SSH 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Sample Size Determination, Statistical Theory, Sampling Bias

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Social Sciences and Humanities
• Course: SSH 105
• Professor: Thomas Hart

Document Summary

An inductive argument is intended to supply only probable support for its conclusion. The conclusion of a strong inductive argument is likely true. If, in addition, its premises are true, or very probably true, the argument is cogent. A deductive argument merely extracts information that is given in the premises; it tells us nothing more than what is given in the premises, but rearranges or reveals it in a way that may be more useful. An inductive argument goes beyond the given information. Types of inductive reasoning: enumerative induction, statistical syllogisms, analogical induction, causal arguments, mixed arguments (1) enumerative induction. Often in inductive reasoning, however, we start with premises about individual members of a group and reason to conclusions about the group as a whole. The target group or target population is the class of individuals or objects about which we wish to draw a conclusion. The sample is the members of the target group that were actually observed.