Active Learning Exercises: Inductive Reasoning

Identify the Type of Inductive Reasoning

Exercise 1: Sea level is rising more rapidly along Virginia’s shores than in most coastal areas... As the oceans and atmosphere continue to warm, sea level along the Virginia coast is likely to rise sixteen inches to four feet in the next century.

Exercise 2: By what evidence do I know, or by what considerations am I led to believe… that the walking and speaking figures which I see and hear possess Minds?...First, they have bodies like me, and secondly, they exhibit acts and outward signs known by experience to be caused by feelings.

Exercise 3: Maya people cremated their rulers and used the ashes to help make rubber balls that were used in ballgames, an archaeologist has claimed, based on findings at the Maya city of Toniná.

Exercise 4: A Stanford University research group study of 3,000 divorces demonstrated that men had a 42% higher standard of living post-divorce, while women and children got by on 73% lower.

Exercise 5:

  • 1. The vast majority of Super Bowl games have been played in freezing cold weather. Therefore, probably the next Super Bowl game will be played in freezing cold weather.
  • 2. Max forgot to bring the plant in overnight. The temperature plummeted below zero, and the plant shows signs of frost and death. Leaving the plant out overnight likely killed the plant.

Exercise 6:

  • 1. Franklin Delano Roosevelt said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Therefore, people have no reason to fear oppression.
  • 2. A random sample of twenty-five famous country and western singers revealed that all studied music in Afghanistan. Therefore, probably the majority of famous country singers studied there.

Exercise 7:

  • 1. When a chef can’t recall the ingredients, she consults the recipe book. Similarly, when a student forgets exam answers, she should consult the textbook.
  • 2. After taking LSD, Alice said she saw a flying saucer land in the shopping center parking lot. Since Alice always tells the truth, we conclude a saucer landed there.