Question

You hear a crash in the kitchen. you see your little sibling being scolded and there is glass on the floor. you reason that your brother has dropped a cup and made a mess. what type of reasoning was used to come to this understanding?

a) deductive reasoning, going from facts to theory.
b) inductive reasoning, going from theory to facts.
c) inductive reasoning, going from facts to theory.
d) deductive reasoning, going from theory to facts.

Answer 1

Inductive reasoning is used to arrive at the conclusion that your brother dropped a cup based on specific observations like the sound of a crash and seeing glass on the floor.

Step-by-step explanation:

The conclusion that your brother has dropped a cup and made a mess after hearing a crash and seeing him being scolded with glass on the floor is an example of inductive reasoning. This type of reasoning involves making a general conclusion based on specific observations.

You've seen the glass on the floor, heard the scolding, and from this, you've induced that the noise was caused by your brother dropping a cup. This moves from the particular details to a general theory.

Inductive reasoning is often contrasted with deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning would start with a general statement or theory, like 'all glass objects can break if dropped', and then move to a specific conclusion, such as 'if a glass cup was dropped, it would break'.

What you've done, however, is observed particulars and arrived at a general explanation, which is the hallmark of inductive reasoning.