cells under the microscope, recording their observations and gathering data. Eventually, they might have enough data to conclude about a topic they may have been studying at the time of their research. Deductive reasoning, on the other hand, starts with an established theory, predicts the outcomes when the theory is applied to a certain problem, and subsequently gathers evidence and data from tests to come to a definitive answer on whether the predictions were correct. For example, if there are established theories about the behavior of bacteria, and new bacteria is discovered, the scientist might predict what the behavior of this new bacteria is and establish the basis for this behavior by observing, gathering data, and testing their prediction (Avissar et. al., 2013, 10). These are the differences between inductive and deductive