inductive presentation of ideas

Inductive Approach (Inductive Reasoning)

Inductive approach, also known in inductive reasoning, starts with the observations and theories are proposed towards the end of the research process as a result of observations [1] .  Inductive research “involves the search for pattern from observation and the development of explanations – theories – for those patterns through series of hypotheses” [2] . No theories or hypotheses would apply in inductive studies at the beginning of the research and the researcher is free in terms of altering the direction for the study after the research process had commenced.

It is important to stress that inductive approach does not imply disregarding theories when formulating research questions and objectives. This approach aims to generate meanings from the data set collected in order to identify patterns and relationships to build a theory; however, inductive approach does not prevent the researcher from using existing theory to formulate the research question to be explored. [3] Inductive reasoning is based on learning from experience. Patterns, resemblances and regularities in experience (premises) are observed in order to reach conclusions (or to generate theory).

Application of Inductive Approach (Inductive Reasoning) in Business Research

Inductive reasoning begins with detailed observations of the world, which moves towards more abstract generalisations and ideas [4] . When following an inductive approach, beginning with a topic, a researcher tends to develop empirical generalisations and identify preliminary relationships as he progresses through his research. No hypotheses can be found at the initial stages of the research and the researcher is not sure about the type and nature of the research findings until the study is completed.

As it is illustrated in figure below, “inductive reasoning is often referred to as a “bottom-up” approach to knowing, in which the researcher uses observations to build an abstraction or to describe a picture of the phenomenon that is being studied” [5]

Here is an example:

My nephew borrowed $100 last June but he did not pay back until September as he had promised (PREMISE). Then he assured me that he will pay back until Christmas but he didn’t (PREMISE). He also failed in to keep his promise to pay back in March (PREMISE). I reckon I have to face the facts. My nephew is never going to pay me back (CONCLUSION).

Generally, the application of inductive approach is associated with qualitative methods of data collection and data analysis, whereas deductive approach is perceived to be related to quantitative methods . The following table illustrates such a classification from a broad perspective:

However, the statement above is not absolute, and in some instances inductive approach can be adopted to conduct a quantitative research as well. The following table illustrates patterns of data analysis according to type of research and research approach .

When writing a dissertation in business studies it is compulsory to specify the approach of are adopting. It is good to include a table comparing inductive and deductive approaches similar to one below [6] and discuss the impacts of your choice of inductive approach on selection of primary data collection methods and research process.

My e-book,  The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Dissertation in Business Studies: a step by step assistance  contains discussions of theory and application of research approaches. The e-book also explains all stages of the  research process  starting from the  selection of the research area  to writing personal reflection. Important elements of dissertations such as  research philosophy ,  research design ,  methods of data collection ,  data analysis  and  sampling  are explained in this e-book in simple words.

John Dudovskiy

[1] Goddard, W. & Melville, S. (2004) “Research Methodology: An Introduction” 2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing

[2] Bernard, H.R. (2011) “Research Methods in Anthropology” 5 th edition, AltaMira Press, p.7

[3] Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2012) “Research Methods for Business Students” 6 th  edition, Pearson Education Limited

[4] Neuman, W.L. (2003) “Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches” Allyn and Bacon

[5] Lodico, M.G., Spaulding, D.T &Voegtle, K.H. (2010) “Methods in Educational Research: From Theory to Practice” John Wiley & Sons, p.10

[6] Source: Alexandiris, K.T. (2006) “Exploring Complex Dynamics in Multi Agent-Based Intelligent Systems” Pro Quest

Inductive Learning: Examples, Definition, Pros, Cons

Dave Cornell (PhD)

Dr. Cornell has worked in education for more than 20 years. His work has involved designing teacher certification for Trinity College in London and in-service training for state governments in the United States. He has trained kindergarten teachers in 8 countries and helped businessmen and women open baby centers and kindergartens in 3 countries.

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Chris Drew (PhD)

This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. Dr. Drew has published over 20 academic articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and holds a PhD in Education from ACU.

Inductive learning is a teaching strategy where students discover operational principles by observing examples.

It is used in inquiry-based and project-based learning where the goal is to learn through observation rather than being ‘told’ the answers by the teacher.

It is consistent with a constructivist approach to learning as it holds that knowledge should be constructed in the mind rather than transferred from the teacher to student.

Inductive Learning Definition

Inductive learning involves the students ‘constructing’ theories and ideas through observation. We contrast it to deductive learning , where the teacher presents the theories then students examine examples.

It is argued that learning with the inductive approach results in deep cognitive processing of information, creative independent thinking, and a rich understanding of the concepts involved.

It can also lead to long memory retention and strong transferability of knowledge to other situations.

Prince and Felder (2006) highlight that this concept explains a range of approaches to teaching and learning:

“Inductive teaching and learning is an umbrella term that encompasses a range of instructional methods, including inquiry learning, problem-based learning, project-based learning, case-based teaching, discovery learning, and just-in-time teaching” (Prince & Felder, 2006, p. 124).

Inductive Learning vs Deductive Learning

While both inductive and deductive learning are used in education, they are distinct in terms of their underlying principles and teaching methods.

Generally, inductive learning is a bottom-up approach meaning the observations precede the conclusions. It involves making observations, recognizing patterns, and forming generalizations .

On the other hand, deductive learning is a top-down approach meaning that it involves a teacher presenting general principles which are then examined using scientific research.

Both are legitimate methods, and in fact, despite its limitations, many students get a lot of pleasure out of doing deductive research in a physics or chemistry class.

Below is a table comparing the differences:

Inductive Learning Strengths and Limitations

Inductive learning is praised as an effective approach because it involves students constructing knowledge through observation, active learning and trial and error.

As a result, it helps develop critical thinking skills and fosters creativity because students must create the theories rather than being presented with them at the beginning of the lesson.

However, inductive learning isn’t always beneficial. To start with, students often don’t understand what the end goal of the activity is, which leads to confusion and disillusionment.

Secondly, it can be more challenging for novice learners who don’t have strong frameworks for systematic analysis and naturalistic observation .

Below is a table summary of the strengths and weaknesses:

Inductive Learning Examples

• Mrs. Williams shows her art students a wide range of masterpieces from different genres. Students then develop their own categorical definitions and classify the artwork accordingly.   
• Children in third grade are shown photos of different musical instruments and then asked to categorize them based on their own definitions.
• A company has customers try out a new product while the design team observes behind a two-way mirror. The team tries to identify common concerns, operational issues, and desirable features.
• A team of researchers observes the verbal interactions between parents and children in households. They then try to identify patterns and characteristics that affect language acquisition.
• A biologist observes the foraging and hunting behavior of the Artic fox to determine types of terrain and environmental features conducive to survival.
• Researchers interested in group dynamics and decision-making analyze the functional statements of personnel during meetings and try to find patterns that facilitate problem-solving . 
• Chef Phillips presents 5 desserts to his students and asks them to identify the qualities that make each one distinct….and tasty.
• Dr. Guttierrez gives each team of students in his advertising class a set of effective and ineffective commercials. Each team then develops a set of criteria for what makes a good commercial. 
• The Career Center shows a range of video-recorded job interviews and asks students to identify the characteristics that make some of them impressive and others not.
• Kumar demonstrates different yoga poses in a Far East Religions class and then the students try to identify the areas of the body and problem each pose is meant to address.

Case Studies and Research Basis

1. inductive learning in an inquiry-based classroom.

On the surface, this would appear to be a very straightforward question with a very straightforward answer. Many formal definitions share several common characteristics: existence of a m etabolism, replication, evolution, responsiveness, growth, movement, and cellular structure.

However, Prud’homme-Généreux (2013) points out that in one popular biology textbook there are 48 different experts offering different definitions.

In this inductive learning class activity by Prud’homme-Généreux (2013), the instructor prepares two sets of cards (A and B). Each card in set A contains an image of a living organism; each card in set B contains an image of an object that is not living.

Before distributing the cards, teams of 3 are formed and asked:

Why do we need a definition of life?

Each team then generates a new definition of life. Afterwards, the teams receive 3 cards from both sets.

For class discussion, one characteristic of a team’s definition is written on the board. Teams examine their cards and determine if that characteristic applies.

Prud’homme-Généreux states:

“…that the approach elicits curiosity, triggers questions, and leads to a more nuanced understanding of the concept…leads to confidence in their ability to think.”

2. Inductive Learning in Peer Assessment

Inductive learning methods can be applied in a wide range of circumstances. One strategy is aimed at helping students understand grading criteria and how to develop a critical eye for their work and the work of others.

The procedure involves having students form teams of 3-5. The instructor then supplies each team with 5 essays that vary in terms of quality and assigned grade.

Each team examines the essays, discuss them amongst themselves, and then try to identify the grading criteria.

Class discussion can ensue with the instructor projecting new essays on the board and asking the class to apply their team’s criteria.

This activity is an excellent way for students to develop a deeper understanding of the grading process.

3. Problem-Based Inductive Learning in Medical School

The conventional approach to teaching involves the teacher presenting the principles of a subject and then having students apply that knowledge to different situations. As effective as that approach is, medical schools have found that student learning is more advanced with a problem-based inductive approach.

So, instead of students being told what the symptoms are for a specific disease, students are presented with a clinical case and then work together to identify the ailment.

Although each team is assigned an experienced tutor, they try to provide as little assistance as possible.

Medical schools have found that this form of inductive learning leads to a much deeper understanding of medical conditions and helps students develop the kind of advanced critical-thinking skills they will need throughout their careers.

4. Inductive Learning in Traffic Management

Traffic management involves controlling the movement of people and vehicles. The goal is to ensure safety and improve flow efficiency. In the early days of traffic management, personnel would monitor traffic conditions at various times of the day, and try to identify patterns in traffic dynamics and the causal factors involved.

Those insights were then extrapolated to the broader city context and various rules and regulations were devised.

Today, much of that inductive analysis is conducted through sophisticated software algorithms. Through carefully placed cameras, the software tracks traffic flow, identifies operating paramenters, and then devises solutions to improve flow rate and safety.

For example, the software will monitor average traffic speed, congestion detection, journey times between key locations, as well as vehicle counts and flow rate estimates.

Traffic management is an example of software that is capable of inductive learning.

5. Inductive Learning in Theory Development

Inductive learning is a key way in which scholars and researchers come up with ground-breaking theories. One example is in Mary Ainsworth’s observational research, where she used observations to induce a theory, as explained below.

Although most people mention the Strange Situations test developed by Dr. Mary Ainsworth, she conducted naturalistic observations many years prior to its initial creation.

For two years, starting in 1954, she visited the homes of families in Uganda. She took detailed notes on infant/caregiver interactions, in addition to interviewing mothers about their parenting practices.

Through inductive reasoning and learning, she was able to identify patterns of behavior that could be categorized into several distinct attachment profiles.

Along with her work with John Bowlby, these notes formed the basis of her theory of attachment.

As reported by Bretherton (2013),

“…secure-attached infants cried little and engaged in exploration when their mother was present, while insecure-attached infants were frequently fussy even with mother in the same room” (p. 461).

Inductive learning is when students are presented with examples and case studies from which they are to derive fundamental principles and characteristics.

It many ways, it is the opposite of conventional instructional strategies where teachers define the principles and then students apply them to examples.

Inductive learning is a powerful approach. It leads to students developing a very rich understanding of the subject under study, increases student engagement, prolongs retention, and helps build student confidence in their ability to learn.

We can see examples of inductive learning in the world’s best medical schools, research that has had a profound impact on our understanding of infant/caregiver relations, and even its use by sophisticated algorithms that control traffic in our largest cities.

Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1967). Infancy in Uganda . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Bretherton, I. (2013). Revisiting Mary Ainsworth’s conceptualization and assessments of maternal sensitivity-insensitivity. Attachment & Human Development, 15 (5–6), 460–484. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2013.835128

Prince, M. & Felder, R. (2006). Inductive teaching and learning methods: Definitions, comparisons, and research bases. Journal of Engineering Education, 95 , 123-137. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2006.tb00884.x

Prud’homme-Généreux, A. (2013). What Is Life? An Activity to Convey the Complexities of This Simple Question. The American Biology Teacher, 75 (1), 53-57.

Shemwell, J. T., Chase, C. C., & Schwartz, D. L. (2015). Seeking the general explanation: A test of inductive activities for learning and transfer. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52 (1), 58-83.

Lahav, N. (1999). Biogenesis: Theories of life’s origin . Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.

• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 23 Achieved Status Examples
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• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 18 Adaptive Behavior Examples

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 23 Achieved Status Examples
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• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 25 Defense Mechanisms Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Theory of Planned Behavior Examples

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Encyclopedia for Writers

Composing with ai, inductive order, inductive reasoning, inductive writing.

Inductive Order and Inductive Reasoning refer to the practice of deriving general principles, claims, and theories from specific instances and observations. When employing an inductive approach, rhetors move

• from specific instances to a general conclusion
• from from data to theory
• from observations of particular instances to premises about what those events mean.

Inductive Writing is a style of prose fueled by induction. Writing described as inductive or indirect

• provides the thesis or research question at the conclusion of the text
• leaves it up to the reader to derive a conclusion.
• shows rather than tells.
• presents tentative hypotheses and limit the generalizability of knowledge clams
• is reflective and thoughtful in tone
• embrace ambiguity, nuance.

Inductive Order and Inductive Reasoning are sometimes referred to as

• a bottom-up approach rather than t op-down ( deductive ) or
• hypothesis-generating rather than hypothesis testing (deductive).

The human mind seeks order from chaos. As we engage with the world, we constantly derive abstractions from observations:

• When we read texts, we engage in inductive analysis: we look at each passage, read line-by-line, and then we draw a conclusion about the validity, significance and quality of the text.
• When we engage in discussions with colleagues, we watch who listens, who rephrases accurately ours and peers’ comments, and who inevitably undermines or misrepresents what we say. Thereafter, we make assumptions about the character of our colleagues.
• When we receive feedback from to critics (bosses, clients, editors, teachers) we analyze the feedback into types of feedback (e.g., Really Important; Off Topic, But Interesting; Gotta Do This. This is B.S.! ). In other words, we move from particular instances to the abstract: we categorize feedback, make judgments about what criteria those readers cared most about, and seek insights regarding priorities for revision.

We use inductive reasoning almost incessantly. Consider, for example, how we learn about genres in school and workplace on texts: after engaging in sustained reading within a discipline or profession, we notice repetitive patterns in the documents we read. For instance, when it comes to résumés, we notice from templates and samples on the internet that others avoid full sentences and the first person. That’s learning.

While inductive reasoning informs much of our thinking on a daily basis, it’s more common to use a deductive writing style rather than an inductive one. Our attention spans are really stretched by modern life: we receive texts, emails, and various app alerts that are tracking our health and fitness. Mass Media barrages us with a never-ending stream of national and international events. And then there’s work and school. Thus, it’s not surprising that most readers want to be told what a text is about and how it’s organized from the get go.

But it would be an overstatement to say that inductive writing has no place in school and workplace writing. The following rhetorical situations are particularly receptive to documents organized inductively:

• Bad News. Using a deductive order in a bad-news situation would be cruel. Instead, before firing someone or reprimanding them or turning them down for something, we want to shafe with them that the situation was competitive, that there were loads of excellent submissions, that we considered sharing bad news, rhetors
• Controversial Topics. When writing documents that address controversial issues or matters that threaten the beliefs of their readers, writers may find it strategic to place their arguments in their conclusions rather than their introductions. For instance, if you were writing to support universal health care in the U.S. and you approached a republican seeking support, you would probably have more luck if you shared your personal struggles with health care or in other ways humanized the issue rather than launching immediately in your thesis: that the U.S should adopt universal health care.
• Qualitative Research, especially grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss) . Some ethnographers, case study researchers, and journalistic interviewers enter projects seeking to develop a hypothesis that is grounded in the rhetorical situation as opposed to the theories that inform past scholarship in a discipline

Related Concepts

• Flow, Coherence, Unity Flow and Coherence are more challenging to achieve using an inductive rather than a deductive approach.
• Organizational Schema & Logical Reasoning Inductive order is an element of organizational schema.
• Sentence Order within Paragraphs Writers may employ inductive or deductive order to organize sentences in within paragraphs
• Thesis, Research Question, Title Inductive writing tends to introduce the thesis or research question in the conclusion of the text.

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What Is Text Structure?

Authors organize their writing based on the purpose of their text. Five of the main methods that authors use to structure their text are cause and effect, compare and contrast, chronological order, inductive presentation of ideas, and deductive presentation of ideas.

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect present the reasons something happened. For instance, if I said, “If you go to bed late, you will be tired,” the cause is going to bed late and the effect is being tired.

A cause-and-effect piece of writing is going to keep giving you reasons something happened and the effect of that particular reason.

Compare and Contrast

Compare and contrast writing discusses similarities and differences. It’s going to say how two things are alike and how they are different. These may also come across as “pro and con” pieces, where it gives you the pros of two things and the cons of two things.

An example would be if I said as a thesis statement, “Those who are up to date on technology are still debating over whether DVDs or Blu-ray discs are better,” the author could go through and describe all the similarities between DVDs and Blu-ray discs and all the differences between DVDs and Blu-ray discs. In the end, you could make up your mind which one is better, because they are simply comparing and contrasting the two.

Chronological Order

Chronological order presents information in the order that it happened. It starts at the beginning and works its way to the end. A good example of chronological order pieces is biographies . You start whenever someone was born, you go through their childhood, adulthood, and events leading up to their death. The book is laid out to describe events exactly in the order that they happened chronologically in time.

Inductive Presentation

Inductive presentation of ideas starts with specific examples and moves to a general conclusion. If I were to want to convince you that it was good to donate blood, I would start off with lots of specific examples or reasons why it was good to donate blood, and then give you the general conclusion: you should always donate blood.

Deductive Presentation

Deductive presentation of ideas is going to be the opposite of that. It starts with that conclusion (You should always donate blood) and then it explains supporting examples. I would give you examples or reasons that list out the benefits of donating blood. You can see these are opposite. It’s important to remember the difference: inductive is going to list all of them and take them into a general conclusion at the end.

Deductive is kind of like division. You start with one big conclusion and divide it down into lots of supporting details or examples.

Whenever you are trying to organize your own writing, or trying to figure out the purpose of an author’s writing, try to figure out what the organizational method was, and it might help you figure out the overall purpose of the text.

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